Neighborhood Profile: Bay Colony, Virginia Beach

By Sandra J. Pennecke
Correspondent

Jeff Hague has fond childhood memories of his home in Bay Colony, which his grandparents bought in 1964 - the same year he was born.

"It's been a part of my life, my whole life," said Hague, civic league president.

He and wife Debbie purchased the house in 1992 after his grandparents moved to a retirement home.

Now the couple is raising their three sons - ages 7, 10 and 14 - in the house built in 1957.

Hague inherited his grandmother's 1965 red Buick Skylark convertible.

"I have the house and the car that goes with it," said the homeowner, who has added to the dwelling and made changes throughout the years. "I often wonder what my grandmother would think if she could see the house now."

But one thing that's remained constant in Bay Colony is the family-oriented neighborhood.

"It's a quiet little oasis back here and a great place to raise children within close proximity to the Oceanfront," Hague said.

About 625 single-family custom homes - an eclectic mix of rambling ranches, majestic Colonials and waterfront mansions - make up the community founded in the 1950s, when developers and custom builders brought suburbia to this once-sleepy area.

Prior to that, Bay Colony, tucked between Crystal Lake, Linkhorn Bay, First Landing State Park and Cavalier Drive, was mainly undeveloped. A home that dates to 1845 is the oldest known, and another 14 homes were built in the 1930s by some the area's most prominent residents of the day.

Back then there was the Bay Colony Club, Princess Anne Hunt Club, Quail Roost Stables and valuable soybean farmland known as the "pea patch."

Agent Brenda Rawls with Rose & Womble Realty has sold many homes in Bay Colony, which she said is one of Virginia Beach's most desirable. Homes there range from $400,000 to $4 million.

Lyman and Sara Ann Hammond are thankful that their agent kept showing them houses in Bay Colony when they moved back to Virginia Beach in the 1970s.

"We had purchased a lot on a lake in Thoroughgood and were going to build our dream house," said Sara Ann, 81.

"Our Realtor showed us this house, and I fell in love with it," she said of the home built around 1958. "We lived in many houses moving around with the Army for 30 years. This house and this neighborhood fit us. This is where we were meant to be."

Sandra J. Pennecke, pennecke@cox.net