COASTAL HOMES MAGAZINE: NEW REGIONAL TARGETS RELOCATING BABY BOOMERS
ROANOKE, VA. – The inaugural issue of Coastal Homes Southern Style, a new, upscale bimonthly magazine presenting luxury living along the “Sweet Tea Coast" from Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay to Florida’s Palm Coast, is just off the presses. The glossy, 84-page premier edition offers home-seekers in the booming coastal region a complete guide to the best communities, towns and cities.
Relocating baby-boomers will find intimate insider portraits of some of the region's best-loved towns, including Charleston, Nags Head and Hilton Head. Plus, prospective homebuyers get all the information they need on stunning new communities, including Norfolk, Va.’s East Beach; Southport, N.C.'s St. James Plantation; Bluffton, S.C.'s Hampton Hall; St. Marys, Ga.'s Osprey Cove; and St. Augustine, Fla.’s Palencia.
Coastal Homes supplements its detailed and beautifully photographed stories with a 90-community chart detailing everything from lot- and home-price ranges to information on golf, dining, water amenities and more than a dozen other categories. The communities are in coastal cities and towns ranging from Virginia Beach and Norfolk southward through Wilmington, Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Savannah and on to Amelia Island and the Palm Coast of Florida.
Coastal Homes is the latest periodical of 35-year-old Leisure Publishing of Roanoke, Va, publisher of 18 titles, including Mountain Homes Southern Style, the highly successful four-year-old sister publication to Coastal Homes. Homebuyer demand for the pre-purchase information in Mountain Homes was a prime impetus in the launch of Coastal Homes. Demand for upper-end property, fueled by the 77 million baby boomers now reaching the cusp of retirement, has become a significant phenomenon in U.S. real estate.
"Coastal Homes provides that connection between boomers and the developers of quality coastal communities," says Richard Wells, publisher and Leisure founder. "While every beach market has its own real estate publications, there was nothing providing potential buyers with an overview of the entire Southeastern coast." The new title combines luxury lifestyle info with practical nuts-and-bolts relocation details along what the magazine calls the "Sweet Tea Coast," a.k.a. the Southeastern shore – with the exception of most of Florida, which the publishers do not define as "Southern."
"Coastal Homes is a relocation guide for those who want to compare living on the Chesapeake Bay with the Palm Coast of northern Florida ... to understand the lifestyle considerations between, say, Nags Head and Hilton Head," Wells says.
Many boomers and those born in the decades just prior have become part of a national trend back toward four seasons, less crowded areas, better proximity to family members and a strong desire to live by the water. These purchasers of retirement, second-home and vacation homes have contributed strongly to the so-called "halfback" phenomenon, undertaken by former residents of the Northeast who migrated to Florida and are now finding new homes halfway between where they came from and Southern Florida. Coastal Homes will serve as their guidebook on the way to finding the perfect residence.
Coastal Homes Editor Marie Hodge, winner of a National Magazine Award and former New York-based editor at Sesame Street Parents and Longevity magazines, notes that another important factor in the purchase of retirement/vacation homes is proximity to current residence.
"Studies of buying trends suggest the majority of buyers want to remain within a three- to four-hour travel time from their primary residence," she says. "Coastal Homes’ targeted distribution will be focused geographically within four hours of the coast and in key metro markets where air service provides less than four hours’ travel time."
The first issue of Coastal Homes will appear on select newsstands July 31 as part of a controlled circulation plan. The publisher plans to debut a companion website focused at upscale relocation alternatives in the Southeast.
For more information, call Richard Wells or Marie Hodge at (540) 989-6138. Or visit the magazine's website at www.coastalhomessouthernstyle.com.
Editor’s Note: High-resolution photos from the magazine are available upon request.
Blue Ridge Country has been nominated for best print article and best photo layout in the annual West Virginia Stars of the Industry awards, to be announced in November.
Blue Ridge Country is awarded second for best magazine in the country by the National Federation of Press Women. Additional national awards in the NFPW's 2007 competition included:
First Place awards to: Norma Lugar for Caption Writing in Mountain Homes magazine; to Cara Ellen Modisett for Single Page Edited, for "Creature Feature" in Blue Ridge Country magazine; to Jeff Wood for Single Page, Lifestyle or Entertainment, for "Conspectus" in The Roanoker magazine.
Second Place awards went to Andrea Clark and Jeff Wood for Special Articles, Health and Fitness, in The Roanoker magazine, and to Cara Ellen Modisett for Section/Supplements Edited by Entrant for the Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost.
Designer Janette Saviano won a third place award for Page Layout for Blue Ridge Country magazine cover.
Blue Ridge Country received an award of merit from the International Regional Magazine Association for "The Hike," an every-issue column contributed by author Leonard Adkins.
Leisure Publishing staff landed 25 awards in the Virginia Press Women annual competition.
Norma Lugar won a first place for Caption writing, a second place for Single Page Regularly Edited, Other than Lifestyle or Entertainment for the Contents section of Mountain Homes magazine; a third place, Regularly edited publications, general publication for Mountain Homes magazine; and honorable mentions, Sections Edited, infrequent, general publication ("Cinderella Wedding"/Wedding Section, The Roanoker
magazine) and for headline writing.
Blue Ridge Country, edited by Cara Ellen Modisett, was named top magazine in the state. Modisett's first place awards also included:
Personal Column for her editor's column in Blue Ridge Country; Page or Pages Edited for Nancy Henderson's Creature Feature in BRC; Section edited for On the Mountainside in BRC; Newsletter one- to three-color for FRIENDS of the Blue Ridge Parkway's newsletter, High Vistas; Section/supplement edited for the annual special publication the Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost. Modisett received second place for a prepared radio report and "Mountain Report," written by Cathryn McCue, received an honorable mention for Single Page or Pages Edited.
Staff writer Andrea Clark received first and second place awards for Special articles, food for stories in The Roanoker magazine and a third place award for headline writing in The Roanoker magazine.
Jeff Wood, associate editor and staff writer for The Roanoker magazine, won first place, Regular Lifestyle or Entertainment Section edited, special publication for The Roanoker's Conspectus; second place, sections edited infrequent, general publication, for the Western Virginia Retirement Guide in The Roanoker magazine and a third place award for Special articles, food in The Roanoker magazine.
Jeff Wood and Andrea Clark also won two collaborative awards: first place, special articles, health and fitness for The Roanoker's Wellness series, and second place, special series for the Wellness series in The Roanoker magazine.
Janette Saviano swept the design category for page layout, general publication with a first place for Blue Ridge Country covers, a second place for stories in The Roanoker, a third place for stories in Mountain Homes and an honorable Mention for stories in The Roanoker.
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