Schilling Farms Chosen for 1999 Vesta Site

By Laurie Johnson
– The Daily News –

The Memphis Area Home Builders Association has chosen the Schilling Farms development in Collierville for the 1999 Vesta Home Show.

It is the third time Collierville has been the site for the annual home show, a popular showcase for builders and interior designers, said MAHBA marketing director Susan Schmidt.

"We’ve always had very good support from builders in that area," said Schmidt, noting the show was held two years in a row in Collierville before moving to East Shelby County in 1997 and then Germantown last year.

Located along the western edge of Collierville, Schilling Farms is a $350 million, 443-acre, multi-use planned development that eventually will have 1.5 million square feet of office space, 90 acres of distribution space and a variety of residential neighborhoods served by a new Schilling Farms middle school.

The new Collierville YMCA also is being built on land donated by Schilling Farms.

Boyle Investment Company and Harry Smith, chairman of Schilling Inc., are the developers of the project. Schilling Farms’ master plan was designed by Looney Ricks Kiss and Cooper, Robertson & Partners of New York, both of which worked on the master plan for Celebration, a Disney planned development near Orlando.

Schmidt expects this year’s event to feature about seven or eight luxury homes, a number that has come to be the norm for the show.

Homes in the show will probably average about 4,000 square feet in size, and be valued from $400,000 to $500,000, she said.

The Vesta show homes, which will encircle a park in the development, will be the first group of homes built in Schilling Farms, Schmidt said.

A number of builders already are vying for a spot in the show, MAHBA officials said.

"I think the success of last year’s show at Grove Park, and the attractive location for this year’s event has sparked the additional interest," said David Parsons, chairman of the 1999 Vesta Home Show.

The event, scheduled for October, is expected to draw about 30,000 visitors to the Schilling Farms development.

The annual Vesta show is one of MAHBA’s largest fundraisers. A portion of the proceeds also goes to charity.

This year’s charity is the International Children’s Heart Foundation, which is currently refurbishing a home in Victorian Village, called the Heart House, which will house families of children undergoing heart surgery at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Schmidt said.