KAY STEVENS remembers when there was no Lake Oconee, only a river running through pineland and dairy farms in the Georgia Piedmont. “The busiest day of the week was Thursday,” she said, “when people were going to the cow sale.”
But Mrs. Stevens, then an employee of Georgia Power when the company dammed up the Oconee River in 1979 to create a 19,000-acre lake for a hydroelectric plant, soon moved to the waterfront and became one of the first real estate agents in the oblong area 75 miles east of Atlanta.
“I’ve been selling real estate here since the lake was filled,” she said. “It has been phenomenal.”
Even though a Georgia road map handed out with a recent car rental at the Atlanta airport omitted the lake, the unincorporated region continues to develop rapidly, whether maps recognize it or not.
Lake Oconee today has about 100 subdivisions and developments, including several large, gated communities that are anchored by well-regarded golf courses. An influx of buyers are purchasing or building second and retirement homes on lots that front on water or fairways. All three owners of the major gated communities there — Reynolds Plantation and its sister property, Reynolds Landing; Harbor Club and Cuscowilla — are planning for growth in their compounds, and developers are planning thousands of new homes. They range from one-bedroom condos to enormous estates along the 374 miles of lakeshore.
The Scene
John Walther, 58, a New York City native who lives in Manistee, Mich., with his wife, Cathy, bought a second house in 1998 in Cuscowilla when he was traveling to Georgia for business. Six years ago, he sold a chemical company he owned and retired. Two years later, the Walthers bought a 5,000-square-foot, four-bedroom house on the lake’s edge near the golf course. They spend winters and springs there.
“The springtime you can’t beat,” he said, heading out to the links one day in March.
The Walthers’ days on Lake Oconee begin at sunrise. Mr. Walther plays golf most mornings, while his wife trains their two English springer spaniels. In the afternoon, they often take their boat out on the lake or sometimes will sit on the deck and watch for great blue herons. About every 10 days, Ms. Walther will make the hour-and-a-half drive to Atlanta to go shopping. In the evenings, they often entertain in their home or visit with neighbors.
The Walthers became empty nesters last year, but keep bedrooms set aside for visits from their son and their daughter, who are in their 20s. They eventually plan to make the house their full-time resi