History

Les Wexner

You can trace New Albany’s roots to one man’s dream of living in the country

I’ve always dreamed about living in the country. With open spaces and trees and barns and rolling pastures and streams. Living with respect for the land and the way the land is used.

After looking around Columbus for about two years, I found New Albany almost by accident, and I was astonished by what was there. I discovered all the appeal of the country, and all the desirable features of the suburbs. And I thought, if this is so attractive to me, wouldn’t it be attractive to others?

That’s when I began to think about a community in the country. With my friend Jack Kessler, I began exploring the look and feel of the great country communities and what makes their appeal so enduring. We visited Brittany, The Cotswolds, New England Villages, Williamsburg, the James River plantation houses and we found a great consistency of quality and architecture and a strong relationship of the homes to the land.

Now, it’s no longer my dream alone. A group of our country’s best and brightest architects and land planners, all working together, have transformed the dream into a reality.

John W. Kessler

For people who are interested in living in New Albany, having the developers living next door is a very strong statement. It’s a real commitment to the quality of the community.

Les and I both believe that the decision we’ve made and the group of talented people we’ve brought together ensure that the highest quality is going into every inch of it. We were deliberately slow and accurate and reflective in its planning. But still, this is a business project. And in the end, the financial success of New Albany will be shared by everyone who lives there.