THE VISION
What began as a chance meeting between two men more than a quarter of a century ago has resulted in the thriving community known as Brookstone.  

The two men met in 1976 when Jim Willoughby approached Joe Sewell about purchasing lots Joe was selling in Roswell Downs … their personalities connected immediately and with their combined experience and vision for the future,  a partnership was formed.

Their first venture was Old Farm Crossing in Cobb County, followed by Heritage Farms, Willow Creek, Ridge Wood Creek, Farmwood, North River Forest and Summerford,  all located in Cobb County.  Their true vision however, was to develop a golf course community in Cobb County, a subdivision of upscale homes offering the finest amenities. They knew they needed at least 1,000 acres of aesthetically pleasing, highly developable land and the land had to be conveniently located.

In the spring of 1986, Willoughby & Sewell found such a parcel of land and secured 300 acres from Mr. Wooten and 200 acres from the Mills Estate, both of Acworth. Later the same year they bought 12 more tracts of land for a total of 1,138 acres.

In 1987 ten more acres were added, then eighty acres of the Hyde property, referred to as the “V” block or the Hedgebrooke section.  Soon after, seventy acres of Mrs. Hale’s homestead were purchased to expand the “V” block and add the “W” block, sometimes referred to as the Hollowbrooke section.  A large portion of this tract was donated to the Brookstone I Homeowner’s Association by Willoughby and Sewell for its amenities package. Initially, the biggest hurdle in developing all of this land was the lack of sewer in the area. With the tremendous help of Harry Ingram and the Cobb County Sewer department a sewer plant was approved and built for the property.  The vision was becoming a reality.

To assure excellence in the creation of Willoughby and Sewell’s vision, four issues had to be addressed with utmost care; the naming of the subdivision, the design of the golf course, the planning of the country club and finally  the layout of the subdivision itself.

NAMING THE VISION
Knowing this would be the first country club community in West Cobb County the suggestion was made by James Rhoden, Jr. (soon to be the developer and operator of the country club) to name the subdivision after the very first golf course in Atlanta – “Brookstone”. The original Brookstone was established in 1898 with a membership of only 27 and hosted the “Summer Cup” annual golf tournament in Georgia.  Golf was new at the turn of the century for the Atlanta area but slowly all of Georgia evolved into having some of the finest and best know courses in the world.  The street names in Brookstone were even inspired by golf courses from throughout the country.

A DREAM GOLF COURSE
Jim and Joe knew in order to achieve the community they envisioned they would have to have one of the finest golf courses in all of Georgia so they hired one of the top golf course designers in the country, Larry Nelson.  Larry had already won the U.S. Open and was a two time PGA Championship winner.  He has designed Legacy Windy Hill and Centennial Golf Club in Atlanta, Avocet at Wild Wing Plantation in Myrtle Beach and Opryland’s Springhouse Golf Club plus many more.  His work, with architect Jeff Brauer of Golfscapes, led to the design for Brookstone, a 7,000 yard 18-hole championship golf course that was later nominated in 1989 as “The Best New Private Golf Course” by Golf Digest Magazine.  It seemed fitting that Larry Nelson’s father, Vernon, not only played in the first foursome at the grand opening of the course but birdied the first hole!

PRIVATE COUNTRY CLUB
Willoughby and Sewell soon formed a new partnership with James Rhoden to develop and operate the Brookstone Country Club.  He was the president and owner of Futren Corporation and had developed clubs throughout Georgia, Florida and North Carolina. In Atlanta he developed the Ashford Club and the Georgian Club plus owned Indian Hills Country Club.

The Brookstone Country Club, a private club, opened in 1988 and was carefully designed to include a main dining room, lounge, pro shop, locker rooms and meeting rooms. In addition to the golf course, tennis courts and swimming pools completed the amenities.  It is presently owned by Starwood Properties and Goldman Sachs and operated by American Golf Country Clubs. 

CAREFULLY DESIGNED LAYOUT
 In keeping with hiring only the best, Richard Davis of Franzman/Davis Associates, Ltd., was commissioned to design the layout for the community.

 Having already designed the popular Big Canoe and Reynold’s Plantation in Georgia as well as the southern portion of Amelia Island Plantation in Florida, Franzman/Davis was the perfect choice for designing Brookstone.

Davis’ first decision was to divide the subdivision into three separate sections. The first phase known as Brookstone I was the catalyst and was built around the country club and golf course.  Brookstone II and Brookstone III followed shortly thereafter.  And so, in 1987, land was cleared, roads were cut, sewer lines were installed and the first homes, located on Brookstone Drive, were completed. The vision was taking shape

ANOTHER CREATION
As the subdivision grew so did its needs. With the creation of three residential neighborhoods, two of which had amenities packages created by Willoughby & Sewell, it soon became apparent that there was a desire and a need for Brookstone I to have an amenities package separate from the golf course. Because a third amenity package was not  part of the original design, Willoughby & Sewell formulated an action plan to donate a portion of land  to be used for tennis courts, swimming pool,  jogging track, baseball and soccer fields.  Their goal was to provide whatever was needed for the comfort and pleasure of the subdivision’s residents. The development of the fields was based on a suggestion by Bob Kelly, one of the residents, who mentioned to Joe that it would be nice to have a place for parents to take their children to play ball.  Soon after, Willoughby & Sewell arranged to have the fields cleared, graded and seeded and it fast became another place for the families of Brookstone to enjoy.

MORE DREAMS MET
Well into Brookstone’s development the surrounding area was still very rural. Shopping was not terribly convenient.  To ease this concern, Willoughby & Sewell used the land they purchased around the intersection of Mars Hill and Stilesboro Rds., to develop into stores and businesses, after having successfully obtained commercial zoning from the county.  By 1995, the Publix Grocery store was built along with over 11,000 square feet of various retail shops. To date the following stores and businesses occupy the original Willoughby & Sewell property:  Eckerd Drugs, Wachovia Bank, American Service Station, Bravo Dance Center, Brookstone Grill, Casebier Salon, Cingular Wireless, Clothing Care of Brookstone, Curves, Dae Han Tae Kwon Do Academy, Edward Jones Investments, Flagstar Bank, Good Year Auto Center, Hair Cuttery, La Cocina Mexican Restaurant, Lockheed Credit Union, M & S Car Wash, Muno’s Italian Restaurant, Omega Learning Center, Pace Fuel Convenient Store,  Pink Crocodile, Snaps Studios, Suntrust Bank, The Spa, Tiki Tan, Vision One of Brookstone Village, Waffle House, and Zaxby’s Restaurant and the U.S. Post Office. Prior to this development, in 1990, Montessori School opened its doors located right on Brookstone Walk.

TWO MAJOR FACILITIES WERE THEN ADDED
To round out continued service to the community’s residents, Willoughby & Sewell wanted to facilitate the development of a library in the area and the creation of a Y.M.C.A.  The developers knew both entities wanted to be in the area yet were stalled due to lack of funds to purchase some land.  When Willoughby and Sewell recognized the tremendous opportunity for the community’s residents the decision to generously donate the land each institution needed was easy.  The library, known as the Northwest Cobb Library, is the largest branch office in Cobb County. The Y.M.C.A. not only built an outstanding 47,000 square foot facility but also created a skate park adjacent to it for all to enjoy.

THE VISION CONTINUES
With the development of Brookstone subdivision nearly complete, Willoughby and Sewell will continue their work together as they develop two new area subdivisions. One subdivision will be adjacent to The Links of Brookstone and is located on Burnt Hickory Road. It will be known as “The Farm at Brookstone”, a 96 lot subdivision that may not be a part of Brookstone officially but will carry the same caliber homes as those in The Links.

The second subdivision is located off Acworth Due West Road just a few miles south of Brookstone.  It will be comprised of 36 three quarter acre home sites. 

Although neither of the new subdivisions will be a golf course community, each of the upscale neighborhoods will incorporate the same level of integrity and excellence that are Brookstone’s hallmark, making it a great place to live.