The Retreat at Norman Farm

The Retreat at Norman Farm is a 96-home community in Hendersonville built around a stocked fishing lake — the rare new-construction neighborhood here that's organized around water and nature rather than a pool. Homes span eight floor plans from about 1,694 to 3,432 square feet, priced roughly $513,000 to $651,000.

If you want fishing piers, a kayak launch, and a community garden out your door instead of a swim club, this is the standout in Hendersonville. Here's who builds it, the exact plans, and what it costs to own.

The builder: CastleRock Communities

The Retreat at Norman Farm is built and being finished out today by CastleRock Communities.

CastleRock Communities is a production homebuilder active across several Southern states, including the Nashville area, offering a wide plan range — from a single-level 1,694-square-foot home up to a five-bedroom near 3,400 square feet — so the community covers first-time, move-up, and downsizing buyers in one place. CastleRock has advertised a 4.99% 30-year fixed rate buydown for qualifying buyers on contracts closing by August 31, 2026; ask for current terms since builder incentives change.

The homes & floor plans

Eight plans, three to five bedrooms, one and two stories — viewable with live availability on CastleRock's Retreat at Norman Farm page. The anchors of the lineup:

• Audubon — 3 bed, 2 bath, 1,694 sq ft, single-story, from about $512,990. The entry plan and the only true one-level option — the pick for downsizers or anyone who wants no stairs.
• Rockwell — 4 bed, 3 bath, 2,582 sq ft. A right-sized four-bedroom for a household that wants room without going over 2,600 sq ft.
• Winslow — 4 bed, 3 bath, 2,634 sq ft, 2 stories, 2-car garage, from about $510,900. Similar footprint to the Rockwell with a different layout.
• Rushmore — 5 bed, 3.5 bath, about 3,400 sq ft. The largest plan, for buyers who need five bedrooms or a big bonus space.

Recent homes have sat on modest lots — around a fifth of an acre — which keeps yard upkeep light and pricing accessible for the size of home.

Amenities

The amenity package here is built around the water and is what sets it apart from Hendersonville's pool communities:

• Stocked fishing lake with fishing piers
• Kayak and canoe launch / water access
• Pet-friendly walking trails
• Community garden

The HOA

The Retreat at Norman Farm is an HOA community; dues maintain the stocked lake and fishing piers, the kayak/canoe access, the walking trails, and the community garden — the shared features that define the neighborhood.

Location, commute & taxes

The community is in Hendersonville (Sumner County), with the sales center at 103 John T Alexander Boulevard. Off-peak drive times:

• Downtown Nashville — about 22 miles, roughly 30 minutes via Vietnam Veterans Parkway (SR-386) to I-65 South
• Nashville International Airport (BNA) — about 20 miles, roughly 28 minutes
• Cool Springs / Franklin — about 40 miles, roughly 48 minutes via I-65

Property taxes combine the City of Hendersonville rate of $0.5883 per $100 of assessed value and the Sumner County rate of $1.42, for $2.0083 per $100. At Tennessee's 25% residential assessment, a $560,000 home runs about $2,810 a year.

The Retreat at Norman Farm is zoned to Sumner County Schools: Dr. William Burrus Elementary at Drakes Creek, Knox Doss Middle School, and Beech Senior High School.

How it compares

The Retreat at Norman Farm owns a niche no other Hendersonville new-construction community does: a stocked fishing lake with kayak access and a community garden instead of a pool. If a swimming pool and courts matter more to you, Mansker Farms (Meritage) has the full pool-and-pickleball package at a low HOA, and Norman Creek is an established pool community on resale. If you want the broadest builder and plan choice with resort amenities, Durham Farms is the larger master-plan. But for buyers who picture weekends on the water and a garden plot, this is the one — and its single-level Audubon plan is hard to find elsewhere new.

Pricing & availability

The community totals 96 homes and is actively selling through CastleRock, with new-construction pricing roughly $513,000 to $651,000 across the eight plans (about 1,694 to 3,432 square feet). Earlier-phase homes also turn up on resale for buyers who want an existing home rather than new construction. Because it's finishing out, the mix of available quick-move-in homes versus to-be-built shifts month to month.

Origin: how a pumpkin patch became a lake community, in phases

The Retreat at Norman Farm started as a Jones Company project. The Nashville-based builder (founded 1927) announced the community on September 15, 2020, on land that had been the Norman family's pumpkin patch and farmers market in Hendersonville. Jones Company CEO Ken Stricker said at the time it would be "the first community of its kind" for the builder, with streets named for veterans and more than half the site left in natural open space around a Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency-stocked lake. The original master plan called for roughly 150 acres and about 240 home sites, with sales starting that fall and construction beginning in January 2021, per the Jones Company's announcement and a Williamson, Inc. chamber write-up of the same news. It's a Planned Unit Development, and it has moved through Sumner County Regional Planning Commission approvals in phases rather than all at once — Phase 3A received Final Plat approval on August 15, 2023 for a 26-lot section on Van Conder Place and John T. Alexander Boulevard, and Phase 4 received Final Plat approval on December 19, 2023 for a 63-lot section on John T. Alexander Boulevard and Joe Miller Drive, both filed by The Jones Company of Tennessee, LLC. CastleRock Communities is the builder actively selling and building homes in the community today; the 96-home, $513,000-$651,000 range described above reflects CastleRock's current phase, and it's common in a PUD this size for a later phase or builder to open as an earlier one sells out. If you're comparing homesites, ask which phase a specific address falls in — lot size, price, and HOA section can all shift phase to phase.

HOA management & what dues cover

The community's HOA has been administered through Ghertner & Company (Nashville) and, more recently, RowCal's Hendersonville office — a change that isn't unusual as a developer-run HOA transitions to a professional manager once a community is closer to build-out. We haven't found one published current-dues figure we're confident applies specifically to this Hendersonville community — a similarly named "Castlerock HOA" dues page we came across is for an unrelated Oklahoma neighborhood, worth flagging so you don't act on the wrong number. Ask your builder rep or the current management company directly for the exact current assessment, billing cycle, and what it funds beyond the lake, piers, kayak launch, trails, and garden. Retail and grocery cluster a few minutes away along New Shackle Island Road and East Main Street, including the Streets of Indian Lake shopping and dining district, and Old Hickory Lake's public access points are a short drive away for boating and lake recreation beyond the neighborhood's own stocked pond.

What to verify before you write an offer

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