On Loudoun's Horizon, a Taste of Opulence

But Creighton Farms will be the first Ritz-Carlton community to offer single-family houses designed for everyday living.

Loudoun was a natural choice for such a community, said Michael Pascucci, a partner of Juno Enterprises, which is developing the property with Creighton Enterprises.

Pascucci cited Census Bureau figures that put Loudoun's median annual household income at more than $98,000 and pointed out that Creighton Farms will be in Virginia's vaunted hunt country, which has long been a playground for the rich.

"If you had to pick anywhere in the Northeast for something like this, the place you would pick is Loudoun County," Pascucci said. "Rolling hills, beautiful vistas, privacy, the availability of three-acre lots. It's enchanting. This is as good as it gets."

This and developments like it are not unwelcome in Loudoun, where longtime residents tend to focus most of their ire on more affordable cookie-cutter suburban homes and townhouses that provide a jarring contrast to the county's remaining rural areas.

Still, the staggering costs have elicited more than a few chuckles from folks who remember when Loudoun was an out-of-the-way rural community, said Tucker Withers, who owns about a dozen properties in the nearby town of Aldie.

"I tell you, it's a typical conversation here at the inn," said Withers, speaking from the Little River Inn, which he owns.

"Still, there aren't too many complaints. Like everyone else around here, I'd love to see all the farms everywhere, but this is better than what happened on the eastern part of the county."