The story behind the master plan for Worman's Mill begins with the land. Worman's Mill consists of 307 beautiful acres of prime real estate bordering the Monocacy River, located in the historic city of Frederick, Maryland. It was on this parcel of land centuries before that German settlers to America chose to settle. Jacob Stoner, a German settler from the Upper Rhine. Valley, built his home, called the Mill Pond House, on this site prior to the Revolutionary War (c. 1746), along the Old Annapolis Road. In 1782, the Worman family purchased the mill and house from Mr. Stoner, and ever since that time the area has been known as "Worman's Mill". When the Civil War came along, it was Robert E. Lee who selected the property as an ideal encampment for his confederate armies in 1862. Rich in history and exquisite in beauty, the land deserved a first-class development. To this fact, all were agreed.

In the mid 1980s, the Wormald Companies had a dream to do something very special and innovative with this unique area of the city of Frederick. Working with Los Angeles, California lead architect Wayne Williams and a team of talented development professionals, the Wormald design team set out to design an idealic new home community which incorporated the history and architecture of the surrounding area. The result of intensive design sessions was a plan to capture the spirit and feel of a turn-of-the-century American town, with a variety of distinct and architecturally rich neighborhoods, interconnected through a series of walking paths, parks and gathering areas. At the heart of the new town would be an upscale village shopping district, with elegant restaurants, sidewalk cafes, shops, and other small town amenities. The plan captured the imaginations of the team in its innovation and appeal to the marketplace.

You might call the resulting concept a new brand of neo-traditional town development which we have coined "TNC" or "Town N' Country" development. The TNC concept mixes the romance and charm of traditional country living with the formality and elegance of traditional town patterns into one land plan. The "country" aspect of the TNC concept provides winding rural roads with housing positioned so that homes are accessed through courtyards with no direct access to the streets. The "town" aspect of the TNC concept provides a more traditional rectilinear town grid pattern at the heart of the community. This distinct contrast between "town" and "country" serves to heighten the sense of arrival as one arrives at the town center, as well as provides for a wide range of housing types and experiences in one development.

The idea is that as you come into the community, you experience a more natural and free-form land plan with curving roads, orchards, randomly spaced trees and landscaping. As you near the center of town, streets widen with formal sidewalks on both sides of the street, spaced street trees are introduced rather than a random tree growth pattern, and lighting is intensified, and a sense of arrival is conveyed. In the residential portion of the town center, homes face the street, and the impact of the automobile is diminished by providing garage parking in the rear alleys. The town square is the primary gathering place and becomes the center of commerce and social interaction for the surrounding area.
In sum, the community of Worman's Mill consists of 11 different distinct product lines, including single family homes, townhomes, and condominiums. One third of the total 307 acres is devoted to park land for the residents to enjoy.

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