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FAIRHOPE in USA TODAY [Alabama Tourism Department]

By Larry Olmsted, Special for USA TODAY Shangri-La may be a fantasy, but you can find a real-life utopia on the eastern shore of Alabama's Mobile Bay. The city of Fairhope, founded in 1894 by a society based on cooperative community ownership, was named for its members' belief that their enterprise had a "fair hope" of success. It continued to evolve as a home to dreamers, becoming a hotbed of the progressive education movement of the early 20th century and a popular artists' colony and winter escape for musicians, intellectuals and writers like Upton Sinclair and, more recently, Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump. Today it is a resort town and upscale bedroom community for Mobile, yet Fairhope (pop. about 17,000) retains its utopian and artistic roots with more than 20 galleries, a major annual juried crafts show, and a dedication to excellent municipal services, including a perennially tidy Main Street. The original corporation is still a major landowner and has given much back to the community, especially parks, including a popular waterfront pier complex. ARCHIVE: Find more second-home destinations Broker Fran Faust Slade of Roberts Brothers Realtors, who has sold second homes here for decades, always gets the same reaction from visitors. "They swing onto our two-lane street with medians full of flowerbeds, and it's like a fantasy," she says. "They fall in love with the ambiance, pride of the community, cleanliness and friendliness." Prices don't hurt the appeal either. According to Slade, second homes in Fairhope begin as low as $140,000, and nearby towns like Magnolia Springs are even less, starting at $100,000 to $125,000. Fairhope's in-town waterfront is more expensive, but a short drive down Highway 1, waterfront homes can be had for $300,000 to $500,000. The surrounding Eastern Shore has myriad outdoor attractions, including a 33-mile recreation trail, fishing and bird watching. With easy access to I-65, the region attracts second-home owners from throughout the South and as far north as Chicago. A look at three Eastern Shore-area neighborhoods • Fairhope: Full of cafes, galleries, shops and restaurants, with a downtown modeled on a European village, in-town Fairhope is the most popular spot for second-home owners. Most options are single-family houses, from about $300,000 downtown to more than $1 million on the city's waterfront, about three blocks away. Still in Fairhope but on the outskirts of town, farther from the pedestrian-friendly center, prices start at about $140,000. • Daphne: Just 5 miles north and closer to Mobile, Daphne is the chief Fairhope alternative, with a smaller but similarly quaint village core. Outside of its old-fashioned downtown, Daphne has subdivisions and newer homes in planned communities, often popular with second-home owners because of ease of maintenance. In-town prices for three- to four-bedroom homes start around $250,000. • Magnolia Springs: This is one of the least expensive second-home alternatives, slightly inland and more rural than Fairhope and Daphne. It's "a traditional small Southern town with oak-lined streets, a general store, a popular restaurant, but not much else, and some of the roads are still unpaved," says broker Fran Faust Slade. "Residents along the Magnolia River, which runs through town, get their mail by boat." Prices start around $150,000. For photos and the entire article click onthe USA Today link: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/secondhomes/2010-01-14-fairhope-alabama_N.htm

[Read the entire article at Alabama Tourism Department]

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