Drive roughly forty miles outside of New York City into New Jersey, and the congestion, noise and crowding falls behind you—on all sides majestic hills rise that contain quaint, New England-style communities. This is where you'll find Bald Eagle Village, Passaic County's best kept little secret. Located in West Milford, the village is actually an active adult community composed of about ninety-nine acres and comprising 440 units in 59 buildings.

The Simpler Life

Ed Saade, treasurer of the homeowners association for Bald Eagle Village, says most builders today are constructing what he calls "pigeon coops"—prefabricated buildings piled one on top of the other, but at Bald Eagle Village, "The first thing that strikes you as you drive in is that it's wide open, with nice roads, nice buildings, and a totally different landscape." Saade describes the community, which was founded in 1984, as a New England-style development with about twenty-five different styles of units, and that he says, "gives a lot of variety to people who are looking to buy there." Units range from two- and three-bedroom units to one-bedroom units with a loft.

"It's nicely set within the mountains, aesthetically and architecturally," Saade says, though to many residents one of the most attractive features—along with the views and open spaces—is not having to worry about such things as snow removal. "It's appealing to the older individuals because they don't have to maintain the snow removal, and the same goes for young couples, because they're usually both working all the time, and don't have the time to do all that work." Saade says that along with the freedom of not having to maintain the general property, residents also are free to make their own yards and lots more aesthetically pleasing. "[The board and management] allow you be as involved or as uninvolved as you want to be," Saade says.

Linda Schoeppler, secretary of the HOA, says the community—which is named for the Bald Eagles that populate the area—was built in ten different phases, the first of which consisted of three buildings. "The builders were very taken with New England's history and U.S. history, and they wanted to create that feeling here," she says. "All the streets are named after places in New England, and all the different styles of townhouses are named after locations and places in New England."

Schoeppler describes Bald Eagle as a rural community, and says that the "builder must have had great vision, because it started out as woods and fields." Schoeppler says originally there were five private houses in the area, which still exist today and have been incorporated into the community.

Keeping it in the Black

Today, Bald Eagle Village is a mostly self-sufficient community, and property values are at or above those of neighboring areas. Saade says all that is possible because "[The association] started building reserves right away. We have close to a million dollars in reserves, which, when you break it down per unit, may not sound like a lot, but when you compare it to many other places, we're really fiscally sound."

He also says the association—along with the management company—runs a tight ship. "All the previous boards have been very fiscally responsible with the budgeting and maintenance," Saade says. In previous years, he continues, some boards didn't increase fees because they had plenty of money coming in, but in the last few years it was decided that it would be best to get people used to a minimal incremental increase rather than suddenly facing higher common charges or a special assessment.

Schoeppler says keeping extraneous amenities to a minimum also helps boost the reserve fund. "Most of our dues go into our operating costs and also into our reserve fund," she says. "And we also have a fund where when people move in, they have to pay two months in advance of a maintenance fee." She says the village can use that for certain emergencies that might arise. Most dues, she says, go into current expenses. "We've built up a very healthy reserve fund over the years," Schoeppler says. "We're above recommended standards, and we have had reserve studies done, so we know where we stand with depreciation."

The Price is Right

Saade says that when compared to neighboring towns, the cost of living in Bald Eagle is much lower and residents get more value for their money. "The commute is fifteen, twenty minutes longer," he says, referring to the distance from neighboring towns, "but everyone's moving further and further out west." The cost of a one-bedroom townhouse unit with a loft is between $239,000 and $250,000, and a two-bedroom unit goes for around $315,000. He says that prices have been on the rise and that they will likely continue rising, though not at the same rate that they were.

Schoeppler concurs. "Housing in Bald Eagle Village is very reasonable," she says. "I've looked at other areas, and the prices here are wonderful." In addition to that, she says, her original investment has nearly doubled because of appreciating property values. "I think one of the reasons for that is because it's a very beautiful place," she says. "Again, we really feel that the builders had a great vision."

Bald Eagle Village units are designed with steep pitched roofs that help lessen the structural burden of heavy winter snows—a useful feature, considering that the village is located in the middle of a snow belt. The units are all sided in knotty pine and stained a taupe brown color with a crème wood trim. "We have ninety-nine acres with lots of wooded and lawn areas, and a lot of it has been left to look natural," she adds. "Some of us have units that look out into the fields, and we each have driveways that we can fit two to four cars in." She says that several gazebos and wells on the premises complement the general rustic feel. "Even in our rules and regulations we try to keep things looking rustic," Schoeppler says.

The People in Your Neighborhood

Although much of Bald Eagle's population is composed of couples ranging from their early thirties to middle age, Saade says it is also home to retirees and some young couples who've migrated to the village to start families. "The biggest attraction is the architecture," Saade says, adding that the village is also only forty-five miles from the lights and shopping districts of New York City and twenty miles from the golf courses of Warwick. "We also have apple orchards and wineries nearby, and Greenwood Lake, which is a big boating attraction in the summer," he says. "But the thing that attracts the most people is how wide open the village itself is and accessible it is to the city."

"They like the natural beauty of the area," Schoeppler says. "They also like the way the community fits into that natural beauty. I think they also like the privacy that they have here." Another factor that residents enjoy, she says, is the convenience of having major highways nearby. "People like being near to other forms of recreation that are nearby—there's Vernon for skiing, the lake for water sports, and lots of places for hiking, so if you're that kind of person, this is the place you'd like to be," Schoeppler says.

Michael McDonough is a freelance writer living on Long Island.