Imagine having a full-service stable in your neighborhood right across the street in fact. Imagine being able to look out your bedroom window and see your horse in the paddock. Imagine being able to bring him home on Saturday afternoons and turn him out in your one-acre backyard for a little leisurely lawn mowing.

Ann Miles Builder, Inc. has turned that dream into a reality at Sarah's Way in Newton, New Hampshire. A planned equine community, Sarah's Way combines eight upscale homes with a central 20-stall barn, pastures, rings and trails for the ideal equestrian neighborhood. "We look at land and the feasibility of developing that land for horses," explains Ann, owner and developer.

"We put 4,000-square-foot homes on one to one-and-a-half acres. We bring people together with commonalities... they've done this in Europe for years."

All of the buildings at Sarah's Way are custom designed. "Each house is unique, no model A, model B, or model C. We start with a blank piece of paper," she says. "This community also lends itself to somebody who travels a lot. They can come home on the weekend, enjoy having their horse close by, and feel like they're part of the back-yard barn."

The riding facility includes a main 14-stall barn with a 75' x 160' indoor arena and a second carriage barn with six stalls. The stalls open up to paddocks for easy turnout. The outdoor arena, 120' x 120', is sunken in and protected with natural barriers. Two additional outdoor rings will be constructed this summer. "Such a facility won't have any one person overwhelming the barn, like a trainer with 15 horses," Ann notes. "Instead, we'll have two or three horses per family." To keep the atmosphere low-key and private, clinics will be offered but no shows will be held on the property.

Over the carriage barn sits the community room, an ideal gathering spot complete "with all the amenities, such as hot showers, a full kitchen, TV and VCR, and a veranda that overlooks the entire complex," Ann describes.

"I don't know of anything else like this. It's the first community of its kind on the east coast. It's more affordable to do it this way: if you build a $300,000 house, you don't have to turn around and build a $200,000 barn."

She likens it to a yacht club environment or living alongside a golf course. "I build the home, and the equine facility is the extra they get for living here," she says. "If they sell the house, there are no restrictions on the next owner--it's not like a condo association. Stalls are available for the board fee, but residents don't have to keep horses."

Since the equine complex is owned by Ann Miles Builder, Inc. and privately managed, feed, hay and other essentials are bought in tonnage at a discount, which Ann hopes will enable her to cut costs even more.

A horse owner and carriage collector herself, Ann has built many houses, stables, arenas and paddocks during her career, but Sarah's Way allowed her to put all her skills together.