When I moved into the neighborhood, I would have bet money that I was moving into Summer Hill Farms. After all, that’s what True Homes has on their website and that’s what my real estate agent called it. The sign at the entrance to the neighborhood, put there by True Homes, says welcome to Summer Hill Farms.
That’s “Farms” — as in more than one. Plus, Summer Hill Farms rolls off the tongue, sounds like a great place to live.
But wait — there’s also another sign at the entrance. Looks like an older one, and it pretty clearly says “Summer Hill Farm.” Farm, not Farms. As in only one.
So which is it, Farm or Farms?
To find the answer, I located a copy of the Bylaws of the Homeowners Association (HOA). The title is pretty clear: they’re the Bylaws of the “SUMMER HILL FARM HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC.” Sounds straightforward enough, except that the very first item in the bylaws — Article I, no less — reads in its entirety:
“The name of this corporation shall be Summer Hill Farms Homeowners Association, Inc.”
Bylaws of the Summer Hill Farm Homeowners Association
So even the Bylaws are confused. They’re Farm in the title and Farms in the document. So we’re back where we started. Which is it — Farm or Farms?
To answer that question, I went to the font of all knowledge — Google. I figured I would start with what Google calls the main road going into the development. Surely that will give us the answer. Is it Farm or Farms? What does Google say?
The answer, sadly enough, is “Old Homeplace Drive.” That road, the one coming into the neighborhood, according to Google, isn’t called Summer Hill Farm Drive or even Summer Hill Farms Drive.
But wait! That doesn’t make sense. The street sign at the entrance to the neighborhood is pretty clear. And street signs are official, aren’t they?
So it must be Farm. The Davie County GIS also says the road is called “Summer Hill Farm Drive.” I guess that’s official, even more official than Google, if such a thing is possible.
And, moreover, if you’re crazy enough to actually read the neighborhood Covenants, which were written in 2010 and filed with the Register of Deeds in Davie County, making them both definitive and legal, you’re read that the neighborhood (or Subdivision in legalese) is called “Summer Hill Farm.”
May Davie County tax bill — and what could be more official than that — say that we’re living in “Summer Hill Farm.” They even say put the name in a box called “legal description.” So no matter if True Homes (or is that True Home?) calls it Summer Hill Farms or if Farms sounds better than Farm, we’re stuck with, legally at least, being Summer Hill Farm.
End of discussion. I think.
