--- At the Ford Plantation, they're lucky to be starting with land that is superb and full of history. The 1,800-acre waterfront property, twenty miles south of Savannah, is an unusual combination of grassy low-country wilds and plantation-style manicuring, with nesting blue herons on the one hand and avenues of antebellum live oaks on the other. Part of a rice-growing estate in the 18th century, the property eventually became the winter home of automotive tycoon Henry Ford and his wife Clara from 1925 until Clara's death in 1950. After several subsequent private ownerships - one resulting gin the creation of an 18-hole golf course design by Peter Dye, for a man who didn't even plan golf - a group of investors acquired it. They've wisely held on to more than just Henry Ford's name: they've also got his favorite tractor, his hunting cabin, his deepwater marina on the Ogeechee River, and other talismans of the good life that my just seduce the children of the information age to rise up from their screens for a few hours and enjoy the outdoors. The partners are trying hard to avoid becoming a golf ghetto, and the have undertaken to build a diverse sporting colony for active families, with a fitness center and spa, riding, tennis and squash, fishing and kayaking, sporting clays and nature trails - in short, a set up any summer camp could love.
--- So,too, the partners hope, will the sultans of the cell-phone generation,family-minded achievers in mid-career who are looking for another home in a place with a sense of tradition, a full roster of diversions and an airport less than thirty minutes away. For those who can afford it - two- to fifteen-acre building lots are priced between $275,000 and $1.5 million - the place is extremely appealing. Only 400 families will buy in, most of whom will probably spend less than three months a year in residence.