Since 1887, generations of the Short family have farmed 200 acres on the outskirts of Franklin, at the northwest corner of Mack Hatcher Parkway and Highway 96 West. Now they want to create a mixed-use rural village, an Agri-hood centered on working farms, land conservation, and agriculturally based destinations and experiences for the century to come.
“As a family, we are proud to descend from some of the earliest residents of Franklin, and for generations we have enjoyed living in harmony with the Earth which sustains and nourishes us. As we look to the future, we have decided to transition from a legacy of dairy farming to a farming operation that can become a community of its own for residents and visitors,” said Bill Short, who along with his sister Mary Anne Warren, and nearly a legion of their nieces and nephews, is charting a path for the family’s legacy. “We have come to a point where growing crops no longer makes sense for us, but we didn’t want to just sell the farm to a developer.”
Instead, they have selected Brian Wright, founding principal of Franklin-based Town Planning and Urban Design Collaborative LLC, and Craige Hoover—who led Southall in Franklin from conception through construction and opening earlier this year—as their development partners to help them create a farm-based village.
The public is invited to join the family and design team in a multi-day series of workshops, known as a Charrette. The purpose is to offer a forum for open and meaningful dialogue where interested citizens, the design team, city staff, and public officials can come together to collaborate directly with the Short family and the development team at the beginning of the planning process.
The Charrette will begin with an Opening Presentation and Hands-on Community Workshop at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 27, in the gym at Franklin Christian Academy (818 Old Charlotte Pike East). A pop-up design studio will be open for the next five days, in which the planning team will work, and topical meetings will cover topics ranging from infrastructure and utilities to transportation, housing types, community character, open space conservation, and agricultural food hubs. The studio will be located at the Westhaven Clubhouse on Friday, April 28th and moved to the Heritage Room at The Factory at Franklin from April 29 through May 2. The Charrette is entirely open to the public and input gathered from participants will be captured and incorporated into a conceptual Master Plan that will be created in real-time at the pop-up studio. A conceptual Master Plan will be shared during a Closing Presentation back at Franklin Christian Academy on Tuesday, May 2 at 6 p.m. The full schedule can be found at ShortFarmCharrette.com.
Wright, an 18-year resident of Westhaven, has become nationally renowned for creating authentic mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly environments and memorable places that stand the test of time. He moved to Franklin with his family to serve as director of planning and design for Southern Land Company as Westhaven was being developed, and more recently worked with the City of Franklin to write the City’s new Zoning Ordinance and Historic District Guidelines. His company, Town Planning and Urban Design Collaborative, LLC, has been instrumental in shaping smart rural growth and development not just here, but around the country.
Hoover, a Middle Tennessee native, has built a career creating transformational mixed-use places throughout North America, beginning in Seaside, Florida, and most recently here in Franklin. As a consultant, he was selected to evaluate key assets and opportunities for the Nashville Next 25-year master plan, and then oversaw the development of Franklin’s globally recognized Southall resort from 2018 through its opening in early 2023. The luxury farm resort was recognized with Travel + Leisure’s Global Vision Award in late 2022 and was just named to the magazine’s “It List” of the top 100 new hotels in the world for 2023.
Short family matriarch Mary Anne Warren says not only will her descendants be able to enjoy that land for generations, but so will residents and visitors.
“We envision a community built around the legacy of agriculture, with the best land dedicated to agricultural production and other areas featuring a diversity of housing, great places to taste and experience and learn about where our food comes from, and why it’s so important to care for the land,” she said. “It takes a village to operate a farm, and this is the next evolution of the ecosystem that has supported so many since the 1880’s. We want to shape what this farmland will be for the next 135 years.”
For more information, please visit ShortFarmCharrette.com.
