The Woods

Independent Assessment

The evidence on The Woods is genuinely mixed. On one side: activeadultliving.com maintains a dedicated category page tagging The Woods as one of Hedgesville's '55+ Retirement Communities,' and retirenet.com independently maintains its own '55+ Active Adult Communities' category page that also includes it -- two separate aggregators, tagging the same community the same way, is not nothing. On the other side: the community's own marketing, on its own website (thewoods.com), consistently and repeatedly describes itself in family and mixed-occupancy terms rather than age-restricted terms, explicitly naming vacation homeowners, retirees, and primary residents as its three constituent groups, with zero age-restriction language of any kind found anywhere in its own materials. The Woods' actual governing documents -- a Declaration of Conditions, Covenants, Restrictions, and Easements recorded in Berkeley County Deed Book 297 on April 9, 1976, and HOA bylaws amended as recently as November 16, 2024 -- exist as publicly referenced PDFs on the HOA's own sites (whoawv.com, movetothewoods.com, thewoodspropertyownersassociation.com), but search-only access could not retrieve or search their actual text for an age-restriction clause. Given that a community's own consistently family-inclusive self-description is, if anything, a stronger signal than a secondary aggregator's category tag (a community with a genuine age restriction has every incentive to advertise it, not obscure it), The Woods is not classified as age-restricted. It also does not affirmatively classify it as non-restricted, since two independent aggregators' tags are a real signal that should not be dismissed either. The Woods is therefore listed as an active-adult community whose legal age restriction is not independently verified, and the conflict is stated plainly rather than picking a side without having read the underlying covenant.

Who May Find This Community Appealing

The Woods will likely appeal to buyers who want a large, established, amenity-rich golf and vacation-home community rather than a small, age-segregated subdivision -- its own marketing is aimed as much at second-home buyers and vacationers as at retirees, so buyers who want neighbors of varying ages, including families with children some of the time, may be more comfortable here than in a legally age-restricted community. Buyers specifically seeking a legally guaranteed age-restricted environment should not assume The Woods provides one and should request the actual covenant text directly before purchasing.

Homes, Builders & Development History

The Woods was founded in 1976, with its governing Declaration of Conditions, Covenants, Restrictions, and Easements recorded in the Berkeley County Clerk's office in Deed Book No. 297 on April 9, 1976 -- making the community roughly 50 years old as of the last update. The community's original developer was not independently identified. Over its history, The Woods has grown to more than 1,200 properties spread across 1,800 acres, with its own marketing describing an evolving occupant mix: originally weighted toward Washington, DC and Baltimore-area vacation-home buyers, with what its own materials describe as "a growing number of retirees" and primary residents joining over time as West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle economy has expanded.

Current Pricing & Market Positioning

A fixed, current price range for homes at The Woods was not found. Given the property's age, size, and mix of cabins, vacation homes, and primary residences across 1,800 acres, pricing likely varies substantially by section, lot size, and home condition. Buyers should request current comparable sales and available listings directly from a local Eastern Panhandle agent familiar with The Woods specifically.

New Construction vs. Resale Considerations

As a roughly 50-year-old, fully established community of 1,200+ properties, The Woods reads primarily as a resale market rather than an active new-construction development, though some individual lots may still be available for custom building given the property's overall 1,800-acre scale. Current new-construction activity, builder involvement, and available lot inventory have not been independently confirmed; buyers should confirm current status directly with a local agent or WHOA.

Taxes, Insurance & Special Assessments

Homes at The Woods are subject to Berkeley County, West Virginia property tax administration. Berkeley County's effective property tax rate is reported at approximately 0.52-0.58%. West Virginia offers a homestead exemption excluding the first $20,000 of assessed value for owner-occupants age 65 or older or permanently and totally disabled, applied for through the county assessor. West Virginia's state Fair Housing Act exemption structure for 55-and-older housing retains a pre-1999 federal-style 'significant facilities and services' requirement alongside a separate 62-and-older exemption prong with no such requirement; see this state's own overview page for detail, and note that this legal nuance is a further reason buyers should review The Woods' actual recorded covenant directly rather than relying on marketing or aggregator tags to determine its legal age-restriction status. Buyers should confirm current property tax figures with the Berkeley County Assessor and request current homeowners-insurance quotes directly, since vacation-home and second-home insurance costs can differ meaningfully from primary-residence rates and no community-specific figure was found.

Golf

The Woods includes golf as part of its resort-style amenity base, consistent with its self-description as a golf and vacation-home community; the number of holes, course ownership/management structure, and membership-fee model are not independently confirmed and should be requested directly from the community.

Community Layout & Lifestyle

The Woods spans 1,800 acres and is organized around a golf and outdoor-recreation lifestyle rather than a single centralized clubhouse-and-calendar model typical of a smaller age-restricted subdivision. Its own marketing emphasizes a "carefree lifestyle filled with unsurpassed year-round recreation, friendly neighbors, and varied activities... in a safe, quiet, and well-governed community," with homesites and home designs described as suiting a range of tastes and budgets. A specific clubhouse, pool, or organized-activity calendar was not independently itemized; buyers should request current amenity and programming details directly from the community or WHOA.

Shopping, Healthcare & Airport Access

The Woods is located in Hedgesville, Berkeley County, in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, roughly 90 minutes by car from the Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD metro areas, per the community's own marketing. This regional positioning, explicitly aimed at DC/Baltimore vacation-home buyers rather than purely in-state West Virginia buyers, is consistent with the Eastern Panhandle's broader appeal to buyers within DC commuting distance. Specific drive times to individual DC-area or Baltimore-area destinations have not been independently confirmed.

Age Qualification & Material Ownership Restrictions

This is a genuinely disputed classification, disclosed rather than resolved. Supporting an age-restricted read: activeadultliving.com's own 'Golf Course Communities' and '55+ Retirement Communities' category pages for Hedgesville both include The Woods, and retirenet.com independently maintains its own '55+ Active Adult Communities' category page that also lists it -- two separate aggregators reaching the same tag independently is a real, non-trivial signal. Against an age-restricted read: The Woods' own website consistently and repeatedly describes its resident base in family-inclusive, mixed-occupancy terms -- vacation homeowners, a growing number of retirees, and primary residents -- with zero age-restriction language found anywhere in its own materials, and a community with a genuine legal age restriction typically has strong incentive to advertise that fact prominently rather than omit it. The actual governing documents that would resolve this directly -- the 1976 recorded Declaration of Conditions, Covenants, Restrictions, and Easements (Berkeley County Deed Book 297) and The Woods Homeowners Association's bylaws (amended November 16, 2024) -- exist as PDFs referenced on whoawv.com, movetothewoods.com, and thewoodspropertyownersassociation.com, but search-only access could not retrieve or search their actual text. Because this conflict remains genuinely unresolved, The Woods is classified as an active-adult community whose legal age restriction is not independently verified, and any buyer specifically motivated by an age-restriction requirement (in either direction) should request and review the recorded Declaration and current bylaws directly before purchasing.

Tradeoffs & Limitations

The central limitation here is exactly the evidentiary conflict disclosed: two aggregators tag The Woods as age-restricted, but its own marketing describes a family-inclusive mix of occupants, and the actual recorded covenant and HOA bylaws text were not directly reviewed to resolve the question. Buyers who specifically want or specifically want to avoid an age-restricted environment should treat this as an open question requiring direct verification, not a settled fact in either direction. Pricing, HOA fees, and current home-count figures were also not independently confirmed as fixed, current schedules; The Woods' own marketing figures (1,200+ families) may not reflect the current precise total. As a large, spread-out 1,800-acre property with a decades-long history, the mix of home ages, styles, and conditions likely varies significantly by section, and buyers should expect meaningful variation in what any given listing actually offers.

Comparison With Nearby Communities

The Woods is one of two 55+ communities listed in Berkeley County. The other, The Villas at Warm Springs in nearby Martinsburg, is a much smaller, brand-new 14-home development whose builder explicitly and repeatedly self-describes it as age-restricted -- a considerably stronger and more direct age-restriction signal than anything found for The Woods, even though The Woods is by far the larger, more established, and more amenity-rich property of the two. Buyers who specifically require a confirmed age-restricted community may find The Villas at Warm Springs the more reliable choice on that dimension; buyers who want scale, golf, and an established resort-style setting -- and are comfortable with an unresolved age-restriction question -- may still find The Woods worth direct further investigation.

Current Listings

Current available listings and, importantly, the actual recorded Declaration and current bylaws text needed to directly resolve the age-restriction question can be obtained from a connected local Eastern Panhandle agent or The Woods Homeowners Association's own site (whoawv.com).

Is The Woods age-restricted?

This is genuinely unresolved. Two secondary aggregators (activeadultliving.com, retirenet.com) independently tag it as a 55+/age-restricted community, but The Woods' own marketing consistently describes a family-inclusive mix of vacation homeowners, retirees, and primary residents with no age-restriction language found anywhere in its own materials. The actual recorded 1976 covenant and the HOA's 2024 bylaws text could not be retrieved to check directly, so buyers should request and review those documents before assuming either way.

How big is The Woods, and how old is it?

The Woods spans 1,800 acres and was founded in 1976, with its governing declaration recorded in Berkeley County that same year. It's home to more than 1,200 properties/families per the community's own marketing.

Does The Woods have golf?

Yes, golf is part of the community's amenity base, though the specific course details, membership structure, and fees have not been independently confirmed. Buyers should request this directly from the community.

Where is The Woods located?

In Hedgesville, Berkeley County, in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, roughly 90 minutes' drive from the Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD metro areas per the community's own marketing.