The Visionaries, Management & Take-Care-of-Everything Team

The South River Highlands Country Retreat Team

Barney Brown & Antonia Albano, husband & wife duo, purchased this 250 acres in 2003 & 2004. Both Antonia & Barney have had life long interests in the arts, music, have been lovers of the natural environment & experience life as an integrated whole. They opened & co-operated a holistic center just north of San Francisco renting to 10-14 health care practitioners while calling that home base for their private practices. This California holistic approach to life certainly lent itself to what they have created here in Virginia.

Barney brings a lifetime of entrepreneurial pursuits, love of meditative practice, philosophy, physics & spiritually centered life to this magical retreat center. With a background in real estate, farming, financial consulting & spiritual practice, this land & vision were a perfect match. His expertise is invaluable. Even when Barney is immersed in his painting studio on the farm or his vegetable garden, the ‘camel tetherer’ keeps everyone together & headed the same direction. No mean feat with a team of independent persons!

Antonia brings her enthusiasm, love of music, the natural environment, creative expression, decades of design related business & national management background to this endeavor. She designs all advertising layout & copy for the website & for this property. Antonia is the creator of the State of Grace Pulsation Center modern day labyrinth, the family of sculptures called the Geometries of Love, the annual Celebration of Love event & the multi-tiered meditation garden, Jardin d’OrPhi.

Lesley McCormick heads her independent management contracting service. She brings advertising sales & modeling agency management experience to the mix. With a “can-do!” attitude Lesley brings untiring professional energy. Day to day over-seeing of many facets of the business, accounts payable, event tours of facility & grounds, over-seeing of additional contracted employees plus a variety of “whatever is needed” is added to her “Mom’s” hat. The mother of 4 children explains her “very little rocks my boat” nature.

Russell Camden, an independent general contractor, has offered his expertise in most all of the building, remodels, repairs, roofing, mowing plus maintenance of all the property. A never-ending challenge. Truly a man of a vast variety of skills & the rare ability to jump from one project to another & another without losing his sanity. Husband, father of two children, we are most fortunate for the time Russell makes available to us in addition to other projects & maintaining his own farm & animals. When not engaged in projects you will find Russell fishing.