Franklin County VA Real Estate Guide

Franklin County, Virginia is a large county with a fairly large population just outside of Roanoke and it’s become more of a bedroom community in recent years.

The wonderful thing about the “land between the lakes” is that you have roughly 7 areas of the county, ranging from high-end homes on Smith Mountain Lake to small cabins and cottages nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains and just about everything else in between.

Today, I want to share with you the various sections of the county, talk a little about each one, and what you can generally find with regard to homes and land within the area.

Callaway

As someone who grew up in Franklin County, I lived at Smith Mountain Lake, Rocky Mount, and Callaway and by far that area is the most beautiful in my opinion.

It’s mostly farmland and it's nestled in the northwestern part of the county right along the Blue Ridge Mountains and Parkway.

What you will tend to find are large farms and people who are quite friendly, still waving to you as you drive down the road, even if you don’t know them.

There isn’t a town, although you can find Callaway Elementary School, the post office and volunteer fire department there as well as the Franklin County Speedway, where locals build and race their late-model stock cars and more.

A peaceful and slow pace of life, that’s generally what you will find and in recent years a lot of people have built larger homes in that area of the county as it’s fairly close to Roanoke via access to US Highway 220.

You can find a great mix of newer and older homes in the area, but one common theme you find in Callaway is the open farmland and spacious mountains. If you like that sort of thing, this area of the county is just for you.

Boones Mill

Boones Mill is a small town about 10 minutes north of the Rocky Mount seat and it's a gateway in and out of the county.

The population of the town is and always has been small, less than 300, although it's a great place to operate a small business with some storefronts and various shops like the Franklin County Distillery, the Trump Store, and the Shell gas station.

The town puts on an annual Apple Festival that brings in a large crowd, making apple butter, live bluegrass music, tractor pulls, and vendors from all over the region showcasing their goods for sale.

Living in the Boones Mill area is a bit more cost-effective than other places and its close access to southern Roanoke makes it a great choice for those wanting to live out in the country with a small commute.

The houses in the area are going to be a bit older, lots of brick ranches and rolling hills can be found in this area of the county.

Ferrum

Ferrum is an area on the western side of the county that has a lot going on to it. First, it sits close to Phillpott Lake which is run by the Army Corp of Engineers, it’s home to Ferrum College which is a 700-acre campus that has roughly 800 students and it’s home to the annual Folklife Festival each year.

Named after the iron in the dirt that most of the county has, it was also a place for making moonshine during the prohibition era.

Ferrum has lots of wooded land and many of the homes in this part of the county are spread out through rolling hills and wooded forests. Home pricing is generally lower than in some areas of the county, with a mix of older farmhouse-style homes and newer, more modern cabins and homes in the region.

Henry

The area of Henry is found in the southwestern part of Franklin County and touches Henry County itself, here is one of the two most affordable regions of Franklin County, due to it being much less populated than the north end and there not being a lot out in that area.

One notable thing about Henry however is that much of Philpott Lake runs along it, with plenty of outdoor things to do there, from fishing and hiking to camping and boating, the lake is a great oasis as there are no homes or businesses on the lake, although there is one Maria where you can gas up, grab lunch and buy supplies.

Penhook & Snow Creek

As you head southeast, start to find the Snow Creek region, as well as the Southern part of Smith Mountain Lake called the Penhook region.

Snow Creek is the final affordable part of the county with regards to buying land as much of that area is wooded and there is very little in the way of population.  Snow Creek is somewhat like Callaway in the form of it being an agricultural community, with lots of wild deer and turkey, making it a great place to hunt if you are into that sort of thing.

People in this part of Franklin County tend to get the best in the way of Fall leaves and color, so if you get a chance to head out that way, it makes a great afternoon drive.

Penhook on the other hand has become a small gateway to Southern Smith Mountain Lake. Various businesses and large homes on the water with golf communities will be found here, although Penhook is the least populated region of SML.

But don’t let that fool you, it’s a wonderful community to live and there is plenty of waterfront property to purchase in this section of the lake, especially if you want a more selected area of the lake to live on.

Some people refer to it as ‘South Lake’ a counterpart to the Westlake Community that has sprung up in the last 25 years.   

Rocky Mount

The town of Rocky Mount has exploded in recent years, located in the middle of the county, and being the county seat, the town has a lot of shopping, restaurants, and activities to choose from.

The older section of Main Street (Route 40) has been revitalized within the downtown, where you’ll find lots of shops and the Harvester music venue, where many top-tier musicians have played in recent years.

Along the eastern part of Route 40 (and 122 corridor), you’ll find the newer section of town with places like Walmart, Kroger, Starbucks, Lowes, and other various national chains.

In addition to being the county seat, it is home to the only middle and high school in the county, supporting more than 2,000 students on a 30+ acre campus, often compared to a small college campus. The town is the central hub of the county there are 10 additional elementary schools in the area and 6,300 students.

You’ll find a variety of homes that are new and remodeled with all sorts of price ranges, complete with utilities like water, sewer, trash removal, high-speed internet, and the like.

Westlake, Burnt Chimney & Smith Mountain Lake

On the eastern side of the massive 712 square miles of the county, you will find Burnt Chimney, Westlake, and of course, Smith Mountain Lake.

Burnt Chimney is a small stop along the way to the lake and it’s home to the Homestead Creamy, making some of the very best in milk products using old-fashioned glass bottles, butter, cheeses, and other dairy products.

A few more miles down Route 122, you will find Westlake, the fastest-growing section of Franklin County. Here, you can find lots of shopping like a movie theater, Kroger, Wendy’s, Bojangles, and lots of other shops. It’s the ‘hub’ of the lake and many local residents and snowbirds make use of the Westlake area for all their needs.

Westlake is also budded up against the Booker T. Washington National Monument, which I definitely recommend visiting should you have the chance.

Finally, Smith Mountain Lake is the high-end part of the county with homes on the lake ranging from a few hundred thousand dollars for a condo to millions of dollars for a waterfront home.

You’ll find a wide range of things to do along the lake, with bars, shops, boating, fishing, camping, and many other things for the whole family.

Over the years, the lake has created many private, upscale communities and many people have vacation homes on the lake as well as live there year-round.

As the fastest-growing section of Franklin, you’ll find a high demand for homes in that area.

No matter which part of Franklin County you choose, it’s a wonderful place to raise a family, offering a slower pace of life, and relaxing views of the Blue Ridge Mountains with a community-like atmosphere.