Melissa was born and raised in farm country on the Cumberland Plateau of southern middle Tennessee, roaming the gently rolling fields among the horses and cattle of her grandparent’s farms. After undergraduate work at the University of the South and graduate degrees from the University of Tennessee, she taught at veterinary colleges and teaching hospitals at Texas A&M, the University of California, Tufts University, and Virginia Tech before settling finally in northern Rockbridge County in the late 1990’s to pursue new ventures with her horses and career. “I’m one of those people who drove through the Shenandoah Valley, traveling from somewhere to somewhere and fell in love with this place. The people of this area are, as Thomas Jefferson once described, ‘…the cultivators of the earth…the most virtuous and independent of citizens’ and, so, it feels like home to me. And, you can’t beat the view!”
After Melissa had been selling real estate for a few years, she began her training as an appraiser and, because of her farming background, became interested in land preservation, concentrating on conservation easement appraisal work almost from the start. “Appraising houses and buildings and helping clients buy and sell those properties is a great way to make a living, but getting in a pick-up truck and driving to the top of a field to help an owner protect his land forever is a calling and a privilege. I am very lucky to be a part of not only preserving legacies but helping people create them too! And, you can’t beat the view!” Melissa resides with a one-eyed good cattle dog and a big thoroughbred in Rockbridge County, near Lexington, Virginia. When she isn’t showing property or trying to figure out what it is worth, she sneaks in a ride on that big bay horse. “The view is always better from the back of a good horse.”
Cell phone: (540) 461-0260
Office phone: (540) 464-1776
Fax: (540) 464-1775
appraisermh@ntelos.net