A real estate development focused on “developing aligned communities in Appalachia” is causing a stir in the media.
The Highland Rim Project was announced on Jan. 1 by Joshua Abbotoy, managing partner of New Founding, the right-wing venture fund overseeing the project. “Very excited to announce this project,” Abbotoy wrote on X. “It is the culmination of serious time and deliberation looking at the changing shape of where Americans live and work, and the factors that are driving movement in this country. The demand we’ve been seeing already is strong confirmation of the thesis.”
The goal of the project is to “develop rural towns and communities” in the Eastern Highland Rim area around Tennessee and Kentucky. In partnering with business owners, pastors, and leaders in the community, New Founding hopes to build a community that is “conducive to a natural, human and uniquely American way of life.”
This is not the first time members of the right-wing have attempted to establish their own community. In 2011, survivalist novelist and blogger James Wesley Rawles proposed the American Redoubt movement, in which conservative Christians were encouraged to move to areas of the Pacific north-west.
While supporters see the project as a “safe haven” for like-minded people, critics question what the “unique American way of life” entails.
“Utopian communities have long been a feature of the American landscape, but this may be more of a money-driven land speculation project in the classic sense,” author Katherine Stewart said. Her book, “The Power Worshippers,” is a study on the Christian nationalist movement.
New Founding is working with Kentucky Ridgerunner, an LLC founded in 2022 that owns the land being sold to buyers through the Highland Rim Project. Both Joshua Abbotoy and his father, Mark Abbotoy, are partners of Ridgerunner.
The Ridgerunner website currently advertises two land developments near Burkesville, a town in southern Kentucky. Several lots are available in “Longhollow Acres” and “the Bend at the Cumberland River,” ranging from $39,000 to $399,000.
“This is typical of the far-right’s emotional need for a ‘safe space,’” Stewart wrote. “It’s not just that some members of this extremist cohort disagree with liberals, feminists, or any number of people who don’t share their views, it’s that they really can’t stand having those people anywhere nearby.”
Despite New Founding’s rejection of “left-wing ideology,” they claim their organization, and the Highland Rim Project by extension, are not designed to create division.
According to the website, New Founding’s “ideals serve primarily to anchor, not to exclude. We are open to partnering with a wide range of people who are willing to support our ventures and accept our commitment to these ideals, though they may diverge on some issues.”
Interested parties are encouraged to fill out the “Resident Waitlist” form on the New Founding website.
“We are collecting indications of interest and expect to announce the precise location of the project by late 2024/early 2025,” the website reads. “In the meantime, we are acquiring properties and making out development plans.”