The Ford Field & River Club.

Richmond Hill Neighborhoods

Ford Plantation (The Ford Field & River Club)

A private, member-owned community of about 1,800 acres on the Ogeechee River, built around Henry Ford’s old winter estate and a Pete Dye golf course.

A Living Richmond Hill guide · Updated October 2026

Where it is

The Ford sits on the Great Ogeechee River east of the Richmond Hill town center. Ford Way meets Bryan Neck Road at the public road, and Bryan Neck Road connects to Ford Avenue (GA 144) and then to I-95. The club’s own marketing says it is about 20 miles south of Savannah. Our measured road distance to downtown Savannah is closer to 23 miles.

Homes and builders

The club’s real estate site describes New Orleans French Colonials, grand Southern manors, Charleston-style garden homes and estate lots. It names three enclaves: Silk Hope Harbor, McAllister Point and Estate Lots. It also says there are five enclaves in all, and we could not find the other two named. A 2019 Ocean Home feature described a village-style neighborhood called Silk Run, which does not appear on the club’s current list.

How many homes are there? The numbers differ by source and year. The club’s marketing, repeated by Visit Savannah, speaks of 400 residences and homesites. WSAV said in 2015 that the community would hold up to 400 families. Ocean Home counted about 250 other properties in 2019. We found no current count of homes built.

We did not find a published price range, so we are not giving one. Builders are not named on the pages we could read. The club’s real estate arm is Ansley Development Group, according to Golf Business magazine in 2024.

The club’s real estate site says listed homes may be owned by unrelated third parties and that the club is not involved in those sales. Whether a buyer must join the club is not spelled out on the pages we could read, so ask the club directly.

Membership and dues

The club says it offers several membership options, each with a one-time initiation fee and annual dues. Membership and dues are not published. Prospects tour through what the club calls Discovery Visits. Use the club’s phone number above to ask what applies to a home purchase. We have seen unofficial dollar ranges on third-party directories, and we are not repeating them because they are undated and unverified.

Amenities

These come from the club’s own pages and from Golf Business magazine (May/June 2024), unless noted.

• Golf: a Pete Dye course with two distinct nines, a parkland front nine and a links-style back nine among former rice paddies. The club says there are no tee times. Pete Dye returned in 2014 to renovate it.
• Sports Barn, Lake Dye Pool and Lake Dye Grill, named by Golf Business in its 2024 report on the club’s amenity upgrade.
• The Main House: the historic Ford winter house, used to host members, guests and prospects, with a restyling reported at over $600,000.
• Marina and equestrian center: a 36-slip deepwater marina and an equestrian center with bridle trails, per club marketing in a Visit Savannah article (labeled in part as promoted content).

The club says clubhouse renovations, a longer driving range and a virtual training center are slated for completion in 2027. Golf Business reported the amenity upgrade at $22.5 million in 2024. A later Visit Savannah article gives $24.5 million, so the sources disagree. Access to all of it is subject to membership, dues and fees.

The club is not open to the public. The Richmond Hill Historical Society has partnered with the property on trolley tours in the past, but we did not find a current schedule.

Schools

Bryan County Schools serves all of Bryan County. We did not find a school zone published for this community, and we are not guessing one. Look up your exact address on the district’s south Bryan attendance zone page, then ask the district to confirm it before you commit. Our Bryan County schools guide explains how zones work.

History

Henry Ford began buying land on Bryan Neck in 1925, and eventually held about 85,000 acres on both sides of the Ogeechee, according to the Georgia Encyclopedia. The National Register nomination says he built a winter home on the site of Richmond Plantation in 1936. In 1941 the town of Ways Station was renamed Richmond Hill, in honor of Ford, per the Georgia Encyclopedia. Ford died in 1947, and much of his Bryan Neck land was later sold to timber companies. He also paid for the restoration of Fort McAllister in the late 1930s, which is now a state park.

The estate is on the National Register of Historic Places as “Richmond Hill Plantation,” listed in 1978. That is the historic estate’s official name. The modern community took the “Ford Plantation” name.

By the club’s own timeline, the property changed hands several times after 1950 and fell into disrepair. A private owner restored it in 1981 and hired Pete Dye. Sterling Bluff Associates bought the 1,800 acres in 1998 and created The Ford Plantation, and members took ownership in 2008. We could not find a date for the change to The Ford Field & River Club. Golf Business said only in 2024 that the community “has a new name.”

City limits and services

We could not confirm from an official city or county source whether The Ford is inside Richmond Hill city limits or in unincorporated Bryan County, so we are not saying either way. That matters for property taxes, utilities and who responds to calls. Before you buy, ask the City of Richmond Hill Planning & Zoning and Bryan County.

Frequently asked questions

More Richmond Hill neighborhoods

• HeartwoodHomes, amenities and location
• BuckheadNeighborhood profile
• WaterwaysNeighborhood profile
• Richmond PlaceNeighborhood profile
• Moving to Richmond Hill & Bryan CountyThe full newcomer guide

Sources

1. The Ford Field & River Club, “Our History,” “Golf Course,” “Discovery” and home page. fordfieldandriverclub.com (read Oct. 15, 2026)
2. The Ford Field & River Club, real estate site. realestate.fordfieldandriverclub.com (read Oct. 15, 2026)
3. Golf Business (National Golf Course Owners Association), “Ford Field,” Scott Kauffman, May/June 2024. ngcoa.org/golf-business-magazine/2024/mayjune/ford-field
4. Visit Savannah, “Inside the Gates: Life at The Ford Field & River Club” (partly promoted content, undated). visitsavannah.com
5. WSAV, “The Ford Plantation Keeps Legacy Alive,” Nov. 19, 2015.
6. Ocean Home magazine, “Ford Plantation: High Life in the Low Country,” Sept. 24, 2019.
7. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places nomination, “Richmond Hill Plantation” (ref. 78000966), nomination 1977, listed Jan. 30, 1978. npgallery.nps.gov
8. New Georgia Encyclopedia, “Richmond Hill” (2022) and “Fort McAllister” (Buddy Sullivan, last edited June 6, 2017). georgiaencyclopedia.org
9. Bryan County Schools, “School Attendance Zones for South Bryan Elementary Students.” bryancountyschools.org
10. Distances: computed by Living Richmond Hill with OpenStreetMap data and the OSRM public router, Oct. 15, 2026.

Facts checked October 15, 2026 by the Living Richmond Hill team. Something changed? Tell us and we’ll update this page.