Cardinal News: Then & Now takes a look back at the stories we brought you over the last 12 months. Through the end of the year, we’re sharing updates on some of the people and issues that made news in 2025. This installment: an update on Henry County’s Villa Heights housing project.
Several months after breaking ground, Henry County officials converged on the Villa Heights neighborhood to cut the ribbon on the first four of 13 planned houses.
Located on Stultz Road, the Villa Heights neighborhood is one of a handful of areas featured in Henry County’s ongoing effort to convert dilapidated structures into workforce housing.
“Housing is directly tied to economic development,” Jim Adams, chairman of the Henry County Board of Supervisors, said at Thursday’s ribbon-cutting. “When people have access to stable, affordable homes, it supports local employers, helps families put down roots and encourages reinvestment in our communities.”
Under current plans, Villa Heights will be an ongoing, yearslong initiative to continue constructing new housing as funds become available.
“Today’s ribbon-cutting is not the end of the project but is an important step forward,” Adams said. “The homes you see here represent the first phase to bring 13 new homes to Villa Heights.”
While the idea to convert dilapidated houses dates back several years, according to board Vice Chair Joe Bryant, the Villa Heights project is among the first to have yielded new housing.
Unveiling the four new housing units was an emotional experience for Bryant. He spent some time in the area as a small child, and he spoke about Villa Heights’ slow progression from a spot where kids could play to homes that had holes in the walls and roofs and were covered in vegetation.
“I remember this area here … used to be a beautiful spot,” Bryant said. It went from a “vibrant place to live” to a place that he “wouldn’t want anybody” to live, he said.
Bryant said he looks forward to seeing the project’s progression.
“To me, this is real progress for Henry County,” he said.
Two of the new homes offer two bedrooms, while the other two are three-bedroom units.
Builders tried to make the homes modern while using locally sourced building materials, according to Bobby Taylor of Taylor Construction, the firm that constructed the homes.
“All these are custom-built,” Taylor said. “There are no shortcuts here. You’ve got all vinyl, solid floors.”
Collinsville-based real estate firm Havenmoore has been commissioned to oversee the process of selling the homes. Company representative Amy Guilliams said the homes are geared toward relative affordability.
“The county set the price for them,” Guilliams said. “Based on how much they put into the home determines their price.”
The homes are priced between $170,000 and $185,000 — around the same amount it took to build them. The goal is to improve the county’s housing outlook rather than turn a profit, Bryant said earlier this year.
Guilliams said people have already expressed interest in buying the houses.
“We have been showing the houses,” she said.
Officials hope that the Villa Heights project and other efforts to renovate dilapidated structures will have a positive impact on the community — and not just by increasing the county’s stock of housing. Bryant said he hopes the project will set an example for residents already living there.
“The neighborhood has started to pick up now,” Bryant said. “The place is starting to look a lot better than it used to look. It’s great to see that, it really is.”