Everything We Know About The Planned Disney Community That's Coming To North Carolina

“Welcome home!” It’s the greeting you hear when you enter a Disney Vacation Club resort. But what if it wasn’t just a timeshare trip? What if you could live at Disney? While the secretive Golden Oaks luxury neighborhood within Walt Disney World has been around for years and the curated town of Celebration, Florida, is on every Disney fan's bucket list, there’s a new wave of Disney-branded residential properties in the works and one community is heading straight to the North Carolina Piedmont. 

A New Kind Of Mouse House 

First announced in 2022, Storyliving by Disney is a new branch with planned communities that will be managed by Disney Cast Members (Disney employees) and infused with Disney branding. Two locations have been announced so far: California and North Carolina. Storyliving communities will feature a mix of home styles and residential units, from single-family homes to designated neighborhoods for seniors older than 55. Each community will offer an additional membership to a club designed by Walt Disney Imagineers as well as Disney-run dining, live entertainment, events and seminars, and community field trips. 

Sometimes planned neighborhoods can feel isolated, stagnant, and just plain out of touch, but in an initial press announcement, Disney said that Storyliving will have an emphasis on community wellness and volunteering with area outreach programs and organized philanthropic events. Rather than the clawwwww! dropping a Disney neighborhood into random locations, Disney Imagineers are incorporating a “placemaking” approach to blend these new neighborhoods into the area with architecture and interior design that is both inspired by and reflects each location’s unique landmarks, terrain, and culture. 

Life-Long Learning, Disney Style

While California was the debut Storyliving locale, the second spot and first in the South will be more than twice as large with 1,500 acres and more than 4,000 residential units. And it’s all happening in Pittsboro, which just so happens to contain one of the most beautiful places in North Carolina, and is about 30 minutes from Chapel Hill. It’s also less than an hour from Durham and Raleigh. Welcome to Asteria. The new Disney neighborhood in Chatham County will be part of the existing Chatham Park planned community by Preston Development Company. 

Asteria will be influenced by the universities of North Carolina’s famous Research Triangle: Duke, one of the most beautiful colleges in the South, UNC Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State. As such, Asteria is branded as a “campus of discovery” and the community club will feature enrichment programs such as lessons with Disney artists and excursions that “spark life-long learning.”

The Magic Of North Carolina 

Asteria is a new kind of Disney magic that will pay homage to the beauty of the North Carolina foothills. In a blog post, Disney said that Imagineers are imagining “spaces where nature is always on display, blurring the lines of indoor and outdoor living.”

“We chose the community’s name to pay homage to the native North Carolina aster flower,” said Shawn Montague of Walt Disney Imagineering in a press release. “The flower is also a namesake of the Greek goddess Asteria whose tears of stardust fell to the Earth and sprouted the first aster flowers. We thought it was a beautiful way to honor North Carolina’s natural beauty from the Earth to the sky.”

The existing Chatham Park planned community already has intentionally large green spaces and in a press release Disney said that Asteria will have “acres of neighborhood parks and miles of beautiful walking and biking trails where residents can connect with the outdoors.” The Disney neighborhood will also feature a community garden, sports courts, swimming pools, outdoor lawn games, fire pits, and more. 

While no details have been released for the overall architecture and interior design styles, Disney said in a press release that home styles will “line quaint streets leading to a mix of community amenities designed to showcase the area’s surrounding natural beauty.” Imagineers did their homework and traveled to the North Carolina Piedmont for inspiration when dreaming up Asteria. While immersing themselves in the region, they toured dozens of local landmarks, met with subject-matter experts, and spent time on walking and architectural tours to better understand the area. Some of the spots they visited–and perhaps this will give clues as to the overall Asteria aesthetic–include Sarah P. Duke Gardens, one of our favorite botanical gardens in the South, Cary Park, one of the top reasons we love Cary, and the North Carolina Museum of Art, which is one of the best things to do in Raleigh. 

To create these communities, Disney is working with DMB Development. “We’re looking forward to collaborating with Disney to bring another Storyliving by Disney community to life,” said DMB Development CEO Brent Herrington. “North Carolina’s rich landscape and history is at the heart of our initial planning work with Walt Disney Imagineering. We’ve got a lot of great ideas to showcase the beauty of this area.”

Asteria is still in the beginning stages of planning with Walt Disney Imagineering and DMB Development. Home sales are expected to begin by 2027.