diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/RegionFactoryBean.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/RegionFactoryBean.java
index d1179234..fb057bec 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/RegionFactoryBean.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/RegionFactoryBean.java
@@ -77,6 +77,8 @@ public class RegionFactoryBean<K, V> extends RegionLookupFactoryBean<K, V> imple
 	private Object[] asyncEventQueues;
 	private Object[] gatewaySenders;
 
+	private Region<?, ?> parent;
+
 	private RegionAttributes<K, V> attributes;
 
 	private Resource snapshot;
@@ -103,11 +105,11 @@ public class RegionFactoryBean<K, V> extends RegionLookupFactoryBean<K, V> imple
 			AttributesFactory.validateAttributes(attributes);
 		}
 
-		final RegionFactory<K, V> regionFactory = (attributes != null ? cache.createRegionFactory(attributes) :
-			cache.<K, V> createRegionFactory());
+		RegionFactory<K, V> regionFactory = (attributes != null ? cache.createRegionFactory(attributes)
+			: cache.<K, V>createRegionFactory());
 
 		if (hubId != null) {
-			enableGateway = enableGateway == null ? true : enableGateway;
+			enableGateway = (enableGateway == null || enableGateway);
 			Assert.isTrue(enableGateway, "hubId requires the enableGateway property to be true");
 
 			regionFactory.setGatewayHubId(hubId);
@@ -115,20 +117,15 @@ public class RegionFactoryBean<K, V> extends RegionLookupFactoryBean<K, V> imple
 
 		if (enableGateway != null) {
 			if (enableGateway) {
-				Assert.notNull(hubId, "enableGateway requires the hubId property to be true");
+				Assert.notNull(hubId, "The 'enableGateway' property requires the 'hubId' property to be set.");
 			}
 			regionFactory.setEnableGateway(enableGateway);
 		}
 
-		if (!ObjectUtils.isEmpty(cacheListeners)) {
-			for (CacheListener<K, V> listener : cacheListeners) {
-				regionFactory.addCacheListener(listener);
-			}
-		}
-
 		if (!ObjectUtils.isEmpty(gatewaySenders)) {
 			Assert.isTrue(hubId == null, "It is invalid to configure a region with both a hubId and gatewaySenders."
 				+ " Note that the enableGateway and hubId properties are deprecated since Gemfire 7.0");
+
 			for (Object gatewaySender : gatewaySenders) {
 				regionFactory.addGatewaySenderId(((GatewaySender) gatewaySender).getId());
 			}
@@ -140,6 +137,12 @@ public class RegionFactoryBean<K, V> extends RegionLookupFactoryBean<K, V> imple
 			}
 		}
 
+		if (!ObjectUtils.isEmpty(cacheListeners)) {
+			for (CacheListener<K, V> listener : cacheListeners) {
+				regionFactory.addCacheListener(listener);
+			}
+		}
+
 		if (cacheLoader != null) {
 			regionFactory.setCacheLoader(cacheLoader);
 		}
@@ -164,10 +167,20 @@ public class RegionFactoryBean<K, V> extends RegionLookupFactoryBean<K, V> imple
 		}
 
 		// get underlying AttributesFactory
-		postProcess(findAttrFactory(regionFactory));
+		postProcess(findAttributesFactory(regionFactory));
 
-		Region<K, V> region = regionFactory.create(regionName);
-		log.info("Created new cache region [" + regionName + "]");
+		Region<K, V> region = (this.parent != null ? regionFactory.createSubregion(parent, regionName)
+			: regionFactory.create(regionName));
+
+		if (log.isInfoEnabled()) {
+			if (parent != null) {
+				log.info(String.format("Created new Cache sub-Region [%1$s] under parent Region [%2$s].",
+					regionName, parent.getName()));
+			}
+			else {
+				log.info(String.format("Created new Cache Region [%1$s].", regionName));
+			}
+		}
 
 		if (snapshot != null) {
 			region.loadSnapshot(snapshot.getInputStream());
@@ -205,7 +218,7 @@ public class RegionFactoryBean<K, V> extends RegionLookupFactoryBean<K, V> imple
 	}
 
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-	private AttributesFactory<K, V> findAttrFactory(RegionFactory<K, V> regionFactory) {
+	private AttributesFactory<K, V> findAttributesFactory(RegionFactory<K, V> regionFactory) {
 		Field attrsFactoryField = ReflectionUtils.findField(RegionFactory.class, "attrsFactory",
 			AttributesFactory.class);
 		ReflectionUtils.makeAccessible(attrsFactoryField);
@@ -218,12 +231,13 @@ public class RegionFactoryBean<K, V> extends RegionLookupFactoryBean<K, V> imple
 	 * already initialized and configured by the factory bean before this method
 	 * is invoked.
 	 *
-	 * @param attrFactory attribute factory
+	 * @param attributesFactory attribute factory
 	 * @deprecated as of GemFire 6.5, the use of {@link AttributesFactory} has
 	 * been deprecated
 	 */
 	@Deprecated
-	protected void postProcess(AttributesFactory<K, V> attrFactory) {
+	@SuppressWarnings("unused")
+	protected void postProcess(AttributesFactory<K, V> attributesFactory) {
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -233,6 +247,7 @@ public class RegionFactoryBean<K, V> extends RegionLookupFactoryBean<K, V> imple
 	 *
 	 * @param region
 	 */
+	@SuppressWarnings("unused")
 	protected void postProcess(Region<K, V> region) {
 
 	}
@@ -244,17 +259,38 @@ public class RegionFactoryBean<K, V> extends RegionLookupFactoryBean<K, V> imple
 				if (!getRegion().getRegionService().isClosed()) {
 					try {
 						getRegion().close();
-					} catch (Exception cce) {
-						// nothing to see folks, move on.
+					}
+					catch (Exception ignore) {
 					}
 				}
 
-			} if (destroy) {
+			}
+			if (destroy) {
 				getRegion().destroyRegion();
 			}
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 *
+	 * @param asyncEventQueues defined as Object for backward compatibility with
+	 * Gemfire 6
+	 */
+	public void setAsyncEventQueues(Object[] asyncEventQueues) {
+		this.asyncEventQueues = asyncEventQueues;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Sets the region attributes used for the region used by this factory.
+	 * Allows maximum control in specifying the region settings. Used only when
+	 * a new region is created.
+	 *
+	 * @param attributes the attributes to set on a newly created region
+	 */
+	public void setAttributes(RegionAttributes<K, V> attributes) {
+		this.attributes = attributes;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Indicates whether the region referred by this factory bean, will be
 	 * closed on shutdown (default true).
@@ -263,26 +299,6 @@ public class RegionFactoryBean<K, V> extends RegionLookupFactoryBean<K, V> imple
 		this.close = close;
 	}
 
-	/**
-	 * Indicates whether the region referred by this factory bean, will be
-	 * destroyed on shutdown (default false).
-	 */
-	public void setDestroy(boolean destroy) {
-		this.destroy = destroy;
-	}
-
-	/**
-	 * Sets the snapshots used for loading a newly <i>created</i> region. That
-	 * is, the snapshot will be used <i>only</i> when a new region is created -
-	 * if the region already exists, no loading will be performed.
-	 *
-	 * @see #setName(String)
-	 * @param snapshot the snapshot to set
-	 */
-	public void setSnapshot(Resource snapshot) {
-		this.snapshot = snapshot;
-	}
-
 	/**
 	 * Sets the cache listeners used for the region used by this factory. Used
 	 * only when a new region is created.Overrides the settings specified
@@ -317,18 +333,11 @@ public class RegionFactoryBean<K, V> extends RegionLookupFactoryBean<K, V> imple
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Sets the region scope. Used only when a new region is created. Overrides
-	 * the settings specified through {@link #setAttributes(RegionAttributes)}.
-	 *
-	 * @see Scope
-	 * @param scope the region scope
+	 * Indicates whether the region referred by this factory bean, will be
+	 * destroyed on shutdown (default false).
 	 */
-	public void setScope(Scope scope) {
-		this.scope = scope;
-	}
-
-	public void setPersistent(boolean persistent) {
-		this.persistent = persistent;
+	public void setDestroy(boolean destroy) {
+		this.destroy = destroy;
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -348,6 +357,10 @@ public class RegionFactoryBean<K, V> extends RegionLookupFactoryBean<K, V> imple
 		this.diskStoreName = diskStoreName;
 	}
 
+	public void setEnableGateway(boolean enableGateway) {
+		this.enableGateway = enableGateway;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 *
 	 * @param gatewaySenders defined as Object for backward compatibility with
@@ -357,32 +370,39 @@ public class RegionFactoryBean<K, V> extends RegionLookupFactoryBean<K, V> imple
 		this.gatewaySenders = gatewaySenders;
 	}
 
-	/**
-	 *
-	 * @param asyncEventQueues defined as Object for backward compatibility with
-	 * Gemfire 6
-	 */
-	public void setAsyncEventQueues(Object[] asyncEventQueues) {
-		this.asyncEventQueues = asyncEventQueues;
-	}
-
-	public void setEnableGateway(boolean enableGateway) {
-		this.enableGateway = enableGateway;
-	}
-
 	public void setHubId(String hubId) {
 		this.hubId = hubId;
 	}
 
+	public void setParent(Region<?, ?> parent) {
+		this.parent = parent;
+	}
+
+	public void setPersistent(boolean persistent) {
+		this.persistent = persistent;
+	}
+
 	/**
-	 * Sets the region attributes used for the region used by this factory.
-	 * Allows maximum control in specifying the region settings. Used only when
-	 * a new region is created.
+	 * Sets the region scope. Used only when a new region is created. Overrides
+	 * the settings specified through {@link #setAttributes(RegionAttributes)}.
 	 *
-	 * @param attributes the attributes to set on a newly created region
+	 * @see Scope
+	 * @param scope the region scope
 	 */
-	public void setAttributes(RegionAttributes<K, V> attributes) {
-		this.attributes = attributes;
+	public void setScope(Scope scope) {
+		this.scope = scope;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Sets the snapshots used for loading a newly <i>created</i> region. That
+	 * is, the snapshot will be used <i>only</i> when a new region is created -
+	 * if the region already exists, no loading will be performed.
+	 *
+	 * @see #setName(String)
+	 * @param snapshot the snapshot to set
+	 */
+	public void setSnapshot(Resource snapshot) {
+		this.snapshot = snapshot;
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/RegionLookupFactoryBean.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/RegionLookupFactoryBean.java
index dfdcadb3..b4e18954 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/RegionLookupFactoryBean.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/RegionLookupFactoryBean.java
@@ -29,11 +29,11 @@ import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.GemFireCache;
 import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Region;
 
 /**
- * Simple FactoryBean for retrieving generic GemFire {@link Region}s. If the region doesn't exist, an exception is thrown.
- * 
- * For declaring and configuring new regions, see {@link RegionFactoryBean}.
- * 
+ * Simple FactoryBean for retrieving generic GemFire {@link Region}s. If the Region does not exist,
+ * an exception is thrown.  For declaring and configuring new regions, see {@link RegionFactoryBean}.
+ * <p/>
  * @author Costin Leau
+ * @author John Blum
  */
 public class RegionLookupFactoryBean<K, V> implements FactoryBean<Region<K, V>>, InitializingBean, BeanNameAware {
 
@@ -45,21 +45,24 @@ public class RegionLookupFactoryBean<K, V> implements FactoryBean<Region<K, V>>,
 
 	private String beanName;
 	private String name;
+	private String regionName;
 
 	public void afterPropertiesSet() throws Exception {
-		Assert.notNull(cache, "Cache property must be set");
+		Assert.notNull(cache, "The 'cache' property must be set.");
 
-		name = (StringUtils.hasText(name) ? name : beanName);
-		Assert.hasText(name, "The 'name' or 'beanName' property must be set.");
+		String regionName = (StringUtils.hasText(this.regionName) ? this.regionName
+			: (StringUtils.hasText(name) ? name : beanName));
+
+		Assert.hasText(regionName, "The 'regionName', 'name' or 'beanName' property must be set.");
 
 		synchronized (cache) {
-			region = cache.getRegion(name);
+			region = cache.getRegion(regionName);
 
 			if (region != null) {
-				log.info(String.format("Retrieved region [%1$s] from cache [%2$s].", name, cache.getName()));
+				log.info(String.format("Retrieved Region [%1$s] from Cache [%2$s].", regionName, cache.getName()));
 			}
 			else {
-				region = lookupFallback(cache, name);
+				region = lookupFallback(cache, regionName);
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -73,7 +76,8 @@ public class RegionLookupFactoryBean<K, V> implements FactoryBean<Region<K, V>>,
 	 * @throws Exception
 	 */
 	protected Region<K, V> lookupFallback(GemFireCache cache, String regionName) throws Exception {
-		throw new BeanInitializationException("Cannot find region [" + regionName + "] in cache " + cache);
+		throw new BeanInitializationException(String.format("Cannot find Region [%1$s] in Cache [%2$s].",
+			regionName, cache));
 	}
 
 	public Region<K, V> getObject() throws Exception {
@@ -88,34 +92,52 @@ public class RegionLookupFactoryBean<K, V> implements FactoryBean<Region<K, V>>,
 		return true;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Sets the name of the Cache Region based on the bean 'id' attribute.  If no Region is found for the given name,
+	 * a new one will be created.
+	 * <p/>
+	 * @param name the name of this bean (Region) in the application context (bean factory).
+	 * @see org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanNameAware#setBeanName(String)
+	 */
 	public void setBeanName(String name) {
 		this.beanName = name;
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Sets the cache used for creating the region.
-	 * 
+	 * Sets a reference to the Cache used to create the Region.
+	 * <p/>
+	 * @param cache a reference to the Cache.
 	 * @see org.springframework.data.gemfire.CacheFactoryBean
-	 * @param cache the cache to set
+	 * @see com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.GemFireCache
 	 */
 	public void setCache(GemFireCache cache) {
 		this.cache = cache;
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Sets the name of the cache region. If no cache is found under
-	 * the given name, a new one will be created.
-	 * If no name is given, the beanName will be used. 
-	 * 
-	 * @see com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Region#getFullPath()
-	 * @see #setBeanName(String)
-	 * 
+	 * Sets the name of the Cache Region based on the bean 'name' attribute.  If no Region is found with the given name,
+	 * a new one will be created.  If no name is given, the value of the 'beanName' property will be used.
+	 * <p/>
 	 * @param name the region name
+	 * @see #setBeanName(String)
+	 * @see com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Region#getFullPath()
 	 */
 	public void setName(String name) {
 		this.name = name;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Sets the name of the Cache Region as expected by GemFire.  If no Region is found with the given name, a new one
+	 * will be created.  If no name is given, the value of the 'name' property will be used.
+	 * <p/>
+	 * @param regionName a String indicating the name of the Region in GemFire.
+	 * @see #setName(String)
+	 * @see com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Region#getName()
+	 */
+	public void setRegionName(String regionName) {
+		this.regionName = regionName;
+	}
+
 	protected Region<K, V> getRegion() {
 		return region;
 	}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/ReplicatedRegionFactoryBean.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/ReplicatedRegionFactoryBean.java
index 50ff9cae..642f8d85 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/ReplicatedRegionFactoryBean.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/ReplicatedRegionFactoryBean.java
@@ -33,19 +33,19 @@ public class ReplicatedRegionFactoryBean<K, V> extends RegionFactoryBean<K, V> {
 
 			Assert.notNull(resolvedDataPolicy, String.format("Data Policy '%1$s' is invalid.", dataPolicy));
 
-			// Validate that the data-policy and persistent attributes are compatible when specified!
-			assertDataPolicyAndPersistentAttributesAreCompatible(resolvedDataPolicy);
-
 			if (DataPolicy.EMPTY.equals(resolvedDataPolicy)) {
 				resolvedDataPolicy = DataPolicy.EMPTY;
 			}
 			else {
 				// Validate that the user-defined Data Policy matches the appropriate Spring GemFire XML namespace
 				// configuration meta-data element for Region (i.e. <gfe:replicated-region .../>)!
-				Assert.isTrue(resolvedDataPolicy.withReplication(), String.format("" +
+				Assert.isTrue(resolvedDataPolicy.withReplication(), String.format(
 					"Data Policy '%1$s' is not supported in Replicated Regions.", resolvedDataPolicy));
 			}
 
+			// Validate that the data-policy and persistent attributes are compatible when specified!
+			assertDataPolicyAndPersistentAttributesAreCompatible(resolvedDataPolicy);
+
 			regionFactory.setDataPolicy(resolvedDataPolicy);
 		}
 		else {
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/SubRegionFactoryBean.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/SubRegionFactoryBean.java
index cdaa917c..95d0733b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/SubRegionFactoryBean.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/SubRegionFactoryBean.java
@@ -29,16 +29,18 @@ import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Region;
 import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.asyncqueue.AsyncEventQueue;
 import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.wan.GatewaySender;
 
-@SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
 /**
- * FactoryBean for creating a Gemfire Region as a sub-Region.
+ * FactoryBean for creating a Gemfire sub-Regions.
  * <p/>
  * @author David Turanski
  * @author John Blum
- * @param <K> - Region Key Type
- * @param <V> - Region Value Type
+ * @param <K> Region Key Type
+ * @param <V> Region Value Type
+ * @deprecated as Spring Data GemFire 1.4.0.  Use Region type specific FactoryBeans
+ * (e.g. ReplicatedRegionFactoryBean) instead.
  */
-// TODO why does this class extend the com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.AttributesFactory class?  AttributesFactory is deprecated!
+@Deprecated
+@SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
 public class SubRegionFactoryBean<K, V> extends AttributesFactory<K, V> implements FactoryBean<Region<K, V>>,
 		InitializingBean {
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/AbstractRegionParser.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/AbstractRegionParser.java
index c5b8e368..339882ae 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/AbstractRegionParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/AbstractRegionParser.java
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ManagedArray;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.AbstractSingleBeanDefinitionParser;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.ParserContext;
 import org.springframework.data.gemfire.GemfireUtils;
-import org.springframework.data.gemfire.SubRegionFactoryBean;
 import org.springframework.util.CollectionUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.xml.DomUtils;
@@ -46,7 +45,7 @@ abstract class AbstractRegionParser extends AbstractSingleBeanDefinitionParser {
 
 	@Override
 	protected Class<?> getBeanClass(Element element) {
-		return (isSubRegion(element) ? SubRegionFactoryBean.class : getRegionFactoryClass());
+		return getRegionFactoryClass();
 	}
 
 	protected abstract Class<?> getRegionFactoryClass();
@@ -67,45 +66,45 @@ abstract class AbstractRegionParser extends AbstractSingleBeanDefinitionParser {
 			boolean subRegion);
 
 	protected void doParseCommonRegionConfiguration(Element element, ParserContext parserContext,
-			BeanDefinitionBuilder builder, BeanDefinitionBuilder attrBuilder, boolean subRegion) {
+			BeanDefinitionBuilder builder, BeanDefinitionBuilder regionAttributesBuilder, boolean subRegion) {
+
+		String cacheRef = element.getAttribute("cache-ref");
+		String resolvedCacheRef = (StringUtils.hasText(cacheRef) ? cacheRef
+			: GemfireConstants.DEFAULT_GEMFIRE_CACHE_NAME);
 
 		if (!subRegion) {
-			String cacheRef = element.getAttribute("cache-ref");
-			// add cache reference (fallback to default if nothing is specified)
-			builder.addPropertyReference("cache", (StringUtils.hasText(cacheRef) ? cacheRef : GemfireConstants.DEFAULT_GEMFIRE_CACHE_NAME));
+			builder.addPropertyReference("cache", resolvedCacheRef);
 			ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, builder, "close");
 			ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, builder, "destroy");
 		}
-		// add attributes
-		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, builder, "name");
 
-		ParsingUtils.parseOptionalRegionAttributes(parserContext, element, attrBuilder);
-		ParsingUtils.parseStatistics(element, attrBuilder);
-		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, attrBuilder, "publisher");
-		if (!isSubRegion(element)) {
-			ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, builder, "persistent");
-		}
-		// set the data policy
+		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, builder, "name");
 		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, builder, "data-policy");
+		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, builder, "persistent");
+		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, regionAttributesBuilder, "publisher");
 
 		if (StringUtils.hasText(element.getAttribute("disk-store-ref"))) {
 			ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, builder, "disk-store-ref", "diskStoreName");
 			builder.addDependsOn(element.getAttribute("disk-store-ref"));
 		}
 
-		ParsingUtils.parseExpiration(parserContext, element, attrBuilder);
-		ParsingUtils.parseSubscription(parserContext, element, attrBuilder);
-		ParsingUtils.parseEviction(parserContext, element, attrBuilder);
-		ParsingUtils.parseMembershipAttributes(parserContext, element, attrBuilder);
+		ParsingUtils.parseOptionalRegionAttributes(parserContext, element, regionAttributesBuilder);
+		ParsingUtils.parseStatistics(element, regionAttributesBuilder);
+		ParsingUtils.parseExpiration(parserContext, element, regionAttributesBuilder);
+		ParsingUtils.parseSubscription(parserContext, element, regionAttributesBuilder);
+		ParsingUtils.parseEviction(parserContext, element, regionAttributesBuilder);
+		ParsingUtils.parseMembershipAttributes(parserContext, element, regionAttributesBuilder);
 
 		String enableGateway = element.getAttribute("enable-gateway");
 		String hubId = element.getAttribute("hub-id");
+
 		// Factory will enable gateway if it is not set and hub-id is set.
 		if (StringUtils.hasText(enableGateway)) {
 			if (GemfireUtils.isGemfireVersion7OrAbove()) {
 				log.warn("'enable-gateway' is deprecated since Gemfire 7.0");
 			}
 		}
+
 		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, builder, "enable-gateway");
 
 		if (StringUtils.hasText(hubId)) {
@@ -117,16 +116,16 @@ abstract class AbstractRegionParser extends AbstractSingleBeanDefinitionParser {
 						element);
 			}
 		}
+
 		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, builder, "hub-id");
 
-		// Parse child elements
-
-	 	parseCollectionOfCustomSubElements(parserContext, element, builder,
-				"com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.wan.GatewaySender", "gateway-sender","gatewaySenders");
-		parseCollectionOfCustomSubElements(parserContext, element, builder,
-				"com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.asyncqueue.AsyncEventQueue", "async-event-queue", "asyncEventQueues");
+		parseCollectionOfCustomSubElements(element, parserContext, builder,
+			"com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.asyncqueue.AsyncEventQueue", "async-event-queue", "asyncEventQueues");
+		parseCollectionOfCustomSubElements(element, parserContext, builder,
+			"com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.wan.GatewaySender", "gateway-sender","gatewaySenders");
 
 		List<Element> subElements = DomUtils.getChildElements(element);
+
 		for (Element subElement : subElements) {
 			if (subElement.getLocalName().equals("cache-listener")) {
 				builder.addPropertyValue("cacheListeners",
@@ -143,43 +142,47 @@ abstract class AbstractRegionParser extends AbstractSingleBeanDefinitionParser {
 		}
 
 		if (!subRegion) {
-			Map<String, Element> allSubRegionElements = new HashMap<String, Element>();
-			findSubregionElements(element, getRegionNameFromElement(element), allSubRegionElements);
-			if (!CollectionUtils.isEmpty(allSubRegionElements)) {
-				for (Map.Entry<String, Element> entry : allSubRegionElements.entrySet()) {
-					parseSubRegion(entry.getValue(), parserContext, entry.getKey());
-				}
-			}
+			parseSubRegions(element, parserContext, resolvedCacheRef);
 		}
-
 	}
 
-	private void parseCollectionOfCustomSubElements(ParserContext parserContext, Element element,
-			BeanDefinitionBuilder builder, String className, String subElementName, String propertyName) {
-		List<Element> subElements = DomUtils.getChildElementsByTagName(element, new String[] { subElementName,
-				subElementName + "-ref" });
-		if (!CollectionUtils.isEmpty(subElements)) {
+	private void parseSubRegions(Element element, ParserContext parserContext, String resolvedCacheRef) {
+		Map<String, Element> allSubRegionElements = new HashMap<String, Element>();
 
+		findSubRegionElements(element, getRegionNameFromElement(element), allSubRegionElements);
+
+		if (!CollectionUtils.isEmpty(allSubRegionElements)) {
+			for (Map.Entry<String, Element> entry : allSubRegionElements.entrySet()) {
+				parseSubRegion(entry.getValue(), parserContext, entry.getKey(), resolvedCacheRef);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	private void parseCollectionOfCustomSubElements(Element element, ParserContext parserContext,
+			BeanDefinitionBuilder builder, String className, String subElementName, String propertyName) {
+		List<Element> subElements = DomUtils.getChildElementsByTagName(element,
+			new String[] { subElementName, subElementName + "-ref" });
+
+		if (!CollectionUtils.isEmpty(subElements)) {
 			ManagedArray array = new ManagedArray(className, subElements.size());
+
 			for (Element subElement : subElements) {
 				array.add(ParsingUtils.parseRefOrNestedCustomElement(parserContext, subElement, builder));
 			}
+
 			builder.addPropertyValue(propertyName, array);
 		}
 	}
 
-	private BeanDefinition parseSubRegion(Element element, ParserContext parserContext, String regionPath) {
-		String parentBeanName = getParentPathForSubRegion(regionPath);
-		String regionName = getRegionNameFromElement(element); // do before 'renaming' the element, below
-
-		element.setAttribute("id", regionPath);
-		element.setAttribute("name", regionPath);
-
-		BeanDefinition beanDefinition = parserContext.getDelegate().parseCustomElement(element);
-		beanDefinition.getPropertyValues().add("parent", new RuntimeBeanReference(parentBeanName));
-		beanDefinition.getPropertyValues().add("regionName", regionName);
-
-		return beanDefinition;
+	private void findSubRegionElements(Element parent, String parentPath, Map<String, Element> allSubRegionElements) {
+		for (Element element : DomUtils.getChildElements(parent)) {
+			if (element.getLocalName().endsWith("region")) {
+				String subRegionName = getRegionNameFromElement(element);
+				String subRegionPath = buildSubRegionPath(parentPath, subRegionName);
+				allSubRegionElements.put(subRegionPath, element);
+				findSubRegionElements(element, subRegionPath, allSubRegionElements);
+			}
+		}
 	}
 
 	private String getRegionNameFromElement(Element element) {
@@ -187,15 +190,33 @@ abstract class AbstractRegionParser extends AbstractSingleBeanDefinitionParser {
 		return (StringUtils.hasText(name) ? name : element.getAttribute(ID_ATTRIBUTE));
 	}
 
-    private String buildPathForSubRegion(String parentName, String regionName) {
-        String regionPath = StringUtils.arrayToDelimitedString(new String[] { parentName, regionName }, "/");
-        if (!regionPath.startsWith("/")) {
-            regionPath = "/" + regionPath;
-        }
-        return regionPath;
-    }
+	private String buildSubRegionPath(String parentName, String regionName) {
+		String regionPath = StringUtils.arrayToDelimitedString(new String[] { parentName, regionName }, "/");
+		if (!regionPath.startsWith("/")) {
+			regionPath = "/" + regionPath;
+		}
+		return regionPath;
+	}
 
-	private String getParentPathForSubRegion(String regionPath) {
+	private BeanDefinition parseSubRegion(Element element, ParserContext parserContext, String subRegionPath,
+			String cacheRef) {
+
+		String parentBeanName = getParentRegionPathFrom(subRegionPath);
+		String regionName = getRegionNameFromElement(element); // do before 'renaming' the element below
+
+		element.setAttribute("id", subRegionPath);
+		element.setAttribute("name", subRegionPath);
+
+		BeanDefinition beanDefinition = parserContext.getDelegate().parseCustomElement(element);
+
+		beanDefinition.getPropertyValues().add("cache", new RuntimeBeanReference(cacheRef));
+		beanDefinition.getPropertyValues().add("parent", new RuntimeBeanReference(parentBeanName));
+		beanDefinition.getPropertyValues().add("regionName", regionName);
+
+		return beanDefinition;
+	}
+
+	private String getParentRegionPathFrom(String regionPath) {
 		int index = regionPath.lastIndexOf("/");
 		String parentPath = regionPath.substring(0, index);
 		if (parentPath.lastIndexOf("/") == 0) {
@@ -204,14 +225,4 @@ abstract class AbstractRegionParser extends AbstractSingleBeanDefinitionParser {
 		return parentPath;
 	}
 
-	private void findSubregionElements(Element parent, String parentPath, Map<String, Element> allSubregionElements) {
-		for (Element element : DomUtils.getChildElements(parent)) {
-			if (element.getLocalName().endsWith("region")) {
-				String regionPath = buildPathForSubRegion(parentPath, getRegionNameFromElement(element));
-				allSubregionElements.put(regionPath, element);
-				findSubregionElements(element, regionPath, allSubregionElements);
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ClientRegionParser.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ClientRegionParser.java
index bd598ab5..85d98596 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ClientRegionParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ClientRegionParser.java
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ class ClientRegionParser extends AbstractRegionParser {
 		builder.addPropertyValue("attributes", regionAttributesBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
 
 		List<Element> subElements = DomUtils.getChildElements(element);
+
 		ManagedList<Object> interests = new ManagedList<Object>();
 
 		for (Element subElement : subElements) {
@@ -110,7 +111,7 @@ class ClientRegionParser extends AbstractRegionParser {
 
 	@Override
 	protected void doParseRegion(Element element, ParserContext parserContext, BeanDefinitionBuilder builder,
-		boolean subRegion) {
+			boolean subRegion) {
 		throw new UnsupportedOperationException(String.format(
 			"doParseRegion(:Element, :ParserContext, :BeanDefinitionBuilder, :boolean) is not supported on %1$s",
 			getClass().getName()));
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/GemfireNamespaceHandler.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/GemfireNamespaceHandler.java
index f603c90d..60f15ea3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/GemfireNamespaceHandler.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/GemfireNamespaceHandler.java
@@ -31,12 +31,12 @@ import org.w3c.dom.Element;
  * @author David Turanski
  */
 class GemfireNamespaceHandler extends NamespaceHandlerSupport {
-	static final List<String> GEMFIRE7_ELEMENTS = Arrays.asList("async-event-queue", "gateway-sender",
-			"gateway-receiver");
+
+	protected static final List<String> GEMFIRE7_ELEMENTS = Arrays.asList("async-event-queue", "gateway-sender",
+		"gateway-receiver");
 
 	@Override
 	public BeanDefinition parse(Element element, ParserContext parserContext) {
-
 		boolean v7ElementsPresent = GEMFIRE7_ELEMENTS.contains(element.getLocalName());
 
 		if (v7ElementsPresent) {
@@ -49,24 +49,23 @@ class GemfireNamespaceHandler extends NamespaceHandlerSupport {
 	@Override
 	public void init() {
 		registerBeanDefinitionParser("cache", new CacheParser());
-		registerBeanDefinitionParser("client-cache", new ClientCacheParser());
-		registerBeanDefinitionParser("lookup-region", new LookupRegionParser());
-		registerBeanDefinitionParser("replicated-region", new ReplicatedRegionParser());
-		registerBeanDefinitionParser("partitioned-region", new PartitionedRegionParser());
-		registerBeanDefinitionParser("local-region", new LocalRegionParser());
-		registerBeanDefinitionParser("client-region", new ClientRegionParser());
-		registerBeanDefinitionParser("pool", new PoolParser());
-		registerBeanDefinitionParser("index", new IndexParser());
-		registerBeanDefinitionParser("disk-store", new DiskStoreParser());
 		registerBeanDefinitionParser("cache-server", new CacheServerParser());
-		registerBeanDefinitionParser("transaction-manager", new TransactionManagerParser());
-		registerBeanDefinitionParser("cq-listener-container", new GemfireListenerContainerParser());
+		registerBeanDefinitionParser("client-cache", new ClientCacheParser());
+		registerBeanDefinitionParser("client-region", new ClientRegionParser());
+		registerBeanDefinitionParser("lookup-region", new LookupRegionParser());
+		registerBeanDefinitionParser("local-region", new LocalRegionParser());
+		registerBeanDefinitionParser("partitioned-region", new PartitionedRegionParser());
+		registerBeanDefinitionParser("replicated-region", new ReplicatedRegionParser());
 		registerBeanDefinitionParser("async-event-queue", new AsyncEventQueueParser());
-		registerBeanDefinitionParser("gateway-sender", new GatewaySenderParser());
-		registerBeanDefinitionParser("gateway-receiver", new GatewayReceiverParser());
-		registerBeanDefinitionParser("function-service", new FunctionServiceParser());
-		// V6 WAN parsers
+		registerBeanDefinitionParser("disk-store", new DiskStoreParser());
 		registerBeanDefinitionParser("gateway-hub", new GatewayHubParser());
+		registerBeanDefinitionParser("gateway-receiver", new GatewayReceiverParser());
+		registerBeanDefinitionParser("gateway-sender", new GatewaySenderParser());
+		registerBeanDefinitionParser("index", new IndexParser());
+		registerBeanDefinitionParser("pool", new PoolParser());
 		registerBeanDefinitionParser("annotation-driven", new AnnotationDrivenBeanDefinitionParser());
+		registerBeanDefinitionParser("cq-listener-container", new GemfireListenerContainerParser());
+		registerBeanDefinitionParser("function-service", new FunctionServiceParser());
+		registerBeanDefinitionParser("transaction-manager", new TransactionManagerParser());
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/LocalRegionParser.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/LocalRegionParser.java
index aef8e54c..b76f3e5c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/LocalRegionParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/LocalRegionParser.java
@@ -23,27 +23,28 @@ import org.springframework.data.gemfire.RegionAttributesFactoryBean;
 import org.w3c.dom.Element;
 
 /**
- * Parser for &lt;local-region;gt; definitions.
- * 
+ * Parser for &lt;local-region;gt; bean definitions.
+ * <p/>
  * @author David Turanski
+ * @author John Blum
  */
 class LocalRegionParser extends AbstractRegionParser {
-	@Override
-	protected void doParseRegion(Element element, ParserContext parserContext, BeanDefinitionBuilder builder,
-			boolean subRegion) {
-
-		BeanDefinitionBuilder attrBuilder = subRegion ? builder : BeanDefinitionBuilder
-				.genericBeanDefinition(RegionAttributesFactoryBean.class);
-
-		super.doParseCommonRegionConfiguration(element, parserContext, builder, attrBuilder, subRegion);
-		if (!subRegion) {
-			builder.addPropertyValue("attributes", attrBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
-		}
-	}
 
 	@Override
 	protected Class<?> getRegionFactoryClass() {
 		return LocalRegionFactoryBean.class;
 	}
 
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+	@Override
+	protected void doParseRegion(Element element, ParserContext parserContext, BeanDefinitionBuilder builder,
+			boolean subRegion) {
+
+		BeanDefinitionBuilder regionAttributesBuilder = BeanDefinitionBuilder.genericBeanDefinition(
+			RegionAttributesFactoryBean.class);
+
+		super.doParseCommonRegionConfiguration(element, parserContext, builder, regionAttributesBuilder, subRegion);
+
+		builder.addPropertyValue("attributes", regionAttributesBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/LookupRegionParser.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/LookupRegionParser.java
index 3c601e87..2d20d6e2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/LookupRegionParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/LookupRegionParser.java
@@ -24,9 +24,10 @@ import org.w3c.dom.Element;
 
 /**
  * Parser for &lt;lookup-region;gt; definitions.
- *
+ * <p/>
  * @author Costin Leau
  * @author David Turanski
+ * @author John Blum
  */
 class LookupRegionParser extends AbstractRegionParser {
 
@@ -43,9 +44,9 @@ class LookupRegionParser extends AbstractRegionParser {
 		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, builder, "name", "name");
 
 		if (!subRegion) {
-			String attr = element.getAttribute("cache-ref");
-			// add cache reference (fallback to default if nothing is specified)
-			builder.addPropertyReference("cache", (StringUtils.hasText(attr) ? attr : GemfireConstants.DEFAULT_GEMFIRE_CACHE_NAME));
+			String cacheRef = element.getAttribute("cache-ref");
+			builder.addPropertyReference("cache", (StringUtils.hasText(cacheRef) ? cacheRef
+				: GemfireConstants.DEFAULT_GEMFIRE_CACHE_NAME));
 		}
 		else {
 			builder.addPropertyValue("lookupOnly", true);
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ParsingUtils.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ParsingUtils.java
index 3e417180..1110ca42 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ParsingUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ParsingUtils.java
@@ -183,10 +183,12 @@ abstract class ParsingUtils {
 	 * <p/>
 	 * @param parserContext the context used for parsing the XML document.
 	 * @param element the XML elements being parsed.
-	 * @param attributesBuilder the Region Attributes builder.
+	 * @param regionAttributesBuilder the Region Attributes builder.
 	 * @return true if parsing actually occurred, false otherwise.
 	 */
-	static boolean parseEviction(ParserContext parserContext, Element element, BeanDefinitionBuilder attributesBuilder) {
+	static boolean parseEviction(ParserContext parserContext, Element element,
+			BeanDefinitionBuilder regionAttributesBuilder) {
+
 		Element evictionElement = DomUtils.getChildElementByTagName(element, "eviction");
 
 		if (evictionElement != null) {
@@ -210,7 +212,7 @@ abstract class ParsingUtils {
 				evictionAttributesBuilder.addPropertyValue("ObjectSizer", sizer);
 			}
 
-			attributesBuilder.addPropertyValue("evictionAttributes", evictionAttributesBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
+			regionAttributesBuilder.addPropertyValue("evictionAttributes", evictionAttributesBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
 
 			return true;
 		}
@@ -223,27 +225,32 @@ abstract class ParsingUtils {
 	 * <p/>
 	 * @param parserContext the context used while parsing the XML document.
 	 * @param element the XML element being parsed.
-	 * @param attrBuilder the Region Attributes builder.
+	 * @param regionAttributesBuilder the Region Attributes builder.
 	 * @return true if parsing actually occurred, false otherwise.
 	 */
 	@SuppressWarnings("unused")
-	static boolean parseSubscription(ParserContext parserContext, Element element, BeanDefinitionBuilder attrBuilder) {
+	static boolean parseSubscription(ParserContext parserContext, Element element,
+			BeanDefinitionBuilder regionAttributesBuilder) {
+
 		Element subscriptionElement = DomUtils.getChildElementByTagName(element, "subscription");
 
-		if (subscriptionElement == null)
-			return false;
+		if (subscriptionElement != null) {
+			BeanDefinitionBuilder subscriptionAttributesBuilder = BeanDefinitionBuilder.genericBeanDefinition(
+				SubscriptionAttributesFactoryBean.class);
 
-		BeanDefinitionBuilder subscriptionDefBuilder = BeanDefinitionBuilder
-				.genericBeanDefinition(SubscriptionAttributesFactoryBean.class);
+			// do manual conversion since the enum is not public
+			String type = subscriptionElement.getAttribute("type");
 
-		// do manual conversion since the enum is not public
-		String attr = subscriptionElement.getAttribute("type");
-		if (StringUtils.hasText(attr)) {
-			subscriptionDefBuilder.addPropertyValue("type", SubscriptionType.valueOf(attr.toUpperCase()));
+			if (StringUtils.hasText(type)) {
+				subscriptionAttributesBuilder.addPropertyValue("type", SubscriptionType.valueOf(type.toUpperCase()));
+			}
+
+			regionAttributesBuilder.addPropertyValue("subscriptionAttributes", subscriptionAttributesBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
+
+			return true;
 		}
 
-		attrBuilder.addPropertyValue("subscriptionAttributes", subscriptionDefBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
-		return true;
+		return false;
 	}
 	
 
@@ -284,85 +291,90 @@ abstract class ParsingUtils {
 		return result;
 	}
 
+	@SuppressWarnings("unused")
 	static void parseOptionalRegionAttributes(ParserContext parserContext, Element element,
-			BeanDefinitionBuilder attrBuilder) {
+			BeanDefinitionBuilder regionAttributesBuilder) {
+
 		if (!("partitioned-region".equals(element.getLocalName()))) {
-			setPropertyValue(element, attrBuilder, "persistent", "persistBackup");
+			setPropertyValue(element, regionAttributesBuilder, "persistent", "persistBackup");
 		}
-		setPropertyValue(element, attrBuilder, "ignore-jta", "ignoreJTA");
-		setPropertyValue(element, attrBuilder, "key-constraint");
-		setPropertyValue(element, attrBuilder, "value-constraint");
-		setPropertyValue(element, attrBuilder, "is-lock-grantor", "lockGrantor");
-		setPropertyValue(element, attrBuilder, "enable-subscription-conflation");
-		setPropertyValue(element, attrBuilder, "enable-async-conflation");
-		setPropertyValue(element, attrBuilder, "initial-capacity");
-		setPropertyValue(element, attrBuilder, "load-factor");
-		setPropertyValue(element, attrBuilder, "cloning-enabled");
-		setPropertyValue(element, attrBuilder, "concurrency-level");
-		setPropertyValue(element, attrBuilder, "multicast-enabled");
+
+		setPropertyValue(element, regionAttributesBuilder, "cloning-enabled");
+		setPropertyValue(element, regionAttributesBuilder, "concurrency-level");
+		setPropertyValue(element, regionAttributesBuilder, "enable-async-conflation");
+		setPropertyValue(element, regionAttributesBuilder, "enable-subscription-conflation");
+		setPropertyValue(element, regionAttributesBuilder, "ignore-jta", "ignoreJTA");
+		setPropertyValue(element, regionAttributesBuilder, "initial-capacity");
+		setPropertyValue(element, regionAttributesBuilder, "is-lock-grantor", "lockGrantor");
+		setPropertyValue(element, regionAttributesBuilder, "key-constraint");
+		setPropertyValue(element, regionAttributesBuilder, "load-factor");
+		setPropertyValue(element, regionAttributesBuilder, "multicast-enabled");
+		setPropertyValue(element, regionAttributesBuilder, "value-constraint");
 
 		String indexUpdateType = element.getAttribute("index-update-type");
+
 		if (StringUtils.hasText(indexUpdateType)) {
-			attrBuilder.addPropertyValue("indexMaintenanceSynchronous", "synchronous".equals(indexUpdateType));
+			regionAttributesBuilder.addPropertyValue("indexMaintenanceSynchronous", "synchronous".equals(indexUpdateType));
 		}
-		
+
 		String concurrencyChecksEnabled = element.getAttribute("concurrency-checks-enabled");
+
 		if (StringUtils.hasText(concurrencyChecksEnabled)) {
 			if (!GemfireUtils.isGemfireVersion7OrAbove()) {
-				log.warn("'concurrency-checks-enabled' is only available in Gemfire 7.0 or above");
-			} else {
-				ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, attrBuilder, "concurrency-checks-enabled");
+				log.warn("Setting 'concurrency-checks-enabled' is only available in Gemfire 7.0 or above");
+			}
+			else {
+				ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, regionAttributesBuilder, "concurrency-checks-enabled");
 			}
 		}
-		
-		
 	}
 
+	@SuppressWarnings("unused")
 	static void parseMembershipAttributes(ParserContext parserContext, Element element,
-			BeanDefinitionBuilder attrBuilder) {
+			BeanDefinitionBuilder regionAttributesBuilder) {
+
 		Element membershipAttributes = DomUtils.getChildElementByTagName(element, "membership-attributes");
+
 		if (membershipAttributes != null) {
-			String requiredRoles[] = StringUtils.commaDelimitedListToStringArray(membershipAttributes
-					.getAttribute("required-roles"));
-			String lossActionAttr = membershipAttributes.getAttribute("loss-action");
-			LossAction lossAction = StringUtils.hasText(lossActionAttr) ? LossAction.fromName(lossActionAttr
-					.toUpperCase().replace("-", "_")) : null;
-			String resumptionActionAttr = membershipAttributes.getAttribute("resumption-action");
-			ResumptionAction resumptionAction = StringUtils.hasText(resumptionActionAttr) ? ResumptionAction
-					.fromName(resumptionActionAttr.toUpperCase().replace("-", "_")) : null;
+			String[] requiredRoles = StringUtils.commaDelimitedListToStringArray(
+				membershipAttributes.getAttribute("required-roles"));
 
-			ManagedArray requiredRolesArray = new ManagedArray("java.lang.String", requiredRoles.length);
-			for (int i = 0; i < requiredRoles.length; i++) {
-				requiredRolesArray.add(requiredRoles[i]);
-			}
-			BeanDefinitionBuilder membershipAttributesBuilder = BeanDefinitionBuilder
-					.genericBeanDefinition(MembershipAttributes.class);
-			membershipAttributesBuilder.addConstructorArgValue(requiredRolesArray);
-			membershipAttributesBuilder.addConstructorArgValue(lossAction);
-			membershipAttributesBuilder.addConstructorArgValue(resumptionAction);
+			String lossActionValue = membershipAttributes.getAttribute("loss-action");
 
-			attrBuilder.addPropertyValue("membershipAttributes", membershipAttributesBuilder.getRawBeanDefinition());
+			LossAction lossAction = (StringUtils.hasText(lossActionValue)
+				? LossAction.fromName(lossActionValue.toUpperCase().replace("-", "_"))
+				: LossAction.NO_ACCESS);
+
+			String resumptionActionValue = membershipAttributes.getAttribute("resumption-action");
+
+			ResumptionAction resumptionAction = (StringUtils.hasText(resumptionActionValue)
+				? ResumptionAction.fromName(resumptionActionValue.toUpperCase().replace("-", "_"))
+				: ResumptionAction.REINITIALIZE);
+
+			regionAttributesBuilder.addPropertyValue("membershipAttributes",
+				new MembershipAttributes(requiredRoles, lossAction, resumptionAction));
 		}
 	}
 
 	static void throwExceptionIfNotGemfireV7(String elementName, String attributeName, ParserContext parserContext) {
 		if (!GemfireUtils.isGemfireVersion7OrAbove()) {
-			String messagePrefix = (attributeName == null) ? "element '" + elementName + "'" : "attribute '"
-					+ attributeName + " of element '" + elementName + "'";
+			String messagePrefix = (attributeName != null)
+				? String.format("Attribute '%1$s' of element '%2$s'", attributeName, elementName)
+				: String.format("Element '%1$s'", elementName);
 			parserContext.getReaderContext().error(
-					messagePrefix + " requires Gemfire version 7 or later. The current version is " + GemfireUtils.GEMFIRE_VERSION,
-					null);
+				String.format("%1$s requires GemFire version 7 or later. The current version is %2$s.",
+					messagePrefix, GemfireUtils.GEMFIRE_VERSION), null);
 		}
 	}
 
 	static void parseScope(Element element, BeanDefinitionBuilder builder) {
-		String scope = element.getAttribute("scope");
-		if (StringUtils.hasText(scope)) {
-			builder.addPropertyValue("scope", Scope.fromString(scope.toUpperCase().replace("-", "_")));
-		}
-		else {
-			builder.addPropertyValue("scope", Scope.DISTRIBUTED_ACK);
-		}
+		String scopeAttributeValue = element.getAttribute("scope");
+
+		Scope scope = (StringUtils.hasText(scopeAttributeValue)
+			? Scope.fromString(scopeAttributeValue.toUpperCase().replace("-", "_"))
+			: Scope.DISTRIBUTED_ACK);
+
+		builder.addPropertyValue("scope", scope);
 	}
 
 	private static boolean parseExpiration(Element rootElement, String elementName, String propertyName,
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/PartitionedRegionParser.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/PartitionedRegionParser.java
index 479e14d6..7065f410 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/PartitionedRegionParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/PartitionedRegionParser.java
@@ -31,11 +31,10 @@ import org.springframework.util.xml.DomUtils;
 import org.w3c.dom.Element;
 
 /**
- * Parser for &lt;partitioned-region;gt; definitions.
- *
- * To avoid eager evaluations, the region attributes are declared as a nested
- * definition.
- *
+ * Parser for &lt;partitioned-region;gt; bean definitions.
+ * <p/>
+ * To avoid eager evaluations, the region attributes are declared as a nested definition.
+ * <p/>
  * @author Costin Leau
  * @author David Turanski
  * @author John Blum
@@ -53,58 +52,57 @@ class PartitionedRegionParser extends AbstractRegionParser {
 			boolean subRegion) {
 		super.doParse(element, builder);
 
-		BeanDefinitionBuilder regionAttributesBuilder = (subRegion ? builder
-			: BeanDefinitionBuilder.genericBeanDefinition(RegionAttributesFactoryBean.class));
+		BeanDefinitionBuilder regionAttributesBuilder = BeanDefinitionBuilder.genericBeanDefinition(
+			RegionAttributesFactoryBean.class);
 
 		super.doParseCommonRegionConfiguration(element, parserContext, builder, regionAttributesBuilder, subRegion);
 
+		builder.addPropertyValue("attributes", regionAttributesBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
+
 		BeanDefinitionBuilder partitionAttributesBuilder = BeanDefinitionBuilder.genericBeanDefinition(
 			PartitionAttributesFactoryBean.class);
 
 		parseColocatedWith(element, builder, partitionAttributesBuilder, "colocated-with");
-		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, partitionAttributesBuilder, "local-max-memory");
 		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, partitionAttributesBuilder, "copies","redundantCopies");
+		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, partitionAttributesBuilder, "local-max-memory");
 		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, partitionAttributesBuilder, "recovery-delay");
 		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, partitionAttributesBuilder, "startup-recovery-delay");
-		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, partitionAttributesBuilder, "total-max-memory");
 		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, partitionAttributesBuilder, "total-buckets","totalNumBuckets");
+		ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(element, partitionAttributesBuilder, "total-max-memory");
 
-		Element subElement = DomUtils.getChildElementByTagName(element, "partition-resolver");
-		// parse nested partition resolver element
-		if (subElement != null) {
+		Element partitionResolverSubElement = DomUtils.getChildElementByTagName(element, "partition-resolver");
+
+		if (partitionResolverSubElement != null) {
 			partitionAttributesBuilder.addPropertyValue("partitionResolver",
-				parsePartitionResolver(parserContext, subElement, builder));
+				parsePartitionResolver(partitionResolverSubElement, parserContext, builder));
 		}
 
-		subElement = DomUtils.getChildElementByTagName(element, "partition-listener");
-		// parse nested partition listener element
-		if (subElement != null) {
+		Element partitionListenerSubElement = DomUtils.getChildElementByTagName(element, "partition-listener");
+
+		if (partitionListenerSubElement != null) {
 			partitionAttributesBuilder.addPropertyValue("partitionListeners",
-				parsePartitionListeners(parserContext, subElement, builder));
+				parsePartitionListeners(partitionListenerSubElement, parserContext, builder));
 		}
 
-		List<Element> fixedPartitions = DomUtils.getChildElementsByTagName(element, "fixed-partition");
+		List<Element> fixedPartitionSubElements = DomUtils.getChildElementsByTagName(element, "fixed-partition");
 
-		if (!CollectionUtils.isEmpty(fixedPartitions)){
+		if (!CollectionUtils.isEmpty(fixedPartitionSubElements)){
 			@SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
 			ManagedList fixedPartitionAttributes = new ManagedList();
-			for (Element fp: fixedPartitions) {
-				BeanDefinitionBuilder fpaBuilder = BeanDefinitionBuilder.genericBeanDefinition(
+
+			for (Element fixedPartition : fixedPartitionSubElements) {
+				BeanDefinitionBuilder fixedPartitionAttributesBuilder = BeanDefinitionBuilder.genericBeanDefinition(
 					FixedPartitionAttributesFactoryBean.class);
-				ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(fp, fpaBuilder, "partition-name");
-				ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(fp, fpaBuilder, "num-buckets");
-				ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(fp, fpaBuilder, "primary");
-				fixedPartitionAttributes.add(fpaBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
+				ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(fixedPartition, fixedPartitionAttributesBuilder, "partition-name");
+				ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(fixedPartition, fixedPartitionAttributesBuilder, "num-buckets");
+				ParsingUtils.setPropertyValue(fixedPartition, fixedPartitionAttributesBuilder, "primary");
+				fixedPartitionAttributes.add(fixedPartitionAttributesBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
 			}
+
 			partitionAttributesBuilder.addPropertyValue("fixedPartitionAttributes", fixedPartitionAttributes);
 		}
 
-		// add partition attributes to region attributes
 		regionAttributesBuilder.addPropertyValue("partitionAttributes", partitionAttributesBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
-		// add partition/overflow settings as attributes to Region (via PartitionRegionFactoryBean -> RegionFactoryBean)
-		if (!subRegion) {
-			builder.addPropertyValue("attributes", regionAttributesBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
-		}
 	}
 
 	private void parseColocatedWith(Element element, BeanDefinitionBuilder regionBuilder,
@@ -124,12 +122,12 @@ class PartitionedRegionParser extends AbstractRegionParser {
 		}
 	}
 
-	private Object parsePartitionResolver(ParserContext parserContext, Element subElement,
+	private Object parsePartitionResolver(Element subElement, ParserContext parserContext,
 			BeanDefinitionBuilder builder) {
 		return ParsingUtils.parseRefOrSingleNestedBeanDeclaration(parserContext, subElement, builder);
 	}
 
-	private Object parsePartitionListeners(ParserContext parserContext, Element subElement,
+	private Object parsePartitionListeners(Element subElement, ParserContext parserContext,
 			BeanDefinitionBuilder builder) {
 		return ParsingUtils.parseRefOrNestedBeanDeclaration(parserContext, subElement, builder);
 	}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ReplicatedRegionParser.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ReplicatedRegionParser.java
index dbea7541..58eed613 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ReplicatedRegionParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ReplicatedRegionParser.java
@@ -24,9 +24,10 @@ import org.w3c.dom.Element;
 
 /**
  * Parser for &lt;replicated-region;gt; definitions.
- * 
+ * <p/>
  * @author Costin Leau
  * @author David Turanski
+ * @author John Blum
  */
 class ReplicatedRegionParser extends AbstractRegionParser {
 
@@ -41,15 +42,13 @@ class ReplicatedRegionParser extends AbstractRegionParser {
 
 		ParsingUtils.parseScope(element, builder);
 
-		BeanDefinitionBuilder regionAttributesFactoryBuilder = (subRegion ? builder
-			: BeanDefinitionBuilder.genericBeanDefinition(RegionAttributesFactoryBean.class));
+		BeanDefinitionBuilder regionAttributesBuilder = BeanDefinitionBuilder.genericBeanDefinition(
+			RegionAttributesFactoryBean.class);
 
-		super.doParseCommonRegionConfiguration(element, parserContext, builder, regionAttributesFactoryBuilder,
+		super.doParseCommonRegionConfiguration(element, parserContext, builder, regionAttributesBuilder,
 			subRegion);
 
-		if (!subRegion) {
-			builder.addPropertyValue("attributes", regionAttributesFactoryBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
-		}
+		builder.addPropertyValue("attributes", regionAttributesBuilder.getBeanDefinition());
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/src/main/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/spring-gemfire-1.4.xsd b/src/main/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/spring-gemfire-1.4.xsd
index 610baa87..585a07f0 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/spring-gemfire-1.4.xsd
+++ b/src/main/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/spring-gemfire-1.4.xsd
@@ -733,37 +733,33 @@ arbitrarily pick one.
 							</xsd:appinfo>
 						</xsd:annotation>
 					</xsd:element>
-					<xsd:element name="membership-attributes" minOccurs="0"
-								 maxOccurs="1">
+					<xsd:element name="membership-attributes" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1">
 						<xsd:annotation>
 							<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
-Configures a Region to require one or more membership roles to be present in the system for reliable access to the Region
-                        ]]></xsd:documentation>
+Establishes reliability requirements and behavior for a region. Use this to configure the region to require one or more membership roles to be running in the system for reliable access to the region.
+                        	]]></xsd:documentation>
 						</xsd:annotation>
 						<xsd:complexType>
-							<xsd:attribute name="required-roles" type="xsd:string"
-										   use="required">
+							<xsd:attribute name="required-roles" type="xsd:string" use="required">
 								<xsd:annotation>
 									<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
 A comma delimited list of required role names
                            ]]></xsd:documentation>
 								</xsd:annotation>
 							</xsd:attribute>
-							<xsd:attribute name="loss-action" type="xsd:string"
-										   use="optional">
+							<xsd:attribute name="loss-action" type="xsd:string" default="no-access">
 								<xsd:annotation>
 									<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
-Specifies the behavior when one or more required roles are missing:
-(full-access, limited-access, no-access, or reconnect)
+Set one of the following values to specify how access to the region is affected when one or more required roles are lost:
+(full-access, limited-access, no-access, or reconnect).
                            ]]></xsd:documentation>
 								</xsd:annotation>
 							</xsd:attribute>
-							<xsd:attribute name="resumption-action" type="xsd:string"
-										   use="optional">
+							<xsd:attribute name="resumption-action" type="xsd:string" default="reinitialize">
 								<xsd:annotation>
 									<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
-Specifies how the region is affected by resumption of reliability
-when one or more missing required roles is restored to the distributed membership (none or reinitialize)
+Specifies how the region is affected by resumption of reliability when one or more missing required roles return to the distributed membership:
+(none or reinitialize).
                            ]]></xsd:documentation>
 								</xsd:annotation>
 							</xsd:attribute>
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/SubRegionIntegrationTest.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/SubRegionIntegrationTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6dcccd3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/SubRegionIntegrationTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2010-2013 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.data.gemfire;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertSame;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+
+import javax.annotation.Resource;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
+import org.springframework.test.context.ContextConfiguration;
+import org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner;
+
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Cache;
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.DataPolicy;
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.EvictionAction;
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.EvictionAttributes;
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.InterestPolicy;
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.LossAction;
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.MembershipAttributes;
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Region;
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.RegionAttributes;
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.ResumptionAction;
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Scope;
+import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.SubscriptionAttributes;
+
+/**
+ * The SubRegionIntegrationTest class is a test suite of test cases testing the functionality of SubRegions in GemFire
+ * configured with Spring Data GemFire's XML namespace configuration meta-data.  This test class tests a complex
+ * SubRegion configuration in order to ensure functional completeness.
+ * <p/>
+ * @author John Blum
+ * @see org.junit.Test
+ * @see org.junit.runner.RunWith
+ * @see org.springframework.test.context.ContextConfiguration
+ * @see org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner
+ * @since 1.4.0
+ * @since 7.0.1 (GemFire)
+ */
+@ContextConfiguration("complex-subregion.xml")
+@RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class)
+public class SubRegionIntegrationTest {
+
+	@Autowired
+	private Cache cache;
+
+	@Resource(name = "Customers")
+	private Region customers;
+
+	@Resource(name = "/Customers/Accounts")
+	private Region accounts;
+
+	@Test
+	public void testGemFireAccountsSubRegionCreation() {
+		assertNotNull("The GemFire Cache was not properly initialized!", cache);
+
+		Region customers = cache.getRegion("Customers");
+
+		assertNotNull(customers);
+		assertEquals("Customers", customers.getName());
+		assertEquals("/Customers", customers.getFullPath());
+
+		Region accounts = customers.getSubregion("Accounts");
+
+		assertNotNull(accounts);
+		assertEquals("Accounts", accounts.getName());
+		assertEquals("/Customers/Accounts", accounts.getFullPath());
+
+		Region cacheAccounts = cache.getRegion("/Customers/Accounts");
+
+		assertSame(accounts, cacheAccounts);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testSpringSubRegionConfiguration() {
+		assertNotNull("The /Customers/Accounts SubRegion was not properly initialized!", accounts);
+		assertEquals("Accounts", accounts.getName());
+		assertEquals("/Customers/Accounts", accounts.getFullPath());
+
+		RegionAttributes regionAttributes = accounts.getAttributes();
+
+		assertNotNull(regionAttributes);
+		assertEquals(DataPolicy.PERSISTENT_REPLICATE, regionAttributes.getDataPolicy());
+		assertEquals(20, regionAttributes.getConcurrencyLevel());
+		assertTrue(regionAttributes.isDiskSynchronous());
+		assertTrue(regionAttributes.getIgnoreJTA());
+		assertFalse(regionAttributes.getIndexMaintenanceSynchronous());
+		assertEquals(1000, regionAttributes.getInitialCapacity());
+		assertEquals(Long.class, regionAttributes.getKeyConstraint());
+		assertEquals(Scope.DISTRIBUTED_ACK, regionAttributes.getScope());
+		assertTrue(regionAttributes.getStatisticsEnabled());
+		assertEquals(String.class, regionAttributes.getValueConstraint());
+		assertNotNull(regionAttributes.getCacheListeners());
+		assertEquals(1, regionAttributes.getCacheListeners().length);
+		assertTrue(regionAttributes.getCacheListeners()[0] instanceof SimpleCacheListener);
+		assertTrue(regionAttributes.getCacheLoader() instanceof SimpleCacheLoader);
+		assertTrue(regionAttributes.getCacheWriter() instanceof SimpleCacheWriter);
+
+		EvictionAttributes evictionAttributes = regionAttributes.getEvictionAttributes();
+
+		assertNotNull(evictionAttributes);
+		assertEquals(EvictionAction.OVERFLOW_TO_DISK, evictionAttributes.getAction());
+		assertEquals(10000, evictionAttributes.getMaximum());
+
+		MembershipAttributes membershipAttributes = regionAttributes.getMembershipAttributes();
+
+		assertNotNull(membershipAttributes);
+		assertNotNull(membershipAttributes.getRequiredRoles());
+		assertEquals(1, membershipAttributes.getRequiredRoles().size());
+		assertTrue(membershipAttributes.getRequiredRoles().iterator().next().getName().equalsIgnoreCase("TEST"));
+		assertEquals(LossAction.LIMITED_ACCESS, membershipAttributes.getLossAction());
+		assertEquals(ResumptionAction.REINITIALIZE, membershipAttributes.getResumptionAction());
+
+		SubscriptionAttributes subscriptionAttributes = regionAttributes.getSubscriptionAttributes();
+
+		assertNotNull(subscriptionAttributes);
+		assertEquals(InterestPolicy.CACHE_CONTENT, subscriptionAttributes.getInterestPolicy());
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ClientRegionUsingDataPolicyAndShortcutTest.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ClientRegionUsingDataPolicyAndShortcutTest.java
index 91727065..7cf8febf 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ClientRegionUsingDataPolicyAndShortcutTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/ClientRegionUsingDataPolicyAndShortcutTest.java
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 
 package org.springframework.data.gemfire.config;
 
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 
 import org.junit.Test;
@@ -28,7 +27,7 @@ import org.springframework.context.support.ClassPathXmlApplicationContext;
  * bean definition with both data-policy and shortcut specified.
  * <p/>
  * @author John Blum
- * @see org.junit.Assert
+ * @see org.junit.Test
  * @since 1.3.3
  */
 public class ClientRegionUsingDataPolicyAndShortcutTest {
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/SubRegionNamespaceTest.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/SubRegionNamespaceTest.java
index 45054a45..ea3e2426 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/SubRegionNamespaceTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/SubRegionNamespaceTest.java
@@ -24,24 +24,31 @@ import org.junit.Test;
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
-import org.springframework.data.gemfire.SubRegionFactoryBean;
+import org.springframework.data.gemfire.ReplicatedRegionFactoryBean;
+import org.springframework.data.gemfire.TestUtils;
 import org.springframework.data.gemfire.test.GemfireTestApplicationContextInitializer;
 import org.springframework.test.context.ContextConfiguration;
 import org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner;
 
-import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.AttributesFactory;
 import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Cache;
 import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.CacheLoader;
 import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Region;
-import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.RegionAttributes;
 
 /**
+ * The SubRegionNamespaceTest class is a test suite of test cases testing the contract and functionality of
+ * Region/SubRegion creation in a GemFire Cache.
+ * <p/>
  * @author David Turanski
+ * @author John Blum
+ * @see org.junit.Test
+ * @see org.junit.runner.RunWith
+ * @see org.springframework.data.gemfire.test.GemfireTestApplicationContextInitializer
+ * @see org.springframework.test.context.ContextConfiguration
+ * @see org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner
  */
-@SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
+@ContextConfiguration(locations = "subregion-ns.xml", initializers = GemfireTestApplicationContextInitializer.class)
 @RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class)
-@ContextConfiguration(locations="subregion-ns.xml",
-initializers=GemfireTestApplicationContextInitializer.class)
+@SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
 public class SubRegionNamespaceTest {
 
 	@Autowired
@@ -51,6 +58,7 @@ public class SubRegionNamespaceTest {
     @Test
     public void testNestedRegionsCreated() {
         Cache cache = context.getBean(Cache.class);
+
         assertNotNull(cache.getRegion("parent"));
         assertNotNull(cache.getRegion("/parent/child"));
         assertNotNull(cache.getRegion("/parent/child/grandchild"));
@@ -59,35 +67,31 @@ public class SubRegionNamespaceTest {
 	@SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
 	@Test
 	public void testNestedReplicatedRegions() {
-        Region parent = null;
-		parent = context.getBean("parent", Region.class);
-        Cache cache = context.getBean(Cache.class);
+        Region parent = context.getBean("parent", Region.class);
 		Region child = context.getBean("/parent/child", Region.class);
 		Region grandchild = context.getBean("/parent/child/grandchild", Region.class);
+
 		assertNotNull(child);
 		assertEquals("/parent/child", child.getFullPath());
 		assertSame(child, parent.getSubregion("child"));
-
+		assertNotNull(grandchild);
 		assertEquals("/parent/child/grandchild", grandchild.getFullPath());
 		assertSame(grandchild, child.getSubregion("grandchild"));
-
 	}
 
-	@SuppressWarnings({ "unused", "rawtypes", "unchecked" })
+	@SuppressWarnings({ "rawtypes", "unchecked" })
 	@Test
 	public void testMixedNestedRegions() {
-		Cache cache = context.getBean(Cache.class);
-
 		Region parent = context.getBean("replicatedParent", Region.class);
-
 		Region child = context.getBean("/replicatedParent/replicatedChild", Region.class);
 		Region grandchild = context.getBean("/replicatedParent/replicatedChild/partitionedGrandchild", Region.class);
+
 		assertNotNull(child);
 		assertEquals("/replicatedParent/replicatedChild", child.getFullPath());
-
+		assertEquals(child, parent.getSubregion("replicatedChild"));
+		assertNotNull(grandchild);
 		assertEquals("/replicatedParent/replicatedChild/partitionedGrandchild", grandchild.getFullPath());
 		assertSame(grandchild, child.getSubregion("partitionedGrandchild"));
-
 	}
 
 	@SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
@@ -100,25 +104,29 @@ public class SubRegionNamespaceTest {
 		assertEquals("/parentWithSiblings/child2", child2.getFullPath());
 		assertSame(child1, parent.getSubregion("child1"));
 		assertSame(child2, parent.getSubregion("child2"));
-
 		Region grandchild1 = context.getBean("/parentWithSiblings/child1/grandChild11", Region.class);
 		assertEquals("/parentWithSiblings/child1/grandChild11", grandchild1.getFullPath());
 	}
 
-	@SuppressWarnings({ "unused", "rawtypes" })
+	@SuppressWarnings({ "rawtypes", "unused" })
 	@Test
 	public void testComplexNestedRegions() throws Exception {
 		Region parent = context.getBean("complexNested", Region.class);
 		Region child1 = context.getBean("/complexNested/child1", Region.class);
 		Region child2 = context.getBean("/complexNested/child2", Region.class);
-		Region grandchild1 = context.getBean("/complexNested/child1/grandChild11", Region.class);
+		Region grandchild11 = context.getBean("/complexNested/child1/grandChild11", Region.class);
 
-		SubRegionFactoryBean grandchild1fb = context.getBean("&/complexNested/child1/grandChild11",
-				SubRegionFactoryBean.class);
-		assertNotNull(grandchild1fb);
-		RegionAttributes attr = grandchild1fb.create();
-		assertNotNull(attr);
-		CacheLoader cl = attr.getCacheLoader();
-		assertNotNull(cl);
+		ReplicatedRegionFactoryBean grandchild11FactoryBean = context.getBean("&/complexNested/child1/grandChild11",
+			ReplicatedRegionFactoryBean.class);
+
+		assertNotNull(grandchild11FactoryBean);
+
+		CacheLoader expectedCacheLoader = TestUtils.readField("cacheLoader", grandchild11FactoryBean);
+
+		assertNotNull(expectedCacheLoader);
+
+		CacheLoader actualCacheLoader = grandchild11.getAttributes().getCacheLoader();
+
+		assertSame(expectedCacheLoader, actualCacheLoader);
 	}
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/SubRegionWithInvalidDataPolicyTest.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/SubRegionWithInvalidDataPolicyTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8f6f4350
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/SubRegionWithInvalidDataPolicyTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2010-2013 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.data.gemfire.config;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException;
+import org.springframework.context.support.ClassPathXmlApplicationContext;
+
+/**
+ * The SubRegionWithInvalidDataPolicyTest class is a test suite of test cases testing the data-policy and persistent
+ * attributes settings are consistent for GemFire SubRegion bean definitions.
+ * <p/>
+ * @author John Blum
+ * @see org.junit.Test
+ * @see org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner
+ * @since GemFire 7.0.1
+ * @since Spring Data GemFire 1.4.0
+ */
+public class SubRegionWithInvalidDataPolicyTest {
+
+	@Test(expected = BeanCreationException.class)
+	public void testSubRegionBeanDefinitionWithInconsistentDataPolicy() {
+		try {
+			new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext("/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/subregion-with-invalid-datapolicy.xml");
+		}
+		catch (BeanCreationException expected) {
+			//expected.printStackTrace(System.err);
+			assertTrue(expected.getMessage().contains("Error creating bean with name '/Parent/Child'"));
+			assertTrue(expected.getCause() instanceof IllegalArgumentException);
+			assertEquals("Data Policy 'PERSISTENT_PARTITION' is not supported in Replicated Regions.",
+				expected.getCause().getMessage());
+			throw expected;
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Test(expected = BeanCreationException.class)
+	public void testSubRegionBeanDefinitionWithInvalidDataPolicyPersistentSettings() {
+		try {
+			new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext("/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/subregion-with-inconsistent-datapolicy-persistent-settings.xml");
+		}
+		catch (BeanCreationException expected) {
+			//expected.printStackTrace(System.err);
+			assertTrue(expected.getMessage().contains("Error creating bean with name '/Parent/Child'"));
+			assertTrue(expected.getCause() instanceof IllegalArgumentException);
+			assertEquals("Data Policy 'REPLICATE' is invalid when persistent is true.",
+				expected.getCause().getMessage());
+			throw expected;
+		}
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/test/MockRegionFactory.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/test/MockRegionFactory.java
index 57bae91d..268f45e6 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/test/MockRegionFactory.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/gemfire/test/MockRegionFactory.java
@@ -42,19 +42,19 @@ import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.RegionService;
 import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.Scope;
 import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.SubscriptionAttributes;
 import com.gemstone.gemfire.cache.query.QueryService;
+
 /**
  * @author David Turanski
- *
+ * @author John Blum
  */
-
 @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
 public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
-	
+
 	private static QueryService queryService =  mock(QueryService.class);
 	private static RegionService regionService = mock(RegionService.class);
-	
+
 	private AttributesFactory<K,V> attributesFactory;
-	
+
 	private final StubCache cache;
 
 	public MockRegionFactory(StubCache cache) {
@@ -64,50 +64,55 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 	public RegionFactory<K, V> createMockRegionFactory() {
 		return createMockRegionFactory(null);
 	}
-	
-	@SuppressWarnings({ "unchecked", "rawtypes" })
-	public  RegionFactory<K, V> createMockRegionFactory(RegionAttributes<K,V> attributes) {
-		attributesFactory  = attributes == null? 
-			new AttributesFactory<K,V>() :
-			new AttributesFactory<K,V>(attributes) ;
-			//Workaround for GemFire bug
-			if(attributes !=null) {
-				attributesFactory.setLockGrantor(attributes.isLockGrantor());
-			}
-	
-		final RegionFactory<K, V>  regionFactory = mock(RegionFactory.class);
-		
-		when(regionFactory.create(anyString())).thenAnswer(new Answer<Region>() {
 
+	@SuppressWarnings({ "unchecked", "rawtypes" })
+	public RegionFactory<K, V> createMockRegionFactory(RegionAttributes<K,V> attributes) {
+		attributesFactory = (attributes != null ? new AttributesFactory<K,V>(attributes)
+			: new AttributesFactory<K,V>());
+
+		//Workaround for GemFire bug
+		if (attributes !=null) {
+			attributesFactory.setLockGrantor(attributes.isLockGrantor());
+		}
+
+		final RegionFactory<K, V> regionFactory = mock(RegionFactory.class);
+
+		when(regionFactory.create(anyString())).thenAnswer(new Answer<Region>() {
 			@Override
 			public Region answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
-				String name = (String)invocation.getArguments()[0];
+				String name = (String) invocation.getArguments()[0];
 				Region region = mockRegion(name);
 				cache.allRegions().put(name, region);
 				return region;
-			}});
-		
-		
-		when(regionFactory.createSubregion(any(Region.class),anyString())).thenAnswer(new Answer<Region>() {
+			}
+		});
 
+		when(regionFactory.createSubregion(any(Region.class),anyString())).thenAnswer(new Answer<Region>() {
 			@Override
 			public Region answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
-				Region parent = (Region)invocation.getArguments()[0];
-				String name = (String)invocation.getArguments()[1];
-				
-				String parentName = null;
+				Region parent = (Region) invocation.getArguments()[0];
+				String name = (String) invocation.getArguments()[1];
+				String parentRegionName = null;
+
 				for (String key: cache.allRegions().keySet()) {
 					if (cache.allRegions().get(key).equals(parent)) {
-						parentName = key;
+						parentRegionName = key;
 					}
 				}
-				String regionName = parentName.startsWith("/") ? parentName+"/"+name : "/"+parentName+"/"+ name;
-				Region subRegion = mockRegion(regionName);
-				cache.allRegions().put(regionName, subRegion);
+
+				assert parentRegionName != null : "The parent Region name was null!";
+
+				String subRegionName = (parentRegionName.startsWith("/") ? parentRegionName+"/"+name
+					: "/"+parentRegionName+"/"+ name);
+
+				Region subRegion = mockRegion(subRegionName);
+
+				cache.allRegions().put(subRegionName, subRegion);
+
 				return subRegion;
-			}});
-		
-		
+			}
+		});
+
 		when(regionFactory.setCacheLoader(any(CacheLoader.class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -116,7 +121,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setCacheWriter(any(CacheWriter.class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -125,8 +130,8 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-	    
-		
+
+
 		when(regionFactory.addAsyncEventQueueId(anyString())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -135,7 +140,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.addCacheListener(any(CacheListener.class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -144,7 +149,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setEvictionAttributes(any(EvictionAttributes.class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -153,7 +158,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setEntryIdleTimeout(any(ExpirationAttributes.class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -171,7 +176,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setEntryTimeToLive(any(ExpirationAttributes.class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -189,7 +194,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setRegionIdleTimeout(any(ExpirationAttributes.class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -198,7 +203,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setRegionTimeToLive(any(ExpirationAttributes.class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -207,7 +212,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setScope(any(Scope.class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -216,7 +221,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setDataPolicy(any(DataPolicy.class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -225,7 +230,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setEarlyAck(anyBoolean())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -234,7 +239,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setMulticastEnabled(anyBoolean())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -243,7 +248,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setPoolName(anyString())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -252,7 +257,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setEnableGateway(anyBoolean())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -261,7 +266,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setEnableAsyncConflation(anyBoolean())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -270,7 +275,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setEnableSubscriptionConflation(anyBoolean())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -279,7 +284,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setKeyConstraint(any(Class.class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -288,7 +293,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setValueConstraint(any(Class.class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -297,7 +302,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setInitialCapacity(anyInt())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -307,7 +312,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setLoadFactor(anyInt())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -316,7 +321,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setConcurrencyLevel(anyInt())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -325,7 +330,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setConcurrencyChecksEnabled(anyBoolean())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -334,7 +339,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setDiskWriteAttributes(any(DiskWriteAttributes.class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -343,7 +348,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setDiskStoreName(anyString())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -352,7 +357,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setDiskSynchronous(anyBoolean())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -361,7 +366,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setDiskDirs(any(File[].class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -370,7 +375,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setDiskDirsAndSizes(any(File[].class),any(int[].class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -380,7 +385,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setPartitionAttributes(any(PartitionAttributes.class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -389,7 +394,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setMembershipAttributes(any(MembershipAttributes.class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -398,7 +403,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setIndexMaintenanceSynchronous(anyBoolean())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -407,7 +412,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setStatisticsEnabled(anyBoolean())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -416,7 +421,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setIgnoreJTA(anyBoolean())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -425,7 +430,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setLockGrantor(anyBoolean())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -435,7 +440,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setSubscriptionAttributes(any(SubscriptionAttributes.class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -444,7 +449,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setGatewayHubId(anyString())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -453,7 +458,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.setCloningEnabled(anyBoolean())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -462,7 +467,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.addGatewaySenderId(anyString())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -471,7 +476,7 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
+
 		when(regionFactory.addAsyncEventQueueId(anyString())).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionFactory>(){
 			@Override
 			public RegionFactory answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
@@ -480,82 +485,80 @@ public class MockRegionFactory<K,V>   {
 				return regionFactory;
 			}
 		});
-		
-	
+
+
 		return regionFactory;
 	}
-	
-	 @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
+
+	@SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
 	RegionFactory createRegionFactory() {
 		return createMockRegionFactory();
 	}
-	
+
 	@SuppressWarnings({ "unchecked", "rawtypes" })
 	public Region mockRegion(String name) {
 		RegionService regionService = mockRegionService();
 		Region region = mock(Region.class);
-		when(region.getRegionService()).thenReturn(regionService);
-		
-		when(region.getAttributes()).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionAttributes>() {
 
+		when(region.getRegionService()).thenReturn(regionService);
+
+		when(region.getAttributes()).thenAnswer(new Answer<RegionAttributes>() {
 			@Override
 			public RegionAttributes answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
-	
 				RegionAttributes attributes = attributesFactory.create();
-		
 				return attributes;
 			}
-			
 		});
-		when(region.getName()).thenReturn(name);
-		
-		when(region.getSubregion(anyString())).thenAnswer(new Answer<Region>() {
 
+		when(region.getFullPath()).thenReturn(name);
+		when(region.getName()).thenReturn(name);
+
+		when(region.getSubregion(anyString())).thenAnswer(new Answer<Region>() {
+			@Override
+			public Region answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
+				Region parent = (Region) invocation.getMock();
+
+				String parentRegionName = parent.getName();
+				String subRegionName = (String) invocation.getArguments()[0];
+				String subRegionPath = (parentRegionName.startsWith("/") ? parentRegionName+"/"+subRegionName
+					: "/"+parentRegionName+"/"+subRegionName);
+
+				Region region = cache.getRegion(subRegionPath);
+
+				return region;
+			}
+		});
+
+		when(region.createSubregion(anyString(), any(RegionAttributes.class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<Region>() {
 			@Override
 			public Region answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
 				String name = (String) invocation.getArguments()[0];
-				Region parent = (Region)invocation.getMock();
-				String parentName = parent.getName();
-				String regionName = parentName.startsWith("/") ? parentName+"/"+ name : 
-					"/"+parentName+"/"+ name;
+				RegionAttributes attributes = (RegionAttributes) invocation.getArguments()[1];
 
-				Region region =  cache.getRegion(regionName);
-				
-				return region;
-			}
-			
-		});
-		
-		when(region.createSubregion(anyString(),any(RegionAttributes.class))).thenAnswer(new Answer<Region>() {
-
-			@Override
-			public Region answer(InvocationOnMock invocation) throws Throwable {
-				String name = (String)invocation.getArguments()[0];
-				RegionAttributes attributes = (RegionAttributes)invocation.getArguments()[1];
-				
-				Region parent = (Region)invocation.getMock();
+				Region parent = (Region) invocation.getMock();
 				String parentName = parent.getName();
 				String regionName = parentName.startsWith("/") ? parentName+"/"+name : "/"+parentName+"/"+ name;
-				
+
 				Region subRegion = new MockRegionFactory(cache).createMockRegionFactory(attributes).create(regionName);
 				when(subRegion.getFullPath()).thenReturn(regionName);
-				
+
 				cache.allRegions().put(regionName, subRegion);
+
 				return subRegion;
-			}});
-		
+			}
+		});
+
 		return region;
 	}
-	
+
 	public static RegionService mockRegionService() {
-	
 		when(regionService.getQueryService()).thenReturn(queryService);
 		return regionService;
 	}
-	
+
 	public static QueryService mockQueryService() {
 		return queryService;
 	}
-	
-	
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+
+
+}
diff --git a/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/complex-subregion.xml b/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/complex-subregion.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..22b6810c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/complex-subregion.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+	   xmlns:gfe="http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire"
+	   xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+	   xsi:schemaLocation="
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
+        http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire/spring-gemfire-1.3.xsd">
+
+	<gfe:cache/>
+
+	<gfe:replicated-region id="Customers" persistent="false">
+		<gfe:replicated-region name="Accounts"
+							   concurrency-level="20"
+							   destroy="true"
+							   disk-synchronous="true"
+							   ignore-jta="true"
+							   index-update-type="asynchronous"
+							   initial-capacity="1000"
+							   key-constraint="java.lang.Long"
+							   persistent="true"
+							   scope="distributed-ack"
+							   statistics="true"
+							   value-constraint="java.lang.String">
+			<!-- NOTE Async Event Queue and Gateway Sender tests are covered in the subregionsubelement-ns.xml and associated test class -->
+			<gfe:cache-listener>
+				<bean class="org.springframework.data.gemfire.SimpleCacheListener"/>
+			</gfe:cache-listener>
+			<gfe:cache-loader>
+				<bean class="org.springframework.data.gemfire.SimpleCacheLoader"/>
+			</gfe:cache-loader>
+			<gfe:cache-writer>
+				<bean class="org.springframework.data.gemfire.SimpleCacheWriter"/>
+			</gfe:cache-writer>
+			<gfe:membership-attributes loss-action="limited-access" required-roles="TEST" resumption-action="reinitialize"/>
+			<gfe:subscription type="CACHE_CONTENT"/>
+			<gfe:eviction action="OVERFLOW_TO_DISK" threshold="10000"/>
+		</gfe:replicated-region>
+	</gfe:replicated-region>
+
+</beans>
diff --git a/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/client-region-using-datapolicy-and-shortcut.xml b/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/client-region-using-datapolicy-and-shortcut.xml
index 589ef054..88a448a2 100644
--- a/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/client-region-using-datapolicy-and-shortcut.xml
+++ b/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/client-region-using-datapolicy-and-shortcut.xml
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 	   	http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire/spring-gemfire.xsd
 ">
 
+	<bean class="org.springframework.data.gemfire.test.GemfireTestBeanPostProcessor"/>
+
 	<gfe:pool>
 		<gfe:locator host="localhost" port="10334"/>
 	</gfe:pool>
diff --git a/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/subregion-ns.xml b/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/subregion-ns.xml
index 96e4d9a5..ef750f40 100644
--- a/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/subregion-ns.xml
+++ b/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/subregion-ns.xml
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
-	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
 	xmlns:gfe="http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire"
-	xmlns:p="http://www.springframework.org/schema/p"
-	xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
-	xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire/spring-gemfire.xsd
+	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+	xsi:schemaLocation="
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd
-		http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util.xsd" >
-	<gfe:cache />
+		http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire/spring-gemfire.xsd
+">
+
+	<gfe:cache/>
 
     <gfe:replicated-region id="parent">
         <gfe:replicated-region name="child">
@@ -15,36 +15,35 @@
         </gfe:replicated-region>
     </gfe:replicated-region>
 
-
-     <gfe:replicated-region id="replicatedParent">
+    <gfe:replicated-region id="replicatedParent">
         <gfe:replicated-region name="replicatedChild">
             <gfe:partitioned-region name="partitionedGrandchild"/>
         </gfe:replicated-region>
     </gfe:replicated-region>
 
-     <gfe:replicated-region id="parentWithSiblings">
+    <gfe:replicated-region id="parentWithSiblings">
         <gfe:replicated-region name="child1">
             <gfe:replicated-region name="grandChild11"/>
-             <gfe:replicated-region name="grandChild12"/>
+			<gfe:replicated-region name="grandChild12"/>
         </gfe:replicated-region>
         <gfe:replicated-region name="child2"/>
     </gfe:replicated-region>
 
-     <gfe:replicated-region id="complexNested">
-       <gfe:cache-listener ref="c-listener"/>
-        <gfe:replicated-region name="child1">
-            <gfe:replicated-region name="grandChild11">
-                <gfe:cache-loader ref="c-loader"/>
-            </gfe:replicated-region>
-             <gfe:replicated-region name="grandChild12"/>
-        </gfe:replicated-region>
-        <gfe:replicated-region name="child2">
-            <gfe:cache-writer ref="c-writer"/>
-        </gfe:replicated-region>
-    </gfe:replicated-region>
+	<gfe:replicated-region id="complexNested">
+		<gfe:cache-listener ref="c-listener"/>
+		<gfe:replicated-region name="child1">
+			<gfe:replicated-region name="grandChild11">
+				<gfe:cache-loader ref="c-loader"/>
+			</gfe:replicated-region>
+			<gfe:replicated-region name="grandChild12"/>
+		</gfe:replicated-region>
+		<gfe:replicated-region name="child2">
+			<gfe:cache-writer ref="c-writer"/>
+		</gfe:replicated-region>
+	</gfe:replicated-region>
 
-    <bean id="c-listener" class="org.springframework.data.gemfire.SimpleCacheListener"/>
+	<bean id="c-listener" class="org.springframework.data.gemfire.SimpleCacheListener"/>
     <bean id="c-loader" class="org.springframework.data.gemfire.SimpleCacheLoader"/>
     <bean id="c-writer" class="org.springframework.data.gemfire.SimpleCacheWriter"/>
 
-</beans>
\ No newline at end of file
+</beans>
diff --git a/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/subregion-with-inconsistent-datapolicy-persistent-settings.xml b/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/subregion-with-inconsistent-datapolicy-persistent-settings.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5217e35e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/subregion-with-inconsistent-datapolicy-persistent-settings.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+	   xmlns:gfe="http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire"
+	   xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+	   xsi:schemaLocation="
+		http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd
+	   	http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire/spring-gemfire.xsd
+">
+
+	<bean class="org.springframework.data.gemfire.test.GemfireTestBeanPostProcessor"/>
+
+	<gfe:cache/>
+
+	<gfe:replicated-region id="Parent" persistent="false" destroy="true">
+		<gfe:replicated-region name="Child" data-policy="REPLICATE" persistent="true"/>
+	</gfe:replicated-region>
+
+</beans>
diff --git a/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/subregion-with-invalid-datapolicy.xml b/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/subregion-with-invalid-datapolicy.xml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d3377812
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/resources/org/springframework/data/gemfire/config/subregion-with-invalid-datapolicy.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+	   xmlns:gfe="http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire"
+	   xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+	   xsi:schemaLocation="
+		http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd
+	   	http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire http://www.springframework.org/schema/gemfire/spring-gemfire.xsd
+">
+
+	<bean class="org.springframework.data.gemfire.test.GemfireTestBeanPostProcessor"/>
+
+	<gfe:cache/>
+
+	<gfe:replicated-region id="Parent" persistent="false" destroy="true">
+		<gfe:replicated-region name="Child" data-policy="PERSISTENT_PARTITION"/>
+	</gfe:replicated-region>
+
+</beans>