Fruitful Vineyards

When every home in your development has a view of either the community park, the surrounding desert mountains or the city lights of Las Vegas, you may expect brisk sales. When the homes are luxurious works of beautiful architecture, you can practically count on it.

Christopher Homes of Las Vegas is enjoying this kind of success in their new guard-gated neighborhood, The Vineyards, located within the master-planned community of Summerlin. This neighborhood was created on the heels of another Christopher success story-The Palisades-that won two awards from the National Sales and Marketing Council as well as the 1998 National Home of the Year from the Best in American Living Awards (BALA).

"The vineyards is a step down from The Palisades in terms of price and square footage," says Erica Geiser, director of marketing for Christopher Homes, "but the buyers get the same amenities and architectural details." The homesites are also tiered, so that virtually every home in the neighborhood has an unobstructed view of its surroundings.

These high-end homes feature a more traditional floor plan than what is normally seen in Las Vegas. Where most kitchens and family rooms in this area are open to each other, Christopher Homes' floor plans keep the formal and informal living spaces well defined and separate.

Second and third move-up buyers have found these plans very much to their liking, as well as some move-down buyers coming from custom homes. Geiser says that about 70% of the buyers have been from the Las Vegas area, "but we expect that to change soon as the first stage always sees more in-state buyers." Since the grand opening on February 6 of this year, 33 out of the total 138 homes have been sold.

Scheurer Architects of Newport Beach, Calif., designed each home with an eye toward flexibility. Each of the four plans offered in the Vineyards is available with three completely different exterior designs: French Provincial, Monterrey, and Italian Mediterranean. Buyers have the option to customize to fit their individual needs, and pool houses, casitas, courtyards and in-law suites can be added, removed or changed to fit various buyer profiles.

Major Products Used: Appliances: Thermador; Exterior Doors: Therma-Tru; HVAC: Janitrol; Paint: Frazee; Roofing: Monier; Windows: Milguard; Plumbing Fixtures: Moen, Kohler; Cabinets: Amera Cabinets; Door Hardware: Kwikset

Also See:

Fine-Tuning Sarasota

Variety is the Spice of Life Forms

Housing as Fashion

Selling Community

Don't Fence Me In

Style Sells

Rustling Up Sales at Cinco Ranch

Neotraditional Success