Home sales resume at The Vineyards

Just days after the City of Anderson issued a conditional occupancy permit for two homes in The Vineyards at Anderson subdivision, prospective buyers like Frankie Crouse of Redding - one of 17 names on a waiting list - had a chance for a walk-through with Realtor Debbie Morgan of C&C Properties.

"This house is really unique," said Mrs. Crouse, who has been shopping for a new home for the past seven months with her husband Dana Crouse, an operating room surgical technician working at Mercy Medical Center in Redding.

Mrs. Crouse also holds a high-paying job with 25 years experience as a sales manager for AT&T.

"It's a long, long list of addresses," Mrs. Crouse said when asked how many house tours she and her husband had scheduled before settling on The Vineyards at Anderson. "We've looked at too many to count," she added.

Originally priced at $500,000, the 1,822 square foot house that the Crouses finally made an offer on currently is listed at $314,900 after it was purchased out of foreclosure and completed by a different builder.

"These homes are coming out of a foreclosure, so they are being sold at a huge discount," Morgan noted. Several of the other houses are being offered unfinished and "as is" by the seller, she added.

Jordan Taylor, a local developer who represents U.S. Acquisitions Real Estate III, LLC, a private equity company based in Denver, Colo., said that company purchased the foreclosed home loans from the previous builder after problems with adequate supplies of potable water with pressure sufficient for fire safety were discovered in 2007.

Work on all houses in the subdivision had virtually stopped until the water issues were finally resolved late last fall with the installation of a nearly $1 million pumping station that connects to the City of Anderson's municipal water system and treatment plant.

Originally designed and priced for the top end of the real estate bubble in 2007, the 12 houses that were originally intended as showcase model homes have all been finished with first-class amenities and details, Taylor said.

"The quality of construction in these homes is above anything that is in Anderson," Taylor noted, pointing out the self-closing kitchen cabinets, crown-molded ceilings, hardwood floors, granite counter tops and upgraded kitchen appliances.

One feature that quickly caught the eye of Mrs. Crouse and her daughter was the gracefully curved Guiton in-ground pool with built-in heated spa, three waterfall features and a swim-up wet/dry bar at one end of the pool and deck.

"We've never had a pool or spa before, so we are really looking forward to enjoying this backyard with its breathtaking views of Mt. Lassen," Mrs. Crouse said.

Another feature appreciated especially by the 19-year-old daughter, Jordan, is a two-room casita or mini-house that is separated by a courtyard from the main house.

The two structures are tied together architecturally, however, by the garage that juts out from the house and butts against the casita as well as a porte-cochere street entry that brings a visitor through a metal gate and nearly two-story bricked archway into the courtyard where both the casita and the main house have formal entryways.

Living in the casita, especially when its half-bath is converted into a whole bath with the addition of a tub/shower, will offer the young woman her own private living space as well as a separate entrance and exit.

The casita, however, does not offer any cooking or eating options. For that, Jordan will still need to join her mother and step-father in the main house.

Realtor Debbie Morgan said that despite a downturn in the national, state and local economies, interest in The Vineyards at Anderson project has remained strong throughout.

"The planned community itself is so unique and special - designed like a Tuscany village nestled in the vineyards of Central Italy - that I have had interest throughout all of the down years. And, it is so close to Interstate 5, to shopping and to the Prime 11 Cinemas that it is very attractive to empty-nesters as well as executive families who want a distinctive residence," Morgan said.

Community amenities that prospective buyer Mrs. Crouse most appreciates are the long-range plans for walking trails and open space, as well as a planned community center when other phases of the 2,500-home subdivision eventually are constructed.

"I'm not as worried about the future up here as I would be in other areas of Redding or Shasta County because this project is going to go. Call it experience or a gut instinct or a woman's intuition, but I know this project will happen. It just depends upon when," Mrs. Crouse said.

Taylor and Morgan agreed with Crouse by pointing out that the Tuscany village theme is protected by both a homeowner's association that has already been formed as well as by the City of Anderson's approval of those plan features early on in the process.

"There is not much of a chance that this entire planned community will not be built as it has been envisioned," Taylor noted.

All of the homes built so far have tile roofs with radiant barrier roof sheeting and drop attics, low emission windows that feature vinyl-clad wood construction, high efficiency HVAC systems, security features, vinyl or wrought-iron fencing, built-in fire suppression systems and more, Morgan said.

Taylor is so committed to the project that later this spring, his own development company, Chase & Taylor, Inc., has plans to start construction on some of the 115 available lots in Unit 1 of Phase 1.