One of the negatives people considering active adult communities bring up is “houses are too close together”. At first glance, that’s an understandable concern since the houses are closer together than in many communities, even though smaller lots have been the trend for some time. That’s why many older homes have larger lots.
Having lived in a Del Webb community for almost a year, here is my take on this.
The developer has done a wonderful job positioning the homes for maximum privacy using different lot elevations, varying house set backs, curving streets, berms, green belts and woods.
I have only heard this “too close” concern voiced by people who do not live in an active adult community, not by those of us who do live in one. Here is why.
On a personal level, I know my house being close to the neighbors house on the side yards is not a problem. In fact, I like my yard better than the one-half acre suburban lot I moved from. Getting a good lot for me was just luck because I didn’t even conscientiously consider that.
- I have a better view that my last house. I can see the sun rise every morning from my back door. From my patio I see a larger view of the sky and at night I can see the stars.
sunrise from my patio - I have never ever heard the neighbors while inside our house. The hardie plank siding plus extra insulation helps, but hey we don’t sit around playing ZZ Top and ACDC at full volume either. Remember most noise is made by kids, so that is not a problem.
- Because lots are terraced, at least here at Village at Deaton Creek, I have a very private back yard.
- Smaller yard is easier to take care of. Even though the HOA cuts lawns and provides other services, I do water and flower planting. Much easier with a small yard.
- Our smaller back yard is more usable. We rarely ventured off our deck over looking our larger yard at the last house. Here we are not lacking in yard to use. In fact we can make the surrounding area to our large patio more tailored to our likes. Smaller can be better. We added a railing along the edges of our patio ( with HOA approval of course!), put out some planters, put out Mary Ann mother’s Irises along the sunroom foundation and some calico river stones. I am thinking of my next project right now.
patio - Because the community has plenty of green space and is located in a forest, there is all kinds of wild life. There are deer, foxes, coyotes, turtles, plenty of birds. There are also 8 miles of walking trails and a pretty large creek. So the allocation is really smaller lots to more undeveloped green space, not a bad trade off.
Does this look too close! Taken from my patio.
Pay Attention To Your Lot
Lots and homes vary quite a bit. I am sure some have more privacy than others. If this is a concern to you, then pay attention to the lot and position of the home, not just the inside of the home. Consider the back yard, the front yard, front door and window views.
Don’t let your first observations that “houses are too close” throw you off in your home search. Just be observant and mindful that your lot is important too.
Kind of nice not looking directly into a house across the street. That’s just a little 8 house cul de sac street with not much traffic. I don’t know that I would like the same set up with a street with heavy traffic.
One good thing for privacy is that the driveways are not right next to each other.
