Bike ride leads `first family' to Mandevilla

While riding bicycles together one evening in Pardee Homes' Eldorado community in North Las Vegas, the Johnson family spotted the perfect location for their future home. When the Mandevilla neighborhood in Eldorado Highlands opened last month, they were the first to buy a house.

"We bought a Pardee home in Eldorado 10 years ago before this far northern part of the valley became so well developed. We knew we wanted to stay in Eldorado because we have so many friends, the kids love the parks, and the schools are good," said Ruth Johnson, a Clark County School Board Trustee. "But we had to have a bigger home."

The Johnsons chose Plan Four, which ranges from 3,083 to 3,719 square feet and provides four to eight bedrooms, as many as 3 1/2 baths, three- or four-car garage, library, and bonus room. The home is priced from $217,950.

"We're going to have six bedrooms, so each daughter can have her own room," Ruth Johnson said.

The homes have earned the ComfortWise and Energy Star designations for exceeding national energy-efficiency standards by more than 30 percent.

"With the rising cost of electricity, the Energy Star program was a big plus for us," Paul Johnson, a deputy district attorney, said. "There are 30 windows in this house. Even though our new house is going to be much bigger than our present one, it will require smaller air conditioners since they are more efficient."

Plan One, a single-story home measures 2,512 square feet. The home is priced from $198,450.

Also available is the single-story Plan Two, a 3,028-square-foot home priced from $218,450.

Priced from $213,450, the two-story Plan Three has eight configurations ranging from 2,925 to 3,719 square feet.

The models are featured alongside those for the builder's Talavera and Fontana neighborhoods in Eldorado Highlands near the 23-acre Seastrand Park.

To visit, take Craig Road to Camino al Norte, go north until the road becomes Camino Eldorado, and proceed to the sales center.

The center is open daily from 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. except Monday, when it opens at 11 a.m.

Since 1952, Pardee Homes has built homes for more than 25,000 families in Southern Nevada. Its communities have included Eldorado, Rancho Las Palmas and Nevada Trails.

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