Former Bay-area residents select Vineyards

Former Bay Area residents Ehrlich and Terrie Livingston considered a number of upscale neighborhoods throughout the Las Vegas Valley before finding the home they were looking for at Christopher Homes' Vineyards neighborhood in Summerlin.

"We knew we wanted to buy a new home and considered a number of possibilities before being introduced to Christopher Homes. We looked at their homes and the level of quality was obvious. From the overall architecture to the smallest details, the quality of materials and craftsmanship was superior to anything else we had seen," Terrie Livingston said.

"Upon visiting the Vineyards neighborhood, we knew our search was over. Our son, Xander, is 16 months old and we wanted to find a nice, family-oriented neighborhood. Vineyards is perfect, as there are lots of families living here and ... parks and other opportunities for recreation are all within a short distance of our home."

Priced from the high $300,000s, the guard-gated neighborhood is being built in The Arbors village. Four one- and two-story floor plans range from 3,072 to 5,000 square feet. Motor courts, balconies and courtyards with fireplaces are incorporated within the designs.

The Livingstons chose the Cristal design, a two-story home with four bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths and a library in 4,244 square feet, plus a three-car garage. They worked closely with the builder's in-house design center to customize their home.

"Christopher Homes gives you opportunities to highly modify your selected home, which makes it more like buying a semicustom home. In our case, we added a separate casita, a lovely courtyard fireplace and a covered outdoor patio and upper balcony. We were also able to expand the size of our kitchen, master bedroom, family room and garage," Terrie Livingston said.

"The Christopher Homes' design center is a step above anything you see at a typical home building company. As one example, we were able to upgrade all of our appliances . ... We added a wet bar to our family room and incorporated other special design features that are generally exclusive to custom or semicustom homes."

The couple also praised the builder's sales and customer service staff.

"Everyone we dealt with was friendly, knowledgeable and helpful through each stage of the process," Ehrlich Livingston said. "Much of our transaction took place while we were still in San Francisco, and the Christopher Homes people made sure that everything was taken care of on this end. Also, our project manager did an excellent job of keeping us informed and being accessible to us throughout the construction and delivery of our home."

Amenities include a private linear park that traverses the neighborhood through a series of fountain plazas and links to Summerlin's Paseo Park, which connects to two nearby Summerlin parks.

To visit the neighborhood's sales office, take Summerlin Parkway to Anasazi Drive, go south to Banburry Cross Drive and then turn right on Laurelglen Drive. The office is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

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