Christopher buyers customize at Bellacere

When six-year Las Vegas residents Philippe and Danielle Du Puy decided to move up to a custom home, they chose Christopher Homes' Bellacere neighborhood in Summerlin. The couple was familiar with the builder's product since they already owned a home in its Country Rose Estates neighborhood in Summerlin.

"We wanted to build our own home and, most importantly, we wanted a spacious home site. We have enjoyed living in the northern area of Summerlin, but we didn't think there were many custom-home sites available in this area, especially on a golf course," Philippe Du Puy said.

"Upon visiting Bellacere, we were pleasantly surprised to find everything we wanted. This is a small guard-gated neighborhood, it offers very spacious home sites, and it is ... along the TPC at The Canyons golf course."

The couple purchased two adjoining home sites to create an acre lot for their 8,800-square-foot residence, which was designed by the builder's custom-home division.

"We started by looking at various model homes at other luxury neighborhoods built by Christopher Homes. We liked many of the features we saw in the van Gogh design at Palisades, but wanted to make major structural variations such as adding a basement and a 400-square-foot pool house. We also created a unique courtyard entrance and reconfigured the garage design to create a four-car garage, which is not highly visible from the street," he said.

"Working with the Christopher Homes' in-house architectural designers and interior designers was a great convenience in helping us create our dream home. Building your own home can be a challenge, but having just about every aspect handled through a single company made the process go much smoother."

The custom-home neighborhood is designed for homes valued from about $650,000 to more than $3 million. Home sites measure about one-half acre with many aligning the golf course or the neighborhood's linear park.

The builder can create floor plans based on clients' ideas or with concepts from other floor plans. Some buyers have incorporated basements, elevators, casitas, wine cellars and courtyard fireplaces within their homes.

Several financing options are available, including a program that requires a single loan application for the purchase of the lot and home.

Neighborhood amenities include entry monuments, a guard house, park, tennis court, landscaped open spaces, and city and mountain views.

To visit, take Summerlin Parkway to Town Center Drive, head south to Alta Drive, then go east. The sales center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Real Estate home