Orchard Hills - Capella by Taylor Morrison

[Jonah]

I've seen that house and it's the cheapest looking fake grass you've ever seen.  It's like they've pulled the cloth off the pool table and glued it in their front yard.  Nasty.

 

[Perspective]

Simple mulch or bark ground cover is far more appealing than fake grass.

 

[eyephone]

Question. Those who had seen it, can you tell if there is a drain(s) that is under the fake grass?

 

[wrigley]

If only there were a builder that designed and completed front yard landscaping throughout the entire neighborhood to create a cohesive beautiful look.

Wow you are a really drinking the kool aid.  I always thought they did that with homes where the setback was so small the price for doing the landscaping was less than the potential cost (in aesthetics) of letting owners do it.

From what I've seen being cheap with landscaping is not an fcb only trait.  In fact I've seen quite a few fcb owned homes with fairly expensive landscaping.  You really should expect to pay at least 20-30k for a decent size lot.

 

[Perspective]

If only there were a builder that designed and completed front yard landscaping throughout the entire neighborhood to create a cohesive beautiful look.

Wow you are a really drinking the kool aid.  I always thought they did that with homes where the setback was so small the price for doing the landscaping was less than the potential cost (in aesthetics) of letting owners do it.

From what I've seen being cheap with landscaping is not an fcb only trait.  In fact I've seen quite a few fcb owned homes with fairly expensive landscaping.  You really should expect to pay at least 20-30k for a decent size lot.

The Capella houses, and many other gated Orchard Hills houses aren't set-back much further than Strada. How much more would it cost these builders to add landscaping on these $1.5M+ homes?

 

[JBean72]

I totally hijacked the Capella thread with this backsplash thing.  Sorry Paris

No problem, it was a nice detour highlighting the idea that there are so many homeowners buying brand new homes over $1million dollars and have to choose all the elements of design in there home and to put it politely they have NO idea what the f*$@ they are doing and they are too cheap to hire an interior designer so it all comes together in a jumbled mess or a very plain washed out look that looks sterile.

Which brings me to our lovely FCB down the street who has turned their property into a rental and decided to put fake grass in the front with some ugly perrenials and concreted (not to standard grade I might add) the entire sides and backyard. I didn't even think fake grass in the front is allowed by the HOA. I see several HOA violations there and it's making our street look bad because everyone else is making an effort to create nice landscaping that is appealing to the neighborhood. So what should we do? Should I report it to Keystone so they can investigate? I doubt they got any landscaping approval.

@Paris: I know EXACTLY which home you are talking about. There is something even crazier with that story - did you notice the "fake" Christmas Tree they had out front along with their fake ugly grass? We were dying of laughter with that one

Need pictures.  ;D

We noticed they removed the tree LOL I wish I had snapped a photo of it - priceless!

 

[wrigley]

If only there were a builder that designed and completed front yard landscaping throughout the entire neighborhood to create a cohesive beautiful look.

Wow you are a really drinking the kool aid.  I always thought they did that with homes where the setback was so small the price for doing the landscaping was less than the potential cost (in aesthetics) of letting owners do it.

From what I've seen being cheap with landscaping is not an fcb only trait.  In fact I've seen quite a few fcb owned homes with fairly expensive landscaping.  You really should expect to pay at least 20-30k for a decent size lot.

The Capella houses, and many other gated Orchard Hills houses aren't set-back much further than Strada. How much more would it cost these builders to add landscaping on these $1.5M+ homes?

Can't argue with you there, though I think at the higher prices owners might want to make their landscaping unique.  Taymo doesn't even give you a door to the side yard.  I think strada looks good right from the start because of the finished landscaping. I'm just too cynical about the builders to believe it's purely altruism.

 

[Jonah]

Wow you are a really drinking the kool aid.  I always thought they did that with homes where the setback was so small the price for doing the landscaping was less than the potential cost (in aesthetics) of letting owners do it.

In most cases, the setbacks at Strada are bigger than those at Capella.  I believe that front landscaping at CoE is standard with IHC homes.

 

[hello]

is Capella having hard time selling?  I see many homes on Redfin and some have price drops.

 

[Perspective]

is Capella having hard time selling?  I see many homes on Redfin and some have price drops.

Maybe it's because there are so many options available near Capella's price point within Orchard Hills?

 

[JBean72]

is Capella having hard time selling?  I see many homes on Redfin and some have price drops.

From what I heard about a month or so ago, they sold about half their inventory. Not sure where they're at now, but that doesn't seem too shabby considering the price point.

 

[hello]

is Capella having hard time selling?  I see many homes on Redfin and some have price drops.

From what I heard about a month or so ago, they sold about half their inventory. Not sure where they're at now, but that doesn't seem too shabby considering the price point.

Yeah I have no idea where they are at.  I went to look at it when it first opened and havent looked into it again.  I just looked it up recently and saw this.
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/123-Long-Fence-92602/home/78644139

 

[hello]

is Capella having hard time selling?  I see many homes on Redfin and some have price drops.

From what I heard about a month or so ago, they sold about half their inventory. Not sure where they're at now, but that doesn't seem too shabby considering the price point.

Yeah I have no idea where they are at.  I went to look at it when it first opened and havent looked into it again.  I just looked it up recently and saw this.
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/123-Long-Fence-92602/home/78644139

and these:
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/112-Long-Fence-92602/home/63696271
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/139-Long-Fence-92602/home/87759831
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Irvine/106-Long-Fence-92602/home/79113037


I think there are three or four others on redfin that I didnt link.  Those that I didnt link did not have any price history however. 

 

[aquabliss]

112 long fence has some trippy 70's cabinets.

106 long fence has what look like the old 2001 standard birch / oak cabinets.

They should have just used either white or dark wood shaker and kept it neutral.

 

[Jonah]

Those retro cabinets will date by next week, and the birch/oak cabinets hurt my eyes.  The one with the French antique cabinets is at odds with the backsplash.  None of which I'd be belly living with at 1.4M. 

I'm quite sure the slowdown at Capella is the price point and those small lots - 3700-3900 sqf lot for a 3000 sqf house?  Comparing the largest Strada floorplan (3X at 2800+ sqf) with the smallest Capella floorplan (Residence 1 - my favorite at Capella - at 2900+ sqf), as listed on Zillow, you're looking at a price difference upwards of 200K.  Besides which, the HOA at Capella is higher, lot sizes are smaller, the street is ugly and claustrophobic with nowhere for kids to play, it's further away from OH school and village, but closer to the sound of vehicles zooming along the 261.  Yeah, I think I'll pass on Capella ...

 

[Perspective]

Those retro cabinets will date by next week, and the birch/oak cabinets hurt my eyes.  The one with the French antique cabinets is at odds with the backsplash.  None of which I'd be belly living with at 1.4M. 

I'm quite sure the slowdown at Capella is the price point and those small lots - 3700-3900 sqf lot for a 3000 sqf house?  Comparing the largest Strada floorplan (3X at 2800+ sqf) with the smallest Capella floorplan (Residence 1 - my favorite at Capella - at 2900+ sqf), as listed on Zillow, you're looking at a price difference upwards of 200K.  Besides which, the HOA at Capella is higher, lot sizes are smaller, the street is ugly and claustrophobic with nowhere for kids to play, it's further away from OH school and village, but closer to the sound of vehicles zooming along the 261.  Yeah, I think I'll pass on Capella ...

You forgot to mention it's in TUSD and no cul-de-sacs.

 

[bones]

strada owners piling it on!  wonder what the gap will be between these two tracts @ resale....

 

[bones]

Wow you are a really drinking the kool aid.  I always thought they did that with homes where the setback was so small the price for doing the landscaping was less than the potential cost (in aesthetics) of letting owners do it.

In most cases, the setbacks at Strada are bigger than those at Capella.  I believe that front landscaping at CoE is standard with IHC homes.

Only recently?  Don't remember them doing this with their SFRs in Woodbury and Laguna Altura.

 

[Jonah]

strada owners piling it on!  wonder what the gap will be between these two tracts @ resale....

Ha ha.  I go to Capella from time to time and it helps validate my decision to buy Strada.  When the price differential between a house that is a couple of 200sqf bigger is 200k, I don't think it matters what the resale is. 

 

[iacrenter]

$200k is for the guard gates and bragging rights

strada owners piling it on!  wonder what the gap will be between these two tracts @ resale....

Ha ha.  I go to Capella from time to time and it helps validate my decision to buy Strada.  When the price differential between a house that is a couple of 200sqf bigger is 200k, I don't think it matters what the resale is.