The Meadows, Lake Forest by Toll Brothers

[CalBears96]

At the end of the day, we buy home that fits best for each one of us.
I personally hate OH because it is gated and the fact that HOA is high. I dislike PS because it is so far from everything and inconvenient taking my kids to Jr High and HS next year. I decided to move from Woodbury to Eastwood because WB has gotten lot worse (noise, traffic, more crowded) due to apartment people and long drive to Portola HS. I am not bothered when Cal said EW is flat .

Cal didnt get offered when i gave him warning about courtyard cons b4 he bought his Bluff or else he wouldve bailed.

Pointing out pros/cons with some flavors of personal opinions are good discussions.

PS would have been a problem for us if our son were still in middle school age since he would be going to Jeffrey Trail Middle School, which is pretty damn far away. Portola HS is close by, so if he were in high school age, then it wouldn't be a problem. But he's already going to college, so there's no problem at all. PS is still pretty far from everything, but we're willing to take the inconvenience for nice and quiet neighborhood.

Although we're now not a fan of motor court, we would definitely still have bought Bluffs. Of course, I would have preferred Highland over Bluffs, but the Highland homes that we would be offered have really small lots. Tiny backyard is worse than motor court. Like I said, although we're looking to upgrade to a better home, we still don't regret buying Bluffs. It let us come to Irvine. It let us made some good gain on our Eastvale home. All tax free.

 

[bones]

Building the school is up to Saddleback Valley Unified School District. As of August, the district was still evaluating whether to proceed with building the school. They have April 2025 to accept the land from TB and start preparing to build a school. If they don't accept by then, the land goes back to TB. The SVUSD's first milestone is this October 2022 (I'm assuming that means end of October), which is to obtain approval for the site from the CA department of education. I don't know whether they completed that milestone, but one could probably reach out to the district superintendent to inquire.

That’s not the question I asked.

 

[someguy]

That’s not the question I asked.

My bad, I misread your post. I don't know what schools The Meadows will be assigned to. Seems like that should be determined by now since people live there. Maybe call SVUSD to ask?

 

[ThirtySomethingWEquity]

Right. There is no perfect home...unless you're as well off as Martin.

Even I can admit that Bluffs have a few drawbacks. First and foremost is the no driveway (or motor court). My wife mentioned that she feels like the motor court makes her not have this "Home, sweet home"feeling when she comes home. She feels like she needs to drive into the garage (or driveway) from a big street. That is pretty much the main reason she's longing for Cielo now. Motor court homes also makes it frustrating sometimes on garbage day because of too many cars parked on the street.

As for yard on the side, it only applies to Bluffs 1, though. I think that's more like front door being on the side. Either way, it is weird.

Are we happy that we bought Bluffs? Yes.
Are we still looking for that unicorn house? Yes. But my wife wants to stay in PS and she only wants new home, so that unicorn house will have to be Cielo.

Cielo looks like nice floorplans, but plan 1 is pretty close to Highlands 2, no? I loved Highlands, just out of my price range at the time. My house is pretty much a slightly larger toll bros version of Highlands 2 though (with a cooler, more inconvenient staricase. It's the helena plan of Terraces)!

As everyone in the replies since my last message has stated, this is all supposed to be normal observations, opinions, pros/cons, etc. People are going to like where they're moving regardless of what other people think, but it's sometimes helpful to hear other POVs. That's what I like about Talk Irvine. I think there are pros and cons everywhere. Like I said, I really like the home designs in The Meadows. You can also walk across the street to Bodhi Leaf if you like a good coffee, so hey.

I love bodhi leaf. Great coffee and espresso, really nice atmosphere to hang out or work at with all the windows, at least a few outlets, and passable wifi for a coffee shop.

 

[CalBears96]

Cielo looks like nice floorplans, but plan 1 is pretty close to Highlands 2, no? I loved Highlands, just out of my price range at the time. My house is pretty much a slightly larger toll bros version of Highlands 2 though (with a cooler, more inconvenient staricase. It's the helena plan of Terraces)!

No, Cielo 1 looks nothing like Highland 2 at all.

Also, as much as I would have wanted to buy Highland 1 instead of Bluffs 2, one problem with Highland floorplans is that they're long and narrow. Highland 2 more so than Highland 1.

 

[bones]

My bad, I misread your post. I don't know what schools The Meadows will be assigned to. Seems like that should be determined by now since people live there. Maybe call SVUSD to ask?

I did prior to asking here. Called and the lady had no idea what I was talking about. Kinda weird that no one knows.

 

[Kangen.Irvine]

School locator if you have a confirmed address. I don’t know if it will recognize any addresses within the community though. The district has $75 million in reserves…

 

[bones]

School locator if you have a confirmed address. I don’t know if it will recognize any addresses within the community though. The district has $75 million in reserves…

Already did this too. It does not (or at least did not when I did it).

 

[irvinehomeowner]

Someone already advertising a Meadows rental here.

 

[irviniteeee]

Someone already advertising a Meadows rental here.

Yeah...I just looked on Zillow and saw SIX already...wow.

 

[irviniteeee]

Just plugged in one of the rental addresses from Zillow. Looks like these are your schools if you live in The Meadows:

Rancho Canada (K-8)
Serrano Middle School )7-8)
El Toro High

edit: When I plugged in another home there, I got no results. I also noticed the first address that did give me results was actually a random industrial place or water plant...address was correct, but pin was wrong. Idk.

 

[marmott]

First Evergreens resale too: https://www.redfin.com/CA/Lake-Forest/111-Evergreen-Way-92630/home/182479617

 

[sgip]

First Evergreens resale too: https://www.redfin.com/CA/Lake-Forest/111-Evergreen-Way-92630/home/182479617

Any guesses what they paid for it?

 

[bones]

Any guesses what they paid for it?

$1.7m according to this thread plus whatever they spent on options (although some were prob included).

 

[yluser45]

$1.7m according to this thread plus whatever they spent on options (although some were prob included).

Looks like they upgraded the kitchen backsplash (~$2500) and the downstairs tile flooring (~$20,000). The rest is all standard.

 

[marmott]

Looks like they upgraded the kitchen backsplash (~$2500) and the downstairs tile flooring (~$20,000). The rest is all standard.

One of the rare TB development with decent standard options?

They also did the master retreat that costs ~$50k.

 

[someguy]

Per the listing, "This brand new home Rosewood plan is The largest Evergreen Collection in the beautiful Meadows Community"

Is it though.... ? Translation error?

 

[CalBears96]

Per the listing, "This brand new home Rosewood plan is The largest Evergreen Collection in the beautiful Meadows Community"

Is it though.... ? Translation error?

As far as I know, Sagewood is the largest Evergreen Plan. Rosewood is 3514+ sq ft. Sagewood are 3572+ sq ft and 3778+ sq ft.

 

[marmott]

Technically both the conservatory and the master retreat are smaller on Sagewood than Rosewood compensating for the smaller base sqft.

 

[irviniteeee]

One of the rare TB development with decent standard options?

They also did the master retreat that costs ~$50k.

I thought the standard options were pretty nice as well. I also appreciate that TB adds a bit more detail to the exterior of their homes compared to Lennar (Serrano Summit).