A cool new housing complex opens in the new city, near the town center.
Home Front: Rancho Cordova site packs a lot in
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, August 31, 2007
If your idea of Sunday tourism is visiting model homes, here's a leisurely trip for a long weekend: Capital Village in Rancho Cordova. It's like nothing you've seen around here.
Capital Village is Atlanta-based Beazer Homes' big regional jump into a compact, residential style often called New Urbanism. The concept -- a lot of residences on small lots and an emphasis on public transportation -- got plenty of early attention during the planning stages and, lately, good reviews from tndwest.com, a West Coast Web site devoted to "traditional neighborhood design."
After a slow construction start, the 117-acre village with 800-plus houses is coming together quickly and racking up fairly healthy sales -- 227 through the end of June -- according to Costa Mesa-based Hanley Wood Market Intelligence.
The development at Zinfandel and Data drives starts with a three-story blaze of bright color and unusually modern designs for Sacramento. That standout color belongs to the Villas at Capital Village, with lots of vertical space for singles, couples and first-time buyers.
Inside the models are the usual mirrors that make a place look bigger. But they also contain roommate-friendly bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. Prices start at about $240,000.
There's also a variety of more traditional residential living. Most of that is going up in calmer shades of beige. Garages are uniformly in the back of the houses, a look that suggests pre-World War II neighborhoods. Yards are tiny, but one of the neighborhood parks that compensate is finished.
