At Calimesa’s new development, Summerwind Trails, residents settling in, more to come

Drive along the streets of Summerwind Trails and you will find cars parked in the driveways, motor homes sitting in side yards and children’s playsets peeking over fences. They all indicate one thing – homeowners in the new Calimesa residential development have arrived.

Summerwind Trails is the first major residential development in Calimesa on the west side of Interstate 10 and is located off of Cherry Valley Boulevard and Tukwet Canyon Parkway. It is expected to bring 3,600 to 3,700 residential units to Calimesa at build out over the next 15 years or so.

Builders Lennar, D.R. Horton, Meritage and Richmond American Homes have sold about 60 homes since the beginning of the year, when Lennar and D.R. Horton opened the first model homes and sales offices. Features of Summerwind homes include dual plumbed, with recycled water for landscaping.

The most recent to open model homes in Summerwind, Meritage offers housing options with side yards for extra parking and more energy-efficient insulation.

“We are the only builder here that is offering RV parking and spray-foam insulation,” said Sheila Gonzales O’Neil, sales counselor for Meritage.

Starting in the high $300,000, Meritage’s homes include four to five bedrooms and two to three bathrooms and up to 2,854 square feet. At build out, there will be 80 Meritage homes in the Garland neighborhood of Summerwind Trails.

Meanwhile, D.R. Horton has added another one-story floor plan to its home options.

“We added a model because of the popularity of the single-story home,” said Adam Engelman, home counselor at Camellia Pointe, one of two D.R. Horton neighborhoods.

The 1,573-foot-square floor plan is actually in the Retreat neighborhood and features three bedrooms and two baths and a two-car garage from the low- to mid-$300,000.

At Camellia Pointe, homes are a bit larger, ranging from about 1,800 to 2,500 square feet, with three to four bedrooms and two to three bathrooms and priced in the mid- to high-$300,000.

Lennar also has two neighborhoods in Summerwind, Painted Sky and Wildflower. The homes are three to five bedrooms, with two to three bathrooms and prices start in the mid-$300,000.

While the first homeowners in Summerwind Trails moved in late spring, sales have slowed a bit with the start of the school year, when families typically don’t want to move unless they have to.

“We’re holding our own,” Engelman said. “But it’s slowing down for all builders at this time of year because school is back in.”

The other major residential development in Calimesa, Mesa Verde has not graded any lots yet. It too has about 3,600 homes planned and is located between the Summerwind Trails development and County Line Road.