Riverstone: It’s All About the Land Plan

June 28, 2020

When the new-home community of Riverstone began taking shape more than four years ago, it promised today’s homebuyers something different. Instead of the typical suburban planned community, the goal of Riverstone’s developers was to create a truly original destination—a place that incorporated top quality and cutting-edge design while paying homage to the rich agrarian heritage of Valley cities such as Madera, Fresno and Clovis.

The Lodge District neighborhood of Riverstone features five family-friendly parks. Whatever outdoor fun you’re in the mood for, it’s just around the corner from home.

Remnant groves of olive trees accent many areas of Riverstone’s thematic landscape, a welcoming design shaped by agrarian roots and creative flair.

Today, after winning the titles of America’s Best Master-Planned Community from the National Association of Homebuilders and being honored with back-to-back CVLUX Community of the Year Awards in 2019 and 2020, Riverstone—it seems—does in fact stand apart.

“From day one, we’ve strived to introduce something fresh and exciting to the local market,” said Riverstone’s Tim Jones. “It’s this sense of thinking differently that continues to guide us on everything to come…and there’s plenty in the works. Like I’ve said before, with new collections of homes and our upcoming Stone Creek Elementary school and Riverwalk retail destination, right now truly is a great time to make the move to Riverstone.”

A total of six national and local homebuilders are currently crafting just about every imaginable notion of home at Riverstone within the community’s first two neighborhoods—the Lodge District and the Town Center District. New homes are also currently under construction in the Park District.

The Lodge District is a family-friendly neighborhood with wide sidewalks along tree-lined streets leading to five community parks as well as the Central Bark dog park and a future network of hiking and biking trails.

Anchoring the district is The Lodge, a contemporary community clubhouse with a style that merges the rusticity of farm with the magnificence of the west’s National Park lodges of yesteryear. A popular hangout for all residents, the one-of-a-kind venue is comfortable enough to call your second living room.

Coming soon to the Lodge District is Riverstone’s first on-site school—Stone Creek Elementary. Construction is already underway for the innovative 15.5-acre campus, which will belong to Madera’s #1 school district and open in time for the 2021 school year. Just a short walk or bike ride away from Riverstone’s homes, the school will offer everything from tech-forward classrooms and a Library/Media Center to outdoor learning spaces and a dynamic sports complex.

Planning and marketing activities continue for Riverstone’s future retail offering known as Riverwalk. The envisioned indoor-outdoor shopping, dining and entertainment destination is planned for more than one million square feet of commercial, Class-A office and retail space on two parcels located at Avenue 12 and Highway 41 just north of Fresno.

Part of an extraordinary land plan is a distinctive landscape. Riverstone’s was brought to life by award-winning landscape firm Broussard Associates. Just like the overall community itself, the landscape is refreshingly different.

“Riverstone has a rich agricultural legacy that we wanted to protect and preserve,” said Broussard Associates’ Terry Broussard. “These lands have been a thriving patchwork of pistachio, almond and citrus trees—and for the first phase of Riverstone the land had a fairly large olive orchard. So instead of just wiping it off the map, we incorporated it into our design to landscape medians, corners and other areas. And we focused on a low-water, low-maintenance design from the very beginning. Riverstone’s thematic landscape feels lush, but it’s very drought tolerant.”

Situated in the heart of the region’s path of growth, Riverstone—when complete—will total approximately 6,578 single-family, attached and multi-family homes. Coming soon is the one-million-square-foot Riverwalk mixed-use lifestyle retail destination. Amenities at Riverstone include walkable neighborhoods, parks and open space, a dog park, a sustainable water supply and The Lodge community clubhouse with resort-style swimming pools, a trainer-designed fitness center, demonstration kitchen, Gear Barn, outdoor gathering spaces with firepits, and ongoing monthly activities such as self-defense classes, book clubs, arts and crafts, specialty meal cooking classes and more. Future amenities are anticipated to include hiking and biking trails, a community farm and the on-site Stone Creek Elementary school belonging to the award-winning Golden Valley Unified School District.

For more information about the new-home community of Riverstone and its collections of new homes from Bonadelle Neighborhoods, Crown Homes, Lennar, Wathen Castanos Homes and Woodside Homes, homebuyers are encouraged to visit the community’s website at www.RiverstoneCA.com and add their name to the Interest List. Model Home tours for all homebuilders are available by appointment.