Short build‑out for new homes in Anthem neighborhood
by RaeAnne Marsh

Floor plans at The Ridge at Anthem are built around living space–ample “comfort” space in areas where it will be used.

This is especially apparent in the two‑story models. Four‑bedroom and five‑bedroom models are available; of course the master bedroom affords the most living space, but the secondary bedrooms are of generous size as well. And the stairs offer comfort space of their own: Not only are the stairs to the second floor wide enough for two–spacious enough for one person to ascend while another descends without hugging the wall–but the treads overhang each step to afford that extra inch of depth for toe and heel room.

In all, five models are available at Hacienda Builders’ The Ridge at Anthem: two one‑stories and three two‑stories. All five offer at least one exterior elevation with a sheltered front porch. Expanding upon the spaciousness of the homes, every model includes the option of a three‑car garage.

The three models built and showcased at the neighborhood’s site off 45th Drive, a mile north of Anthem Way (west of Interstate 17), feature side‑by‑side single and double garage doors that open to one large three‑car garage. The other two models feature separate one‑car and two‑car garages, with one of the garages oriented sideways to the street for an attractive streetscape presentation.

Size ranges from 2,533 square feet in the Bolero, a one‑story model, to 3,923 square feet in the Medallion, a two‑story.

The single‑story Bollinger’s 2,816 square feet displays a split plan, with master bedroom in the rear on one side and three secondary bedrooms clustered in the front on the other side. Between the two wings, a sunken living/dining room constitutes the central part of the house, its dropped level giving it an extra foot of floor‑to‑ceiling height while keeping the ceiling even at its 10‑foot height throughout the rest of the house.

A spacious entrance foyer looks directly into the living/dining room across a transverse hallway and over low walls that allow the room to be open and airy while forming a boundary at the hallway edge where the level drops into the room. Centered in this wall and flanked by floor‑to‑ceiling columns stands the doorway into the room, and directly across are the windows that look onto the home’s covered patio.

A doorway at the rear connects the dining room with the kitchen and family room adjacent to it.

The kitchen opens broadly to the family room, with a fireplace and media center option on the back wall facing the kitchen. A breakfast area between the kitchen and family room may be extended into more of a nook if the home buyer chooses the bay window option.

A hallway from the kitchen leads to the cluster of secondary bedrooms, with the bathroom serving these rooms while readily accessible to the kitchen and family room. The bathroom features a room for the bath and commode separate from the double sink, thereby facilitating shared use by family members. The powder room, located in the master bedroom wing, is conveniently situated for access to the living/dining room. If the nearby den, located next to the foyer facing the living/dining room, is declined in favor of a fifth bedroom, the room’s entry door is moved away from the living/dining room to face the powder room, which, in this option, becomes a full bath.

The Medallion’s two‑story façade actually encloses a tri‑level home, and at 3,923 square feet, is the largest of the models at The Ridge at Anthem. With five bedrooms standard, the model offers a sixth bedroom option that cuts out the sitting room in the master bedroom. Two bedrooms lie on the lower floor, and either or both of these may be built, instead, as a den.

There is no formal entrance foyer in this model, but neither does the front door open directly into the living room. Rather, the front door opens to a walkway that skirts the front living room and leads to a short rise of three steps that puts you in the dining room, which may look down on the living room through a railing (upgrade) or be partially hidden from it behind a low, pony wall (standard).