Luxury in Reno, Nevada is not what most people think it is

When most people hear “Reno, Nevada, ” they still picture the old postcard version of the city, casinos, neon, and maybe a quick stop on the way to somewhere else. Luxury neighborhoods are usually not the first thing that comes to mind. And honestly, that assumption is outdated.

Northern Nevada has changed a lot in the last decade. We now have gated golf communities with private club life, modern high end developments that feel like they were dropped out of Scottsdale, mountain neighborhoods tucked into the trees, and massive custom estates with views that make you forget you are only minutes from Whole Foods.

But here is the part that trips people up when they are relocating from California, especially from the Bay Area or Sacramento. Luxury here is not one single look or lifestyle. In Reno, Nevada, luxury can mean a 9, 000 square foot estate behind a gate, it can mean a newer 2, 200 square foot low maintenance home with a killer view, it can mean an older Southwest Reno home with character and mature trees, or it can mean a place in Sparks, Nevada where the “luxury” is the lot size and the RV parking for your toys.

So let’s break down some of the most exclusive neighborhoods and luxury pockets in the Reno Tahoe area, what makes each one unique, and how to figure out which one actually fits the way you live. If you want to browse areas we work in, start here: check out the channel. If you want to see the areas we cover, visit our neighborhoods page here: reach out to us.

For more Reno and Northern Nevada insights, market updates, and lifestyle guides, explore other posts.

Transcript

When most people think about Reno or Northern Nevada, luxury neighborhoods are probably not the first thing that comes to mind. But honestly, that's because most people have no idea how much the area has changed over the last decade or so. So today, Northern Nevada is home to private golf communities, massive custom estates, luxury mountain neighborhoods, modern high-end developments, and some seriously incredible real estate. So in today's video, what we're going to do is we're going to break down some of Northern Nevada's most exclusive neighborhoods, what makes them unique, and why so many high-end buyers continue moving into this region. So if you're new to the channel, my name is Brian Lussier, and this is our Living in Reno Tahoe channel. And if this is your first time here, what we do is we actually talk about what it's like to live here, work, eat, sleep, play, and survive all things here in Northern Nevada. So as always, when we get to this point, we want to introduce Sydney. Sydney is the one who takes a lot of you guys out. She's our buyer's agent. She drives around and shows the home. And so Sydney, thanks for coming on as always. When we talk about neighborhood number one, the most high-end exclusive, you know, down in the Reno Tahoe, you know, Reno area, not up at Lake Tahoe, first one people come to mind is >> Montreux. >> And the reason being with Montreux is this is a neighborhood, to be honest with you, we don't go into a lot because you can't really find a whole lot of stuff in there less than a couple of million dollars. And a lot of people that are moving here looking for luxury properties, they want the properties to be nice, but they don't want 5, 7, 9, 000 square feet, which is a lot of what you see in Montreux. >> Yeah, the houses up there are large, and I remember early on in my real estate career, you had taken me up there to show me on purpose, and you had driven me around the neighborhood, and the houses are big. So if if large is not your thing, Montreux might not be ideal for you, but there is a lovely golf course in there. What is the the guy who made it? >> It's Jack Nicklaus. It's a Jack Nicklaus golf course. There used to be a PGA Tour event there. So every year for about a week or two, you couldn't use the golf course. The other thing for people that are big golfers is because it's a little higher elevation, it's a little further up Mount Rose. You're right kind of on the edge of the tree line. So it's not 12 years or 12 months a year golf. You're going to get stuck in some areas where it gets snowed over, and so there's a little less golf in there. It's just the one course. Now, it is freaking awesome. It is amazing. And if you want to be in a gated community on that really kind of high dollar price area, that is the place that people think of, but it is probably the most high-end of all the kind of South Reno neighbors that people are looking for. But more what people are looking for, especially if they're golfers, which would be kind of the the second one we want to talk about, which is >> Arrow Creek. >> And and Arrow Creek, which they just redid everything over the last couple years. Over over the years, I was a a member there 20 years ago. Then the Great Recession hit and I bailed out. Then I was a member there for a short time again, and when they remodeled everything, it's it's awesome. But the thing about Arrow Creek again, it's a gated thing. It does have two golf courses. It's a little further down. But what can you tell people that when they're we're driving around in Arrow Creek what they're kind of looking for? >> So there's a kind of a mix of things. There are certain portions of Arrow Creek that feel more master planned, and there are certain areas of Arrow Creek that are going to be custom or semi-custom homes. So sometimes the deeper you get into Arrow Creek, the bigger the homes will look. They're going to be a little bit more reminiscent of Montreux in that sense. But you can find 2, 200 square foot houses in Arrow Creek. So if you're looking for something smaller, a little bit more manageable, a little smaller yard, just making it a little bit easier on yourself, Arrow Creek has a lot more of those than they do the big 6, 000 square foot homes. >> And for people that want to to be closer towards a million rather than three or four million, I know a friend of mine who just sold one with a really good view. They were around 1.3 million. So you can find something more in that million dollar range. The thing about Arrow Creek is this, like you said, that first section is very I don't want to say uh you know, standard, but it's more of like they were they were home builders that built a bunch of homes. They were semi-custom. The further deeper in you go, and you can drive way back in there. It could be 20 minutes to your house all the way in the back where they're really custom, really good views, whether you want back towards the mountains or back towards the city. But the thing about Arrow Creek that's a little unusual is you have people who live there that are just members of the HOA. You have people that live there that are also then members. It's a separate thing to be a member of the golf club. >> Yes. >> And then you can also have people that don't live in Arrow Creek, like myself, that I when I was a member, I never lived in Arrow Creek, but I was a member of the golf course community. So you have kind of multiple things of both, and there are now pools and gyms for people that are golf members, but then there's also the HOA stuff. So, there's a little bit of everything as far as that stuff goes. And these are all kind of South Reno. ArrowCreek does also have two golf courses, so the upper course, um the challenge course, can get a little more weather, a little more snow, a little more wind, and it is kind of, you know, not really a course you play nine holes on because the ninth hole here is far away from the clubhouse as you can be. >> So, just work your way back. >> Yeah, if you play the legend, the two nines are separate, so you can play nine holes if that's something that you're into. Another community that's in that area that is not golf that's a little more rustic, a little less you know, no sidewalks, those kind of things, is Saddlehorn. What can you tell people about Saddlehorn? >> Saddlehorn is one of those areas that people honestly kind of forget about for some reason. Like, every single time I bring up Saddlehorn, people are like, "Oh, what's that?" So, it's kind of a little more hidden than some of the others. It's not quite as well known. The houses there are going to be similar, custom, semi-custom, larger homes. I mean, you can push up to $3 million in there if you really wanted to, but again, a little bit lower on the price in that neighborhood. No sidewalks, but the streets are wide, the neighborhoods are quiet, and every single person I've ever spoken to that lives in Saddlehorn loves it. >> Yeah, they're looking for the space. >> Yes. >> So, their homes are a little further apart, a little more elbow room and space. You are, you know, near Mount Rose Highway, but you're on that inside. So, if you were to take the freeway and start going up Mount Rose Highway, areas like Somerset, or not Somerset, but Field Creek and and Saddlehorn are kind of below ArrowCreek, and they were custom homes, but there's not like amenities. There's no pools and gyms and clubhouses in those neighborhoods where in these golf course communities you have those. Field Creek, which is another one, which is just right below Saddlehorn, that's a little bit different feel, but it all kind of runs together. So, if you were driving around on your own and you didn't know one from the other, >> Yeah. >> they do all sort of run together in that South Reno part. Now, another neighborhood, which we don't sell a lot in, and it's not a really big neighborhood, but it is gated, it does have a person there, is Saint James Village. Saint James Village is actually just above where Montreux is, and that neighborhood is one we don't get asked about a lot. It's It's where people usually will buy a piece of land and maybe build themselves a custom home, but it's a little more isolated, a little more weather. Not one of my personal favorites. What What do you think about St. James Village? >> I think St. James Village, if you're looking for wooded and private, that is about as good as it's going to get in terms of not being up at the lake. It doesn't have a whole lot of amenities, so the community itself is just houses. So, you're not going to have like the Montreux or the ArrowCreek that you have a community. >> Right. >> It's a neighborhood, and it's not that it's not special. It just is a different feel than what the others have to offer you in terms of luxury. You're not getting amenities out of it. You're getting the privacy. You're getting space away from the city. You're getting to a quieter portion. You do get a little bit more weather down there, so you know, be a little bit careful if you're used to a warmer climate. Um but yeah, if you want to live in the treeline, that's a great place to be. >> And the views of there are backed away. Like most of the homes there are backed away. There are some where you can get more desert-y or kind of out of the trees, but their view is more towards Carson City in that direction. So, all of these areas, you can get tucked back in there really far, and if you are, then it makes it a you know, decent drive if you're just trying to get to a grocery store or those kind of things. Now, a lot of this is all in South Reno. We want to talk about some other luxury areas, and it's funny cuz if you're looking at a map of northern Nevada or the Reno Sparks area, most of our luxury homes is going to be on the west side all the way kind of from Somerset all the way down towards Mount Rose Highway. But right in the middle of all that is Caughlin Ranch, and Caughlin Ranch was one of the areas that was sort of more of the original high-end areas. And in there, you can get things from condos and stuff smaller up to really high-end stuff. And Caughlin Ranch tends to be really popular for people that like work for the university or more like in-town jobs that are still working. I don't feel like we get as many retirees in those areas. Yeah. But what do you think about Caughlin Ranch? >> Caughlin Ranch gets asked about a lot. It's it's obviously one of those that's more in your face, more talked about, more well-known because as people are researching Reno, you accidentally stumble upon Caughlin Ranch a way more than you would some of these other areas because of the proximity to actual downtown Reno. >> It's been there longer, and it is more master-planned as well. >> Yes. So, that neighborhood definitely has more master-planned in it. You can definitely find custom and semi-custom homes in there. I mean >> Yeah, we just sold one. >> We did. So, that area is an active one, too. So, that neighborhood's a little bit different where activities are not going to be golf, it's going to be people walk a lot. There is a community clubhouse, they play pickleball. Like, it's more in-town living than it is like I live at a golf course. >> Yeah, you're a lot more access to amenities like like it just when I say many grocery stores and gyms and clubhouses all that stuff is a lot closer there. Partial sidewalks, there's some gated within the gated communities. Like, you can drive in the Callen Ranch, but like the house we just sold on Promontory, that was a two $2.5 million house that had a little section of gated, there was maybe 30 homes in there. There's Eagles Nest, there's some gated within the gated. So, when we talk about these locations, just know there are some more even micro >> Yeah. >> neighborhoods within these neighborhoods, and depending on the price point whether you're closer to more, you know, million dollars versus three, four, five million dollars, you can go from there. Um we showed a house the other day that was $7 million, and you just don't see a lot of houses in our area that are getting much more past four or five million dollars. So, you know, it's that kind of thing. So, so if you're someone who's thinking about moving to another Nevada, do me a favor. Click the link in the description below, we'll get you a copy of our free buyer's guide that'll help you get you started on your journey. As we're coming up the west side, we're heading more to the north. One that has been very popular, especially for people in California because as you get up into that northwest part of the town, you it's a lot easier to get back to California and Sacramento and the Bay Area, which is Somerset. I have always kind of liked Somerset, but it is definitely more of that Vegas style stucco tile roof. There's some custom, but it's more, you know, kind of I call it semi-custom or from the outside, there's not a ton of variety in there. There's also a golf course in there, but what can you tell people about Somerset? >> Somerset is different. That one is very unique in terms of landscape, community feel, obviously location-wise. You can be very deep into Somerset, similarly to you can be very deep into Arrow Creek, where you are potentially 20 minutes back into town depending on how you go back in there. >> Oh, yeah. >> I think Somerset is one of those areas that, like you said, is great for Californians if you're trying to get back to >> Right, family there. Or maybe you're still working. >> Yeah. So, the only kind of drawback is you get a little bit more weather over there. A lot of our weather comes from the west and it's a little bit windier up there, but Somerset in terms of just neighborhood feel, aesthetic, and location, it's honestly a really, really great place to be. >> A lot of semi-custom. We just sold a home for a client in there that was about 1.7 million. It was a Toll Brothers house, so there's some Toll Brothers stuff in there. The elevation changes in there are very up and down all over the place. And a lot of these neighborhoods, if you're looking for more specific information, a lot of these neighborhoods we've done specific videos just about that neighborhood on. That one to me feels like a much more like you got some more higher price stuff like you might in the South Meadows where the South Meadows is more, I think the majority of the homes are under a million dollars, but now with some 55 and over's and some stuff over that way. You can find some high-end, and I kind of think just because a home between a million and two million doesn't necessarily make it luxury, but it's more in that luxury price point. With that being said, if people are looking for something a little older, a little more mature, a little more like that, we don't have tons of that stuff, but if you go into Old Southwest Reno, which is that area, if you go just east of Caughlin Ranch, and now you've kind of jumped into the inside of that McCarran Loop. We do have an area in there that does have quite a few high-priced homes, some luxury stuff in there that is a completely different vibe from everything else. And again, it's kind of like a lot of old-school Reno people that, you know, view them California you are moving out of a 60, 70, 80-year-old house. We don't have a lot of comparable properties, but in this particular part of town we do. >> Yeah, that area is very interesting. So, when you drive through it at first glance, you're looking around not really thinking about property value, and it is interesting to see the difference there between, you know, some of the newer tract homes that like Lennar is building, for example. If you're looking for character, if you're looking for >> trees and all that stuff. >> Yes, if you want greenery, if you want slightly more walkability, well, depend on where you are in those neighborhoods, but you could potentially be walking right into downtown or Midtown or things of those nature. Location-wise, people love Midtown. They love the vibe of Midtown. They love that whole old Southwest area, especially for the older Reno people that are like, "Yeah, this is home." >> And we joke about it all the time. Um, I'm personally not an old house fan myself. Like it's not something I would buy. >> We're too tall. >> And we joke about it all the time. When we take clients in there, these are not Lessinger homes because, you know, we're both well over 6 ft tall. Your brother's 6 ft 8. Like when you guys These are just not homes that fit for us because again, sometimes you have low ceilings, low door frames, tight rooms, smaller spaces. So again, depending on what people are looking for, it's one of the only areas we have if you're looking for that old character kind of stuff. With that being said, one of the newer high-end areas, which is kind of also in town, but much further south, is Ranch Air. And Ranch Air is an area that is definitely put some new modern. It's kind of our new modern high-end stuff. >> Yes. >> And we have a lot of people asking about that as well. I you know, you can get into Ranch Air's club. There's a pool and there's all kinds of stuff there. But the homes themselves are definitely much on the newer side. >> They are. So Ranch Air is a very interesting and unique neighborhood because there's going to be three different things that Well, four different things happening. The smaller almost retirement size homes where they're two-bedroom, two-bathroom houses, little. Then your kind of bigger, more luxury kind of standard Toll Brothers feel. I don't like using the word standard, but that kind of bigger, you know, first elevated luxury home. And then they have custom homes in the back that people are legitimately building, you know, 4, 000, 5, 000 sq ft houses. And they just finished condos. >> Right. So that's a new option there. >> have a variety within Ranch Air. The one thing about Ranch Air versus some of the others is small. Ranch Air is not very big. >> No, but it is definitely more in the middle of town. >> Yes. >> It's definitely a lot more accessible to a lot of things. And that whole shopping center and stuff like there's a lot of stuff where people can walk. And you can get to most things without ever having to actually really leave all of Ranch Air. If you were here years and years ago, that used to be just like a big open horse ranch area and those kind of things. So it's definitely a a different vibe now. Everything we mentioned today is for the most part from Somerset all the way to kind of Saint James Villas Montrêux is all along the west side of Reno in northern Nevada. If people are looking in Sparks, because we get people that are like they start looking in Sparks. And now for the first time in a long time, there There million-dollar plus areas in Sparks. There are places like Red Hawk and Wingfield Springs and some stuff out there that I don't necessarily know that they're super luxury, but they're definitely homes now you're finding that are well over a million dollars that if you are also a golfer, there's some things out in those areas. When we get people looking for that million-dollar plus or two million-dollar range, do we get a lot of people asking about Sparks? >> If they are, they're looking for luxury in a different sense. They're not looking for modern finishes and updated features in the same sense that people are when they're looking at Montreux houses. They're looking for, if they're looking in the golf course communities, slightly bigger house, little bit updated. They are going to be a little bit older than some of the other areas. >> Right. >> In terms of just they're getting to the point of their first facelift and turnover in terms of upgrades and things like that. And then the other thing about Sparks is people would look for luxury in terms of I want my RV parking. I want a larger lot size. I want a bigger house because I have young children and they don't want to necessarily deal with how busy portions of Reno are. So they go out to Sparks and they have their RV and their boat and all their toys. So that's luxury in a different way for them. >> Exactly. And I think that that part of Sparks, I mean, I we just don't have any sort of really high high end stuff in Sparks at this point, but like you said, it's it's different a different vibe out there. Now, with all that being said, we've talked about mostly Reno Sparks, but of course this channel is all talking about living in Reno Tahoe. >> And the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, whether it's Incline or as you go all the way, you know, around the lake towards South Lake, these are areas where it's a whole different animal. This is different because again, everything up there you're going to be at least close to at minimum 6, 000 ft of elevation, lots different weather, snow, different price point. And I think for those, a lot of people that are coming for them are people that still maybe live full-time in California and are looking for a Nevada address, but in kind of those areas are not something that we do personally a lot. We would probably refer those out to other agents that were that we know that know those areas a little bit better than we do. But when we think about Lake Tahoe, and of course we spend a lot of time up there and we go up there, what would you tell people if that's what they're looking for? Because again, now you got a whole different dynamic than all the stuff we're talking about more down down in the valley. >> The variety is going to be, I think, more intense than people realize. You can find older, just kind of ski bum cabin type homes that are smaller and a little bit more off the lake that are tucked away in the woods. That's your little neighborhood home. Or, I mean, I've looked at some of the listings that are close to the water and you're you're pushing 5-10. I mean, I've seen some really, really crazy price points up there. So, it's going into it knowing obviously, the closer you get to the water, the more expensive homes are going to be. And then figuring out what kind of vibe you want. Because all the way from North Lake to South Lake, there's going to be a difference in neighborhood feels. Incline versus South Lake is different. So, all of those kinds of factors are just to just keep in mind. >> And if someone is looking for that type of information, or someone's saying, "Hey, I want to spend 20, 40, 60 million dollars." That's not to be someone who's we're talking to on this channel. But, if it's someone who does happen to run into this video is looking for that information, we'll happily get you in touch with someone that knows more about that than we do. Because you can also find luxury homes if we went further south into like Minden and Gardnerville. Because those areas people don't realize how close you are to that south end of the lake. So, again, if there's some areas that people want that we're maybe not as expertise in it, or we just don't have a lot of people looking in those areas, we will make sure we ask the questions and get people that that are looking for those things. So, in our market now, I think of once you get past a million dollars, it's not always luxury. But, they're in those neighborhoods. You can be on the bottom end of these. Anything that they need to be made aware of that is something you would want them to know. >> I think figuring out what luxury means to you, and hopefully we have a neighborhood that fits your style. >> So, thanks for coming on as always. And honestly, I think surprises people most about our luxury housing is how diverse it's become. So, people that are looking for mountain properties, or golf course properties, or older historic type properties, we have a whole lot of all of these things. So, it's one of the reasons why people keep moving to northern Nevada, trying to figure out what they want for this two and three and four million dollars. And so, for those of you that think of Reno back in the day, Reno is very different now. It has an image that a lot of people don't actually understand anymore. So, if you're looking for luxury property, have questions about all this, by all means, please reach out to us. And for those of you that already live here or that are watching these videos, we'd love to hear your comments, your opinions on what you think of luxury properties in our area, and what neighborhoods and areas you like most. So, if you're someone who's thinking about moving to northern Nevada, check out this video we did right here that talks about all the areas and all the things you need to know on your journey here.