Wickenburg slated for luxury homes

From 1926 to 1965, Monte Vista Ranch was also a working guest ranch attracting travelers from the Midwest to Europe. Now, Wickenburg’s first luxury residential development sits on the 300-acre site and is attracting a more affluent clientele.

Monte Vista Ranch recently held a grand opening for its 65-unit luxury ranch villas and soon will begin the third phase of its custom home component , which will total 50 estates by the time it’s built out.

Each phase of the five-phase estate project typically includes 13 homes on approximately 40 acres, with the average custom home site averaging 3 acres.

“This is Wickenburg’s first gated, masterplanned, architecturally controlled community,” said John Grimes, owner and broker of Wickenburg-based MVR Properties LLC, which represents Monte Vista Ranch.

The villas are designed in the tradition of the high country ranch homes with wooden beams, natural stone veneers, pavered driveways and firepits. Encompassing a third of an acre, the villas are available in four floor plans ranging from 2,400 to 3,400 square feet. Owners can choose three distinct interior styles: ranch house, farm house or hacienda. Prices range from a little more than $1 million to $1.3 million.

The custom home sites, priced from $395,000 to $1.1 million, are 40 percent sold and come equipped with water, gas, high-speed fiber optics and cable.

Jim Hartman, chairman of Wickenburg’s economic development advisory commission, said these types of developments spur economic development.

“Residential drives it all,” Hartman said. “That’s what we’ve been lacking in Wickenburg.”

The historic town also is slated for a commercial development of retail shops, cafes, a mini amphitheater and a steak house restaurant, which will be adjacent to a planned high-end boutique equestrian center.

Monte Vista Ranch is being developed by Raylynn Homes of Wickenburg, and the villas were designed by Phoenix-based R. J. Bacon Co. Bron Design Group of Phoenix also is part of the design team.