What does it take to become a resident of Mountainside Village? Do we have to buy one of your houses?

There are four paths to becoming a Mountainside Village homeowner. You can:

1. Purchase a lot and let us take care of all the details for getting your home built—from design through construction.
2. Purchase a lot and a set of our plans, and work with your own builder to build your home (builder must complete and receive approval on an Mountainside Village Approved Builder Application).
3. Purchase a lot and have a custom home designed and built (subject to the Design and Construction standards of Mountainside Village, and the Builder Approval Process).
4. Purchase one of the few custom-crafted homes in Mountainside Village, already constructed and on sale now!

Are all the houses going to look alike?

No. Mountainside Village hopes to avoid the cookie-cutter repetition that plagues many developments. Mountainside Village is designed to be an authentic mountain community, requiring the presence of aesthetic diversity. To ensure that this diversity is preserved, all lot owners have the option to hire their own architects and builders. We have specific architectural standards to ensure design harmony and an attractive streetscape. This in no way requires homes to look alike; in fact, creativity is encouraged. Several types of construction are acceptable, and there are numerous housing types planned for the Village. From Flex-Row Houses and Cottages, to Side Yard and Boulevard Homes, to Mountain Lodges, the overall design of Mountainside Village accommodates a diversity of designs that are both charming and functional. Ask to take a look at our plan book to see a variety of designs within each housing type. Our authentic mountain village is about encouraging enough variety to be interesting, while keeping the quality of place that comes with design harmony.


Will there be a hodgepodge of housing with so many housing types?

Mountainside Village is designed to balance the need for variety described above and some degree of aesthetic consistency. Our lot standards and architectural guidelines are set up to create unity while also allowing creativity. The presence of complimentary materials and colors throughout the Village help to aesthetically unify the neighborhood, while front porches and exposed structural features create an attractive streetscape amenable to walking and socializing.


Why aren't the lots bigger?

The Mountainside Village site plan uses sophisticated design principles to address the needs of residents for privacy, views, solar access, and pedestrian and vehicular access. Every lot is intended to provide a great home site within the context of a Village. Well-designed houses with thoughtful landscaping on every Mountainside Village lot provide considerable privacy on less acreage. Take a look at some of our Side Yard bungalow site plans to see how these kinds of design techniques can provide better privacy than the typical 2.5 acre county lot!


Is this a good investment?

Properties in well-designed neighborhoods using similar traditional neighborhood design (TND) concepts, both new & historic, have appreciated faster than those in more conventional suburban alternatives. The same is true of buildings employing green building systems. It is anticipated that once a street is built-out and a bit of the Village Center is established, values will appreciate significantly faster than conventional alternatives. See the article in our February 2008 Newsletter for more information on this interesting phenomenon!


Will my property values be affected by having smaller homes nearby?

As long as the quality of smaller homes is high, they can add richness to any neighborhood. Properties of different value in Mountainside Village are proximate but differentiated. Homes of significantly different values may be close to each other, but they will not face each other directly. Both historic and new neighborhoods applying traditional neighborhood concepts have seen significant property appreciation for home of all sizes.


Is there a timetable for building?

Almost every lot in Mountainside Village has a limited time to build associated with it. These time-frames range from two to four years. This policy is intended to help establish the neighborhood and to protect those who live there from living in a construction zone indefinitely. There are Side Yard lots available in Phase 2 with no required time to build.


Who can build a house in Mountainside Village?

In order to become a builder in Mountainside Village, you have to complete an Approved Builder Application, which the Mountainside Village Team will quickly review. The process is not hard, we simply seek to ensure that builders in our Village are highly experienced and have a record of high quality construction, are aware of our building requirements, committed to meeting or exceeding basic green building standards, and are registered "Energy Star" builders. You can download the Builder Approval Application here; feel free to take a look! (This form is fillable in Adobe Acrobat, or it can be printed and filled out by hand.) Our Director of Sustainability, Dahvi Wilson, will be happy to answer any of your questions about this topic, and we look forward to helping you through this process!


Will meeting green building standards add undue cost and complication to the building process?

Leaders in the construction industry overwhelmingly agree that "green" building is just good building. According to recent studies by building giant McGraw Hill construction, "green building" will soon be the industry norm. While green building standards help insure a higher level of construction quality, associated increases in cost over the norm are minimal. A good example is the new community growing on the site of the old Stapelton Airport in Denver, where over 12,000 homes are being built to green building standards by semi-production builders. Once building techniques are adjusted, Stapleton builders have found construction costs to be very competitive. And, the value of the houses are enhanced because they are built in accordance with green building standards. Click here to learn more about the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Homes standards and click here to compare the costs of building a green home versus a typical American home.


What is the Difference between Traditional Neighborhood Design and Conventional Suburban Development?

Mountainside Village has been designed to incorporate many of the benefits and features of "Smart Growth" and Traditional Neighborhood Design. We have designed our community to:

• Foster distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place and community;
• Offer connected open space networks preserve farmland, natural beauty and critical environmental areas;
• Provide diverse, well-connected street and path networks, allowing a variety of transportation choices that reduce auto reliance, creating walkable communities;
• Treat streets as interesting civic spaces;
• Offer a variety of housing needs within a compact neighborhood design;
• Create good jobs through mixed use development;
• Remain adaptable to a variety of uses and change over time; and
• Create an attractive and comfortable space for our residents and visitors.

This kind of development stands in stark contrast to most of the growth in Teton County, which typifies the sprawl of conventional suburbia. Some traits of this kind of development include (thesemay seem like gross generalizations, but we encourage you to make the comparisons for yourself):

• No open Space Network;
• Poorly connected street and path networks;
• Streets are primarily that function as transportation corridors only;
• Limited variety of housing types;
• Minimal creation of jobs;
• Auto Dominated transportation and lifestyle;
• Inability to adapt to changing conditions; and
• Aesthetically dull design.

Mountainside Village hopes to show that living more sustainably is a way to live happier, healthier, and wholer. The conventional layout of suburban development is wasteful, unattractive, and dangerous, and we strive to demonstrate that there is another way, a better way, to build.


Is there a homeowners association? What do they do?

Mountainside Village does have a Property Owner's Association (POA). In general, the POA is responsible for the management and maintenance of common spaces throughout Mountainside Village. This includes snow plowing of the development's rear lanes, which are treated as shared drives. Our streets, water, and sewer systems are owned by the City of Victor, and thus are not the responsibility of the POA to maintain. However, the POA is responsible for removing banks of plowed snow from the edge of streets in order to accommodate street trees, which do so much to enhance the neighborhood. This excess snow will be plowed into one of our common areas, where it will serve as a fantastic sledding hill for the neighborhood's children and children at heart. The POA is governed by a five-person board. The board is currently made up of developer representatives and residents, but as the number of residents increases, developer involvement will decrease.


What are the anticipated Property Owners Association fees?

POA fees vary by property type. Base POA fees for residential lots currently range from about $400/year for a Village Lot to $1,378/year for an Edge lot. Click here for a complete schedule of POA fees.


What is the Mountainside Institute all about?

What is the Mountainside Institute all about? The Mountainside Institute is an independent non-profit committed to increasing awareness and appreciation of the principles of traditional neighborhood design and green building in Idaho's Teton Valley region, while promoting a vibrant community life in Mountainside Village. In addition to offering core educational and social programming around these themes, MF&I proudly seeks to partner with and support other organizations, municipalities, and corporations, which focus specifically on sustainable living and holistic wellness. The community-related and educational work of the Institute will help increase property values over time by adding to the vibrancy and character of the Village. The relationship of the POA and the Institute is clearly defined in the Community Operating Agreement, which is available here.