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Custom homes going for a song
$560K buys in gated Ripon neighborhood
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Cindy Smith of Century 21 M&M Associates shows off her listing at 2055 Fairway Oaks in Ripon that includes a large lot, a deep setback from the street and a custom kitchen. - photo by DENNIS WYATT
A $3,200 monthly housing payment on a home bought three years ago in Manteca or Ripon typically would buy a 3,100-square-foot newer tract home with a $560,000 selling price and a 10 percent down loan.

Today you can buy a spacious 4,083-square-foot custom home with two master bedroom suites on the ground floor along with a 16,553-square-foot-lot inside the gated Barton Ranch neighborhood in Ripon along the Spring Creek Country Club golf course.

Arguably, the biggest bargains in today’s housing market are in the upper end. Three years ago, $560,000 wouldn’t buy a McMansion. Today it can buy a custom home inside a gated neighborhood.

The listing Cindy Smith of Century 21 M&M Associates represents at 2055 Fairway Oaks Drive in Ripon is even more unique. The four bedroom, four bathroom custom home is being sold by the original owners. It was built in 2004. The upstairs hasn’t been lived in and the second master suite has had no use except for the bathroom. In addition, the owners put in plantation shutters throughout including in the garage.

 The original selling price was $618,000. A similar home in the neighborhood sold for just under $800,000 in 2006. It is listed today for $560,000.

The home at 2055 Fairway Oaks Drive is in Ripon’s only gated neighborhood. There is a $200 monthly homeowner’s association fee. The home faces what is arguably one of the neatest things about the gated community – a fairly wide and long linear park that runs down the middle of Fairway Drive putting plenty of space between you and the homes across the street. The park is wide enough that on Monday kids were flying kites.

The estate-sized lots plus enforced restrictions against RVs as well as outbuildings unless they are sheds that met certain criteria adds to the ambiance and the feel of space and privacy.

The home has two fireplaces – one in a formal living room and the other in the family room.

There are two master suites. Both are on the first floor. One is in the forward part of the house with a large bathroom while the other is a wing onto itself in the back of the home. You access it through a deep hall that puts a good 20 feet between the suite and the living area. The hallway includes windows opening to the covered back patio as well as a built-in cabinet mid-way.

The master suite‘s bathroom includes two closets, double sinks and a separate vanity area for makeup. There is a large Roman tub plus a spate oversized shower complete with bench.

There is a formal dining room as well as a separate dining area for informal dining. It is way too large to be called a breakfast nook and would qualify for a formal dining area in most other homes.

A large butler’s pantry connects the kitchen with the formal dining room.

The kitchen has Wolf appliances. There is a five burner gas stove on the island complete with a retractable vent. There is a trash compactor plus a two-section dishwasher that allows you to do smaller loads when needed. The counter tops are granite.

The home doesn’t waste space with a grand stairway. Instead it has a handsome stairway tucked out of the way that leads to an expansive bonus room that overlooks the family room. There are expensive cabinets in an open hallway leading to the two secondary bedrooms that are in a Jack and Jill layout with a full bathroom with double sinks between them. One bedroom is much larger than the other and could pass as a master bedroom in many homes. The closets are large.

There are dual pane windows throughout that allow the removing of the grids to change the windows.

There is water conditioning equipment and plumbing for a central vacuum system.

The main master bedroom suite has outdoor access. There is also access to a secondary covered patio on the side from near the main hallway as well as an access to the back covered patio from the family room.

There is a three-car tandem garage set back deep from the street as well as a drive thru car port.
For more information, contact Smith at 815-2172.