Nice to see association-maintained living getting some positive local press! We can attest that the convenience and value of this form of housing certainly works for our buyers in Waterstone, Dancing Waters, and Creek Side Villas!

“Mary Myss never has to paint her Chaska home, mow the lawn or shovel her driveway. That’s because her walkout rambler is in Pioneer Point, a subdivision of single-family homes that are maintained by a homeowners’ association.

“It’s one of the best kept secrets,” said Myss. “It’s amazing that more people don’t know about it.”

Before moving to Chaska, Myss and her children lived in a big house in Wayzata with an equally big yard that she was fine with tending — until she wasn’t.

“What put me over the edge was coming home from work in the winter after a snowfall and I couldn’t get up the driveway,” she said.

At Pioneer Point, she still has her own entrance, her own yard and her own deck, but none of the work to care for them. …

“When I’m home, I’m sitting on my deck barbecuing and playing with my grandchildren rather than dealing with maintenance issues,” she said.

This type of housing — called manor homes, villas, cottage homes or detached townhouses — is tailored to people who want the privacy of a traditional single-family home with the convenience of a condo. And although it accounts for only a tiny slice of the real estate pie, builders and developers are cautiously optimistic that this hybrid style of house will grow in popularity, partly because it’s designed for a growing population: retiring baby boomers.”

Link to the whole article on StarTribune.com here.