Skyhawk

Having lived in the area for 10 years you really get to understand what makes it buzz. Sky Hawk boasts nearly 500 single family homes and arguably, the most desired elementary school - Austin Creek (don't forget about Hidden Valley, Strawberry, Yulupa, Proctor Terrace & Sequoia Schools as well when selecting yours). This community truly functions as one. The school is located centric to all points. Commonly you find children playing about on bikes, roller blades and a foot while adults are mingling/exercising. There seems to always be a "heightened" awareness of what is going on and there is even a neighborhood magazine in circulation. The area rests within one of the warmer micro climates of Santa Rosa at the cities eastern edge. With a constant view of Annadel State park it is no wonder you see so many frequent this 5000 acre sanctuary that boasts biking trails, horseback riding trails and a lake for swimming.

Sky Hawk real estate is trending up. Demand is high and there is currently a supply constrained marketplace for would be buyers. The Parkside collection, which consists of a few blocks of homes that vary in size from 900-1300 sqft. is where you will find entry prices of $400-500,000 (these originally sold in the mid-90's for $140-190,000). Christopherson Homes built a majority of the housing here with exception of about 30 homes each done by Marovich Homes and Adamson Development. The floor plans vary but the general range is 2000-4000 sqft. Some have larger lots than others (up to almost an acre), while some have constrained lots that offer little privacy from neighbors - choose wisely as some get sucked into valuing homes based only on the floor-plans. There are definitely preferred interior locations like Sailing Hawk Place, Barn Owl Place, the upper portions of Mountain Hawk & Great Heron. The interior finishes showcase dramatic differences as some initial buyers selected the "base option" (base carpeting, vinyl floors, oak cabinets, white tile counters & minimalistic yards) packages from the builder, while others went way beyond in choosing their preferential finishes (granite counters, cherry cabinets, stainless steel appliances, high quality flooring and full entertaining yards). Expect values at this writing to range from $650,000-$1,350,000. More recently numerous sales have been of the "all cash" variety further suggesting a neighborhood that has past the realms of highly leveraged homes (that's not to say there wasn't a time when it wasn't so).

Santa Rosa‘s Skyhawk neighborhood isn’t for everybody, but for a certain subset of homebuyers it’s absolutely perfect.

Skyhawk is a development of nearly 500 homes at the northeastern edge of Santa Rosa. It’s a relatively new community, with homes built from the mid-1990s to 2005.

Homes here typically sell for $600,000 to $800,000, attracting young couples and families.

The public schools, which are among the best in Santa Rosa, are another big draw.

Austin Creek Elementary School is recognized as one of the finest elementary schools in Sonoma County, with an Academic Performance Index (API) score of 934 out of a possible 1,000. Maria Carrillo High School has an API of 864, the highest of Santa Rosa’s five high schools, and recently received a California Distinguished School designation from the state Department of Education.

Residents joke that Skyhawk is a self-contained community, almost separate from the rest of Santa Rosa, and to a degree they’re right. A stylish shopping center is included in the development: Skyhawk Village, home to chef Lisa Hemenway’s Fresh restaurant and market and a half-dozen other shops. Another shopping center is nearby, with a Safeway supermarket and other retail stores.

And when the homes in Skyhawk seem a bit closed-in, a walk to Annadel State Park, just across Highway 12, offers a quick counterpoint: miles of trails, a fishing lake, thickly wooded hillsides, and open land bursting with wildflowers on more than 5,000 acres of protected land.

Skyhawk is a sought-after community. Currently, only one home is for sale there, and at least six people are looking to buy, our real estate professional said. Thirteen homes in Skyhawk have sold in the past year, and four are in escrow.

Most of the homes measure 2,000 to 4,000 square feet on relatively small lots, but a quarter are larger, sitting on prime, one-third-acre to 1-acre lots.