Kaysville · Davis County
The Cottages at Orchard Ridge
by Ivory Homes
Ask for current pricing
Get the full packet
Everything on The Cottages at Orchard Ridge, in one place. Free, from a Utah real estate broker and senior move specialist.
Quick answer
The Cottages at Orchard Ridge is an age-qualified 55+ community in Kaysville, Davis County, Utah, built by Ivory Homes, with about 16 homes. Homes are single-family homes running 2,137 to 3,531 square feet. HOA dues run about $125 per month. The community is built out, so homes sell as resale.
It is a residential community, not assisted living or senior care. There is no staff, no nursing, and no meal service. Residents own their homes.
Verified July 2026 by Kris Bowen, Utah real estate broker and senior move specialist. 801-999-8005
Only 16 homes on North Cobblewood Court are 55+, not all of Orchard Ridge Estates. The surrounding roughly 91 lots carry no age restriction.
Built 2020 to 2022, sold out, and none of the 16 has a basement. Twelve are true single-story; four have an upstairs bonus room.
Broker's note
Read this before you tour, because the name is genuinely misleading and at least one other agent site has it wrong. The 55+ portion here is 16 homes on North Cobblewood Court, lots 101 through 116. The surrounding Orchard Ridge Estates, roughly 91 lots on Orchard Ridge Lane, Shadow Wood Drive, Bent Brook Lane, and Stone House Bend, carries no age restriction and is zoned ordinary R-1-6.
The confusion is understandable. Cottages is an Ivory Homes product line, not an age designation, and Ivory is currently selling homes it calls Orchard Ridge Estates Cottages on Phase 2 lots that are not age-restricted and do have finished basements. If someone quotes you a starting price and a basement floor plan, they are almost certainly describing that inventory, not Cobblewood.
The Cobblewood homes themselves are sold out, built 2020 to 2022, and none of the 16 has a basement. Twelve are true single-story. Four have a main-floor primary with an upstairs bonus room, and one of those is marketed as zero stairs while recording a third bedroom and full bath upstairs. If stairs are the reason you are moving, ask which lot number you are standing on.
Two things to raise with your agent. The developer retained a six-foot strip of land along the entire back of the community, including the fence and the retaining wall, so ask in writing who maintains that wall and who carries the liability. And I have not read the recorded declaration for this sub-association, so I am describing this as age-qualified rather than age-restricted. Pull it before you rely on the age rule either way.
Kris Bowen, Real Estate Broker · 23 years in Utah
Is this the right fit?
A good fit if you want
- A very small, quiet cul-de-sac rather than a big amenity community
- Newer construction, 2020 to 2022, with no basement to heat or maintain
- Being about five minutes from a full-service emergency room
- Established Kaysville with east bench mountain views
Look elsewhere if
- You want a pool, clubhouse, or any shared amenity. There are none
- You want an organized social life. Sixteen homes cannot sustain one
- You need to buy soon. Only 16 homes and all are resale
- You assume every home is single-level. Four of the 16 have an upstairs
The homes
What "single-level" actually means here
Plenty of 55+ homes advertise main-floor living and still put the laundry in the basement or the second bedroom upstairs. Here is exactly what sits on the entry level.
- Primary suite on the entry level
- Laundry on the entry level
- All daily essentials on one floor
Screen this one home by home. County records show 12 of the 16 are true single-story, and 4 are one-and-a-half story with a main-floor primary plus an upstairs bonus room. None of the 16 has a basement. One listing advertises zero stairs into the home while recording 940 square feet on a second floor holding a third bedroom and bath, so a zero-step entry is not the same as single-level living.
What to check when you walk a home here
- Measure the interior doorways. 32 inches of clear width is the minimum that stays workable with a walker; 36 is better. This is expensive to change and easy to check with a tape measure.
- Look for a step-free way in. Often the garage door is the flattest entry in the house, and no listing ever mentions it.
- Push on the bathroom walls where a grab bar would go. If there is no blocking behind the drywall, adding one properly means opening the wall.
- Check whether the shower could go curbless without moving the drain, and whether there is turning room in the bathroom.
- Ask the age of the roof, furnace, and water heater. On resale homes in an established community, this is where the real money hides.
Amenities
- Quiet 16-home cul-de-sac
- Kaysville east bench location with mountain views
The HOA
$125 per month
What the dues cover:
- Snow removal
- Common-area maintenance
$125 a month from a live listing, plus a $250 change fee at closing, with no rental cap. Dues cover snow removal and little else, which is what you would expect where there are no amenities to operate. Lots in the surrounding master community pay a separate $100 a month, and whether Cobblewood owners pay both tiers is unresolved. Ask for both budgets.
Who actually runs this HOA
Registered with the Utah Department of Commerce as Cottages at Orchard Ridge HOA Inc. (registration 14261428-HOA1). Managed by Utah Management, Ogden. The registry also records it as subject to a master association, so expect a second set of dues on top of this one.
Two associations are registered with the state: this 55+ sub-association, and the Orchard Ridge Estates Master HOA (14261496-HOA1), whose president and sole board member on file is Ivory Homes. The developer still controls the master board. Which association governs a given address is what determines whether the 55+ rule applies at all.
This is the entity to ask for the budget, the reserve study, and the recorded CC&Rs. I request those for clients as a matter of course.
Two cautions I give every client buying into a newer association
Developer-set dues are introductory. While a builder still controls the association, dues are commonly set low and reserves underfunded, because low dues sell houses. After homeowners take over, boards routinely raise dues and levy assessments to catch up. Ask for the projected turnover date.
Ask for the reserve study, and check its date. Utah law requires a reserve analysis at least every six years, reviewed at least every three, with an annual summary to owners. Under 70 percent funded is a yellow flag. Under 50 percent is a real problem, and the bill arrives as a special assessment after you close.
Who is actually allowed to live here
This is the part that blindsides families, so I would rather over-explain it.
Under the federal Housing for Older Persons Act, a community keeps its senior exemption as long as at least 80 percent of occupied homes have a resident 55 or older. That remaining 20 percent is the cushion associations use to allow a younger spouse, an early-50s buyer, or a surviving partner.
The thing almost nobody knows: HOPA does not, by itself, protect an under-55 surviving spouse. Whether your husband or wife can stay after you are gone depends entirely on the recorded CC&Rs. Some communities include an explicit survivor clause. Some leave it to the board. Some are silent, which is the worst version.
Get these answered in writing before you write an offer
- Can a surviving spouse under 55 remain, and is it written down or left to the board?
- Can an heir under 55 inherit and live in the home, or only rent or sell it?
- How much of the 20 percent cushion is already in use? If the community sits at 19 percent, there is no room left for your spouse. This is obtainable from the association and virtually nobody asks.
- Can a live-in caregiver under 55 stay if one of you needs help?
- How many days per year may a younger guest stay, and does that constrain a summer with the grandchildren?
Location and getting to services
Typical-traffic drive times from The Cottages at Orchard Ridge to the places you will actually go.
How far is this from you?
Enter your doctor's office, your church, or a family member's address and see the drive from this community.
Opens driving directions in Google Maps with The Cottages at Orchard Ridge as the destination. Your address is not saved, stored, or sent to us. It goes straight from your browser to Google Maps.
The question adult children ask that nobody answers
How does an ambulance get in? If a community is gated or has controlled access, ask whether the fire district has a Knox box or gate code on file, and whether the first-due unit carries a paramedic. That detail matters more than the drive time does.
A useful benchmark: Medicare Advantage network adequacy rules set maximum time and distance standards by county type. In large metro counties the primary care standard is 10 minutes or 5 miles.
If you stop driving
The least-discussed risk in active adult housing. Losing the ability to drive roughly doubles the risk of depression symptoms and social isolation, and where a home sits determines how hard that transition is.
- Is there a continuous sidewalk to anything useful, or does every errand require a car?
- What is the walk to a grocery store or pharmacy on the actual sidewalk route?
- Is the address inside a UTA paratransit service area? ADA paratransit generally covers within three quarters of a mile of a fixed route.
- Does a county senior transport or volunteer ride program serve this address?
What it really costs each month
The sticker price is the least interesting number. What matters is the monthly nut, and how it compares to what you are paying now.
* Based on what the community and builder publish about the dues, which I have looked up rather than assumed. It is not confirmed against the association's own budget and governing documents, and exactly what is covered can differ by phase, by home type, and over time. I pull the current budget and CC&Rs for clients before they write an offer.
This is the honest case for a 55+ community, and it is the one most people get wrong. The HOA fee is not purely an added cost. It replaces line items you already pay on a larger home, in cash or in your own labor. When someone tells me downsizing does not pencil, we usually find they compared the mortgage and the dues and left out the lawn service, the snow, and the roof they will need in six years.
Typical utilities
Rough monthly ranges for a home this size in Kaysville. Utilities are the line item people most often forget to compare, and they are usually where a smaller home wins.
Estimates only, and they vary a lot. A townhome, a condo, and a detached single-family home of the same square footage can run very differently, and so can two neighbors in identical homes depending on thermostat habits, occupancy, and whether the yard is irrigated. Treat these as a starting point, then ask for the actual bills on a specific address.
For the son or daughter reading this
If you are researching on behalf of a parent, you are asking different questions than they are, and both sets are legitimate.
Some perspective, honestly offered: hands-on help from an adult child drops off sharply with distance. Weekly help hours fall from roughly three when you live on the same block to about one at two to five miles away, and keep falling from there. If you are weighing communities, distance from you matters more than most families treat it.
What to check here
How far it is from you. Whether the community is gated and how emergency services get in. Cell signal for a medical alert device. Broadband for telehealth. Whether an under-55 caregiver may live in. Whether the architectural committee permits a ramp or grab bars. And the overnight guest limit, which is the rule that quietly prevents you from staying a week to help.
What this community is, and what it is not
An active adult community is real estate, not care. There is no staff, no nurses, no meals, and no call system. If your parent needs help with bathing, dressing, or medication, that is assisted living, which is a different product entirely. Buying here because it sounds like a safer version of a house is the most expensive mistake families make.
Also worth knowing before you plan around it: Medicare does not pay for custodial help with bathing, dressing, meals, or housekeeping. It covers skilled, intermittent home health only. That gap is what actually forces the next move, and it catches families by surprise.
If you are coordinating with siblings
Agree among yourselves before anyone talks to your parents. The fastest way to derail this is one sibling feeling blindsided, and a parent who senses a united front they were not part of will dig in harder.
Decide early who is the point of contact, who handles the money conversation, and who is simply there for support. If the house eventually sells, the proceeds question tends to surface old family dynamics. Naming that in advance costs nothing and prevents a lot.
Paperwork worth locating now, not later
The deed, the mortgage payoff, a recent tax notice, and the HOA documents if there are any. If a parent may not be able to sign for themselves at some point, the power of attorney or trust paperwork matters enormously and is miserable to sort out under time pressure.
If the move is tied to care costs, talk to an elder law attorney and a CPA before anything sells. I am a broker, not a tax or legal advisor, but I work with families in this spot often and can point you to people who handle it properly.
The most common mistake is leading with logic. Parents who feel managed dig in. The families I see succeed start with what would make the next few years easier and more enjoyable, and let the house question follow.
I am glad to walk a community with the whole family at once and give the same honest read to everybody in the room. That is most of what I do.
Other 55+ communities to compare
Worth a look before you decide. I would rather you tour two or three than fall for the first one you see.
Information on this page is gathered from the builder, the association, public records, and other sources believed reliable, but it is not guaranteed and is subject to change without notice. Pricing, availability, HOA dues, amenities, and recorded community rules change often. Cost and utility figures are estimates only and vary widely by home type, size, and household. Verify all details for a specific address, and read the recorded documents, before you make an offer. Kris Bowen is a licensed real estate broker, not a tax, legal, insurance, or medical advisor. Last reviewed July 2026.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
-
Is all of Orchard Ridge Estates a 55+ community?
No, and this is the most common error published about it. Only the 16 homes on North Cobblewood Court, lots 101 through 116, sit in the 55+ sub-association. The surrounding Orchard Ridge Estates, roughly 91 lots on Orchard Ridge Lane, Shadow Wood Drive, Bent Brook Lane, and Stone House Bend, has no age restriction and is zoned standard R-1-6. Two separate associations are registered with the state, which is the clearest proof of the split.
-
Are the homes at The Cottages at Orchard Ridge single-level?
Mostly, but not uniformly, so screen home by home. County assessor records show 12 of the 16 are true single-story and 4 are one-and-a-half story with a main-floor primary plus an upstairs bonus room. None of the 16 has a basement. One listing advertises zero stairs into the home while recording 940 square feet upstairs containing a third bedroom and full bath, so a zero-step entry and single-level living are not the same claim.
-
Do the homes here have finished basements?
No. County records confirm zero basements across all 16 Cobblewood homes. The finished-basement descriptions in circulation come from Ivory's current Orchard Ridge Estates Cottages inventory, which sits on Phase 2 lots outside the 55+ sub-association. Cottages is an Ivory product line rather than an age designation, which is where most of the confusion starts.
-
What are the HOA dues at The Cottages at Orchard Ridge?
$125 a month per a live listing, with a $250 change fee at closing and no rental cap. Dues cover snow removal and common areas, which is consistent with a community that has no amenities to operate. Lots in the surrounding master community pay a separate $100 a month, and whether Cobblewood owners pay one tier or both is unresolved. Ask for both budgets before you write an offer.
-
Is there a pool or clubhouse at The Cottages at Orchard Ridge?
No. There is no pool, clubhouse, fitness room, or pickleball, and no amenity parcel on the recorded plat. County records do show a private backyard pool on one lot, which is easy to misread as a community amenity. This is a 16-home cul-de-sac with a snow-removal HOA.
Talk to a real person
Thinking about The Cottages at Orchard Ridge?
I will send the CC&Rs, the HOA budget and reserve study, current pricing, and my honest read. Or just call and ask one question. Both are free.
Call or text 801-999-8005No pressure, no obligation. Happy to talk with you, your spouse, and your family together.