Saratoga Springs · Utah County
Starhaven Villas
by Pepperdign Homes
$650,000 to $850,000
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Quick answer
Starhaven Villas is a 55+ age-restricted community in Saratoga Springs, Utah County, Utah, built by Pepperdign Homes, with about 51 homes. Homes are single-family homes running 3,353 to 4,195 square feet, priced $650,000 to $850,000. HOA dues run about $195 per month. New homes are still available from the builder.
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 August 2026 by Kris Bowen, Utah real estate broker and senior move specialist. 801-999-8005
Starhaven Villas is a 55+ community of 51 detached single-family homes in Saratoga Springs, which makes it unusual: almost every other 55+ option in Utah County is an attached villa. Built from 2020, it is still selling its final phase: Pepperdign advertises lots available now, homes under construction, and one remaining completed home.
It carries a full-time activity director at only 51 homes, and a clubhouse built around a full-size golf simulator rather than a pool.
Broker's note
Starhaven is the outlier in Utah County 55+ housing, and it is worth understanding why. These are detached single-family homes with no shared walls, in a category where nearly everything else is an attached villa. If you have spent your life in a house and cannot stomach sharing a wall, this is one of the very few options.
It also has a full-time activity director at only 51 homes, which is unheard of at that scale and is the reason the social life here actually runs. And the developer lives in the community. That tells you more about how a place will be maintained than any amenity list.
The honest counterweight is price. Residents themselves say it is expensive per square foot, and the square footage is inflated by a full basement in every home, so you are paying for space below grade. There is also no pool, which residents notice and mention given what the dues cost. Dues have already moved from about $195 to $240.
Correcting something I had wrong earlier: Starhaven is not sold out. Pepperdign's own site advertises the final phase as open, with lots available now and homes from the low to mid $600,000s. You can still buy new here and pick a plan, which changes the calculus if you were resigned to hunting resale.
Eight home designs, all named for constellations, and the builder now shows which numbered plans each one comes in. Aries, Capella, Orion, and Pisces are offered as Plan 1600, 1750, 1858, or 1954. Aquarius, Gemini, Pegasus, and Virgo are offered as Plan 1656, 1818, 1879, 1956, or 2036. In each group the largest plan is restricted to a 45-foot by 62-foot lot, so it is not available on every homesite. What the builder still does not publish is square footage, and the plan numbers look like main-level sizes rather than the total that includes the basement. Ask the sales office for above-grade and finished-basement square footage as two separate figures.
Kris Bowen, Real Estate Broker · 23 years in Utah
Is this the right fit?
A good fit if you want
- You want a detached home with no shared walls, which is rare in 55+ here
- An organized social calendar with a real activity director
- Main-level living with a no-step entry and roll-in showers
- Golf simulator, pickleball, and a putting green rather than a pool
- A small community where the developer is a neighbor
Look elsewhere if
- You want a pool. There is not one, and residents raise it
- You are price sensitive per square foot. Residents themselves call it expensive
- You do not want a basement. Every home has one, and it inflates the quoted square footage
- You want a large community. This is a small development and the builder is on its final phase
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
- Step-free entry available
Main-level living with a no-step entry, a first-floor primary suite, and roll-in showers, which is a genuinely well-considered accessibility package. Note that every home also has a full basement, so the headline square footage is roughly double the above-grade living space.
What to ask the builder before drywall goes up
- Grab-bar blocking in the bathroom walls. It costs almost nothing during framing and is expensive to add later. Nobody thinks to ask.
- Interior door clear width. 32 inches is the minimum that stays workable; 36 is better.
- Whether the primary shower could go curbless later, which depends on the slab and drain location.
- Which entry is step-free. A garage on the same level as the house is usually the cheapest one a home has, and it is almost never advertised.
Amenities
- Clubhouse with multipurpose rooms
- Fitness center
- Full-size golf and game simulator
- Craft room
- Catering and demonstration kitchen
- Card room
- Pickleball courts
- Bocce ball courts
- Putting and chipping green
- Community garden
- Dog park
- Fire pit and portico
- Walking and biking trails
The HOA
$195 to $240 per month, depending on the home
What the dues cover:
- Yard care and landscaping
- Snow removal
- Clubhouse, gym, and golf simulator
- Pickleball court and picnic area
A resident writing roughly two years ago cited $195; current listing data shows $240. That is a real increase over time rather than a discrepancy, and dues here may also vary by home size.
Who actually runs this HOA
Registered with the Utah Department of Commerce as Starhaven Villas Homeowners Association Inc (registration 14247319-HOA1). Managed by Advantage Management (AMRES), Orem.
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 Starhaven Villas 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 Starhaven Villas 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.
Starting here, roughly
—/mo
Based on this community's entry price of $650,000 and dues of $195, with (July 30, 2026 average), plus a typical Utah effective property tax rate and insurance. Utilities are not included.
Run your own numbers (opens in a new tab)These payment figures are an estimate for budgeting and planning only. They are not a mortgage quote, a loan offer, or a commitment to lend. Your actual rate and payment depend on your credit, loan program, and current market rates. Talk to a licensed mortgage professional for real numbers. Connect with our preferred Utah lender.
* 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 Saratoga Springs. 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 August 2026.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
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Are homes at Starhaven Villas detached?
Yes, and it is the main reason to look here. These are detached single-family homes with no shared walls, in a Utah County 55+ market where nearly every other option is an attached villa or twin home. If you have spent your life in a house and do not want to share a wall, Starhaven is one of very few choices.
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Is there a pool at Starhaven Villas?
No. The amenity set is built around a clubhouse with a full-size golf and game simulator, a fitness center, pickleball and bocce courts, a putting and chipping green, a community garden, and a dog park. Residents have publicly noted the absence of a pool relative to what the dues cost, so it is worth deciding how much that matters to you.
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Can I still buy new at Starhaven Villas?
Yes. Pepperdign Homes advertises the final phase as open, with lots available now and homes from the low to mid $600,000s, and it lists homes currently under construction. Earlier reports that Starhaven was sold out were wrong. Because it is the final phase, lot selection is limited, so call the sales office at the number on their site for what is actually left.
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What floor plans does Starhaven Villas offer?
Eight home designs named for constellations, and the builder does map them to its numbered plans. The Aries, Capella, Orion, and Pisces each come as Plan 1600, 1750, 1858, or 1954. The Aquarius, Gemini, Pegasus, and Virgo each come as Plan 1656, 1818, 1879, 1956, or 2036. In both groups the largest plan is offered only on a 45-foot by 62-foot lot. The plan numbers look like main-level square footages rather than the total including the basement, and actual square footage is not published, so ask the sales office for the above-grade square footage and the finished basement square footage as two separate figures.
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How big are the homes at Starhaven Villas?
Quoted sizes run from roughly 3,353 to 4,195 square feet, but that includes a full basement in every home, so above-grade living space is roughly half. Compare above-grade square footage rather than the headline number when you are weighing this against an attached villa elsewhere.
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Does Starhaven Villas have an activity director?
Yes, a full-time one, which is genuinely unusual for a community of 51 homes. Most communities this size run on a volunteer resident committee, which works until the volunteers get tired. A paid director is the reason the calendar here keeps running.
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What are the HOA dues at Starhaven Villas?
Current listing data shows about $240 per month, covering yard care, snow removal, and access to the clubhouse, gym, golf simulator, pickleball court, and picnic area. A resident writing roughly two years ago cited $195, so dues have risen. Confirm the current figure and ask about the reserve study before you buy.
Talk to a real person
Thinking about Starhaven Villas?
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.