Lehi · Utah County
The Gardens at Ivory Ridge
by Ivory Homes
$515,000 to $734,000
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Quick answer
The Gardens at Ivory Ridge is an active adult community with no enforceable age requirement in Lehi, Utah County, Utah, built by Ivory Homes, with about 53 homes. Homes are single-family homes running 1,184 to 2,188 square feet, priced $515,000 to $734,000. 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
The Gardens at Ivory Ridge is marketed to buyers over 55, but anyone can buy. The selling broker confirms there is no age restriction on purchase.
All 53 homes are detached and verified single-story, the only such option among Lehi’s 55+ communities. Amenities belong to the mixed-age master community.
Broker's note
Read this first: anyone can buy here. The selling broker states plainly that there is no age restriction to purchase in the community, and that it is designed primarily for the 55 plus community but all ages are welcome. That is what active adult means, and it is a real category, but it is not the same as a community that will still be 55+ in ten years. If your reason for wanting a 55+ community is knowing who your neighbors will be, this cannot promise that.
The structure explains why. The Gardens is one of eight neighborhoods inside the mixed-age Ivory Ridge master community, and there is no Gardens homeowners association registered with the state. A genuine age-qualified community needs a registered association to enforce the rule and re-verify resident ages every two years. There is nothing here to do that. A Gardens-specific declaration does exist in the county index, so the door is not fully closed, but no one has read it.
What is genuinely good: all 53 homes are single-story, verified with no exceptions, and they are detached rather than attached. That makes this the only detached, all-single-level 55+ option in Lehi. It is also the most expensive, with assessed values running $515,000 to $734,000.
One caution about governance. Reporting from 2020 described the master board as four Ivory Homes employees, none living in Lehi, with resident complaints about aggressive violation enforcement, neglected common areas, and unresponsive management, and a survey showing two-thirds dissatisfaction. That reporting is several years old and should be rechecked, but it is worth asking current residents about before you commit.
Kris Bowen, Real Estate Broker · 23 years in Utah
Is this the right fit?
A good fit if you want
- Detached single-family homes, all verified single-story
- Access to a large master clubhouse and swim and tennis club
- The shortest hospital drive of Lehi's 55+ options
- Buyers comfortable that neighbors of any age can move in
Look elsewhere if
- You want an enforceable age rule. There is none on purchase
- You want predictable dues. Expect a two-tier structure, unverified
- You want your own community amenities. These belong to the master
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
All 53 homes are single-story, verified at the parcel level with no exceptions. These are also the only detached single-family homes among Lehi's 55+ options, and the only community in the city with zero two-story units.
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
- Access to the Ivory Ridge master clubhouse, 4,534 square feet
- Access to the Ivory Ridge Swim and Tennis Club
The HOA
Expect a two-tier structure: an Ivory Ridge master assessment plus a Gardens sub-association fee. The master has been reported at $15 to $105 a month depending on clubhouse access, while sibling sub-associations bill $216 to $236. No Gardens-specific figure is verified, so ask for both tiers in writing.
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 Gardens at Ivory 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 Gardens at Ivory 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.
Starting here, roughly
—/mo
Based on this community's entry price of $515,000 , 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 Lehi. 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
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Is The Gardens at Ivory Ridge a 55+ community?
It is marketed to buyers over 55, but there is no age restriction on purchase. The selling broker states directly that there is no age restriction to purchase in the community and that it is designed primarily for the 55 plus community but all ages are welcome. That makes it active adult rather than age-restricted or age-qualified. If your goal is a community that will still be 55+ years from now, this one cannot make that promise.
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Why is The Gardens not considered age-qualified?
Because there is no mechanism to enforce it. The Gardens is one of eight neighborhoods inside the mixed-age Ivory Ridge master community, and no Gardens homeowners association is registered with the state. A genuine age-qualified community needs a registered association to enforce occupancy and re-verify resident ages at least every two years under federal law. A Gardens-specific declaration does appear in the county index, so this is not settled forever, but nobody has read it yet.
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Are the homes at The Gardens at Ivory Ridge single-level?
Yes, all 53 of them, verified at the parcel level with no exceptions. They are also detached single-family homes rather than attached villas, which makes this the only detached, entirely single-story option among Lehi's 55+ communities. Homes run 1,184 to 2,188 square feet and were built between 2011 and 2018.
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What amenities do Gardens residents get?
Access to the Ivory Ridge master community's facilities rather than their own. The master clubhouse is 4,534 square feet and sits on a separate master parcel, and the Swim and Tennis Club is a separate legal entity. The Gardens has no community building of its own. That also means dues are likely two-tier, a master assessment plus a sub-association fee, and no verified Gardens-specific figure exists.
Talk to a real person
Thinking about The Gardens at Ivory 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.