Sponsored: Wine Country travelers’ home tours

Taking a summer road trip? Here's a guide to exploring new-home communities in person in the Wine Country and west and east of Sacramento. Enjoy!

If you’re reading these pages online or in print, chances are you’ve started considering the possibilities of owning a new-construction home. The Sunday Homes section won’t suggest how you spend every aspect of your vacation. But we do have good ideas on how to add some adventure to the driving legs of your getaway.

In the first installment of this series, we suggested some stops to take while on the road to such places as Yosemite, the Central Valley and other areas east of the Bay Area. In future weeks, we’ll cover regions where new-home developments are taking hold near the coast or south of the Bay Area’s traditional limits.

This week, let’s take a road trip northbound for a house-hunting tour if summer travels are taking you through the Wine Country in Sonoma or Napa counties, or to other small towns and freshwater lakes north of the Bay Area.

Now it’s time to pull out a map to help pinpoint new-home communities all over the Bay Area and beyond.

Traveling north
to Napa County

From east Contra Costa County, cross the Delta and, as soon as you enter Napa County, visit the newly released final phase of Davidon Homes in Andersen Ranch. There, you can tour the luxury and high-quality craftsmanship associated with the Davidon name.

This collection of homes features five innovative floor plans, including three single-story designs, ranging from 2,405 square feet to 3,680 square feet and priced from the low $1 million range. Discover finely detailed finishes such as professionally appointed kitchens, opulent master suites and welcoming outdoor living areas. It’s all in a quiet community with the feeling of seclusion, yet only minutes from schools, dining, world-class golf, recreation and all the benefits of Napa County Wine Country living.

Alternatively, from the Peninsula, or from west Contra Costa County, cross the Golden Gate Bridge or the Richmond Bridge and head in to the Petaluma communities of Mill Creek and Daybreak at Brody Ranch by DeNova Homes. These new single-family homes and condominiums are designed to meet different families’ needs, with comfort, quality and community in mind.

Mill Creek floor plans are priced from the low $300,000 range and vary from 608 square feet to 1,114 square feet, with up to three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Daybreak’s two-story floor plans are meticulously designed and feature four architectural styles — Charming Cottage, Farmhouse, Craftsman, and Spanish — ranging in size from 1,815 square feet to 2,402 square feet and priced from the mid-$700,000 range.

Driving toward
forests and parks

If your summer travels call for avoiding popular, large hotspots, consider a few new-home tours on the way to Shasta-Trinity National Forest or Lassen National Forest. From the Bay Area, this jaunt leads you through the greater Sacramento area, where you’ll find new construction in well-known, established communities.

Coming from the west, stop at The Grove at Spring Lake by Lennar Homes in Woodland, to see modern designs and open-concept floor plans that include smart-home and energy-efficient features. Tour homes after exploring Woodland’s small-town charm that’s just minutes from downtown Sacramento.

Ask about Lennar’s The Home Within a Home while touring these homes ranging from 1,662 square feet to 3,033 square feet and priced from the low $500,000 range. Homesite plans cleverly accommodate multigenerational households or dual-living scenarios by including a separate entrance, living room, bedroom and kitchenette.

East of Sacramento in thriving Roseville, stop through the Farms at Riolo Mariposa and Morgan Ranch communities from Homes by Towne. Priced from the high $400,000 range with floor plans ranging in size from 2,004 square feet to 3,616 square feet, the new homes in both communities are filled with natural light from large, plentiful windows.

Among the combined 10 floor plans in the two communities are several that feature covered outdoor living spaces and many that include spacious great rooms with sizable kitchen islands and large dining rooms. Other included features are smart home security, energy- and water-efficient appliances and neighborhoods, along with parks, open space and convenient proximity to schools and Roseville’s Westfield Galleria.

Enjoy your travels and new homesite seeing!