Wyndham Hills - Neighborhood of the Week
Variety is spice of subdivision
Wyndham Hills tries to avoid look-alike styles
By KELLY WELLS of the Journal Sentinel

With new neighborhoods popping up across southeastern Wisconsin, home buyers have ample choice of locations, but often not much choice in the design of the finished house, much less a clear idea of what the neighborhood will look like.

Many new neighborhoods are made up of homes in a variety of layouts and exterior colors, but often with the same basic style.

Mark and Mary Carstensen, owners of Mark E. Carstensen Construction & Development Cos., sought to change that when they laid out Franklin's Wyndham Hills neighborhood in 1992.

Attracted by the land and convenient location, Mark Carstensen said he worked for two years to purchase the 75 acres of farmland west of Drexel Ave. and Loomis Road. Securing the land, though, was just the beginning of creating a new concept in suburban neighborhoods.

Born and raised in Franklin, Carstensen hoped to develop a neighborhood that would attract families, couples and individuals who normally would overlook the southern suburbs in search of a home.

He worked with city officials to change the land's zoning to R-3 executive, which called for larger lots, and set minimum size requirements for homes.

"There was a big need here for more upscale housing," he said.

And the homes are certainly lavish. The average assessed value of a home in Wyndham Hills last year was $372,000, and the average tax bill was $11,200, Franklin City Assessor Richard Christenson said. Homes in Franklin were assessed last year at roughly 90% of their estimated fair market value.

Not many homes have come up for sale in the neighborhood over the past few years, but the lowest selling price over the last 21/2 years was $350,000 and the highest was slightly more than $1 million, Christenson said.

One home on the market now is in the 7700 block of Cambridge Court.

Situated on nearly an acre of land along a large neighborhood pond, the home is more than 5,800 square feet. It has four bedrooms, 31/2 baths, a six-car garage, a dry or wet sauna, a 20-by-40-foot in-ground pool and a host of other features, according to Gary Fakler, owner of Signet Realty, which lists the house.

With an asking price of $1.2 million, he said, it is the most expensive home in the city now on the market.

Most of the 70 homes in the neighborhood were designed and built by Carstensen's company.

"I was able to set the tone in that neighborhood by building most of the homes from the start," Mark Carstensen said.

Ranches, two-stories, Cape Cods and Colonials are just a handful of home styles in the neighborhood. The variety of home styles is just one of the aspects that draw people to Wyndham Hills, Mary Carstensen said.

Residents come from a variety of backgrounds, with the neighborhood made up of families, retirees, younger couples, singles, blue-collar workers and professionals.

"It's a real blend of people," she said.

Safe environment

Sue and John Northey and their three children were the neighborhood's first residents and have witnessed the many changes in the area.

"We were there trudging through swamps and woods trying to figure out what our lot looked like," Sue Northey said.

The Northeys lived in Franklin before building in Wyndham Hills and wanted to stay in the area. At the time, Sue Northey worked in Racine and John Northey worked in downtown Milwaukee. Franklin provided a middle point.

They also liked the city for its community feel and safe environment.

"That's a huge thing from the perspective of raising a family," Sue Northey said. In their neighborhood, "Everybody's very observant of what's happening around them. People kind of look out for each other."

Although property taxes in Franklin are high, ranking sixth in a five-county area of southeastern Wisconsin last year, the trade-off is the quality public education the children receive, Northey said.

Children in the Wyndham Hills neighborhood attend Robinwood Elementary School, Forest Park Middle School and Franklin High School.

Good schools are just one of the family-friendly features of the neighborhood.

In addition to being close to the public library and Fourth of July parade route, Wyndham Hills features a community pond, stocked with fish to catch and release.

In past winters, residents have cleared a portion of the frozen pond for ice skating, Sue Northey said.

The Carstensens have begun selling lots in Wyndham Ridge, a new neighborhood west of Wyndham Hills that will include the same mix of home styles. They bought the 32 acres for the new subdivision in January.

Most lots in Wyndham Ridge will be priced from the low $80,000s to more than $100,000, Mark Carstensen said.

The couple is piecing together the history of the future neighborhood, which they said was used as farmland for 140 years. In a nod to its history, some streets in the new subdivision will be named in a way to reflect the area's past.

From the Aug. 17, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Reprinted with permission.