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That is a tough call.........I think it depends on where you will work in many regards and what you want in a neighborhood.
Bishops Gate is near the Y in cary, and is not as close to the airport traffic as the other neighborhoods. The houses are a bit small, although on the same amount of land, so the lots seem bigger (if that makes any sense!!!!).
I like the location of Weston Oaks quite a bit, but that is just personal preference on my part, I just tend to like the weston road area. The homes are quite nice in the neighborhood and are well built.
Magnolia Estates is also nice, but for me, the homes are quite big and the lots are under a quarter of an acre, so the homes are very close together. The location is good, although I don't know where 540 comes in relative to that neighborhood. The homes are built by Shea, so they are technically not custom homes, and you may want to research Shea just to see what the reviews are of them.
Probably didn't help much but those are just my opinions!
We have a 2 yr old. Planning on enrolling him into toddler classes. Work is in Morrisville.
How bad is the train noise from amtrack (near 54) to weston oaks community ?
How about the daily local near Bishop gate ? But the flight noise is less here compared to the other two per your info.
Is there any train that goes on the tracks near carpenter ( for the magnolia community) ? Looks like there are 3 tracks or am I getting confused
Saw Davis drive getting choked from Morrisville in the evenings. For weston there seems to be an alternate route 540 and 54 and for magnolia , 55 seems an option. Bishop gate doesn't have this option.
I live in Giverny, which is next to Bishop's Gate.
The train should be a non-event in most of Bishop's Gate, unless you buy in the newest section where some of the homes are a little closer.
Even at that, the train is two trips a day, Monday through Friday, at very slow speeds.
My wife commutes to TW Alexander in RTP. Mornings work well because she leaves early, but evenings are more difficult, regardless of route.
There is construction on all the routes.
But if you are only going to Morrisville, it should be better.
We looked at Bishops Gate and Weston Oaks. I loved them both. The houses are beautiful and well built. I liked the Bishops Gate location a little better because I prefer being near Cary/Apex (which is convenient for errands and children's activities), but Weston Oaks might be more convenient to your job. The Bishops Gate elementary (I think it's districted for one of the new schools) is most likely going to be better than Northwoods (which I believe Weston Oaks is currently districted for), but by the time your ready for kindergarten, that could all change. I don't remember Weston Oaks having a pool, but Bishop's Gate had a decent one. Bishop's Gate is also near the Cary YMCA which is fabulous. I also remember Weston Oaks being hilly and Bishops Gate being fairly flat. I love the hilly look, but it makes it difficult for little ones learning to ride bicycles, scooters, etc (we live in a hilly neighborhood now). I don't know anything about Magnolia.
Weston Oaks also seems to be closer to some businesses with more traffic on weston oaks pkwy. What do you folks think about the amtrack near 54. Will that be problem for someone living here ? Yes hilly neighbourhood and not so flat backyards is going to be tough on those little legs
Looking at new developments in Bishop's gate which seem to be about 500-600 feet from the train tracks. Good thing about this community is its
central location and better schools compared to Weston oaks.
The houses at Magnolia are also well-built and look quite impressive, but the price range may be slightly higher than those in Bishop Gate and Weston Oaks. The nice thing about Magnolia is that all houses in the neighborhood have four-side bricks and side-entrance garage, which allows one to have a longer driveway. (One can actually use the driveway to play half-court basketball if it is flat enough.) But their lots look quite small, especially since the houses are so big. I think Shea has some sort of special agreement with the town of Cary allowing them to build with little yard on one side and a relatively wide driveway on the other side of the house, which seems to be a good idea in Cary area since lots are typically small and houses with side-entrance garage just look a lot better. The elementary base school at Magnolia is Carpenter Elementary (relatively new), which I heard is pretty good.
I think Centex (or the trade they use) does really good stone works. The way they mix the stones with bricks makes the houses look beautiful, much better than those in Caramore (another neigborhood in similar price range built by McCar) in my opinion.
We had compared all these neighborhoods before we decided to go with Shea Homes at Magnolia. Overall, I think Shea Homes as a company has better experience in building high-end homes. Their design studio selections reflect that. They have been building luxury houses in the west coast for many years. (But note that Shea Homes in NC is an independently owned and managed division. They essentially borrow the good name from their mothership and try to build recognition in the east coast.) The building materials offered by Shea are excellent. They use steel beams between floors in some of their models and real plywood (not particle boards as most builders use in this area) for subfloors. The houses in Magnolia really feel solid. However, our building experience with Shea at Magnolia is less than perfect so far. The main problem is their construction department. Shea in NC seems not willing to pay for more experienced superintendents. You just have to keep a closer eye on construction if you decide to build there.
Some friends of mine have built homes with Centex in Bishop Gate and Weston Oaks, and they seems to have good building experience there. The only complaint I heard from them is that their selections at design studio are somewhat limited. You may want to talk to the people living in each neighborhood to find out their experience.
Before my husband and I lucked-into a beautiful, well-built home here in Carpenter Village, we seriously entertained building a home in Magnolia Estates. Shea Builders has a very good reputation, and from what we saw during all phases of construction on the first several homes, we didn't see important corners being cut. That said, we got a better deal on what we wanted in a home just a few years older where we are -- some things that we would have to still do, building new.
Now that the neighborhood is nearing completion, we do think the homes are a bit large. Just my opinion, but I wouldn't want to have to clean and maintain, heat and cool, that much space unless space was what I really wanted for a growing family. And the lots do seem a tad small for the size of the homes, but hey!, a lot of lots in Cary are small. What makes up for that, to me, however, are other amenities, like. . .
Friendly neighbors. Young families, many of whom seem to enjoy doing things together with their children. Neighborhood pool (which may be a moot point this summer). The green way with its biking and walking paths. The birds on the water, and the open spaces left around the lake/pond. being within walking distance to the elementary school and a new branch of the Wake County public library. Access to shopping and restaurants, dry cleaners, grocery stores, drug stores, etc. Proximity to areas near SW Cary.
Magnolia Estates, and even Carpenter Village, where I am now, make for easy getting to, and driving around Morrisville.
For convenience purposes only, I would say Magnolia Estates. I think the benefits are closer to RTP and RDU. 540 access is just up Davis Dr but will in no way come near Magnolia. You will hear the train whistle but you will not be as close as Bishops Gate. You have the Carpenter Elementary school within walking distance down the street but I don't know what school Magnolia is assigned too. There is the new library within walking distance too. The Cary Tennis Center is right down the street also and will be so much more accessible when the small section of Louis Stephens opens up. You have the walking trails and lake at Carpenter Village. You have nearby shopping in Morrisville at McCrimmon, Stone Creek in Cary and the shopping at High House and 55. Drive a little further and you can access Beaver Creek in Apex. Streets at Southpoint is 15 minutes away.
I just think that Magnolia is in a better location as far as being able to access things.
Hi everyone,
I am bumping this thread up wondering what everyone thinks about these 3 communities after ~2.5 years since the OP has asked this question.
Specifically, are the shortcomings, as pointed out by some of the responders, of these 3 communities (such as the Northwoods elementary school, no community pool, high HOA fees at least in the case of Weston Oaks) a non-issue now?
Also, how bad/good is it to own an high-end house in a community?
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Bishops Gate vs Weston Oaks vs Magnolia
