The Acre Is Back as Some Luxury Homebuilders Push to North Texas’ Outer Edges

For years, the trajectory of North Texas new construction has seemed fairly predictable: Unless you’re bulldozing in Preston Hollow or have Strait Lane kind of money, building new on an acre lot means casting your net toward DFW’s outer edges.

But the one-acre lot isn’t confined to custom-home enclaves or multimillion-dollar estates. Production builders are packaging one-acre lots at several price points — from homes in the mid-$500,000s south of Dallas to luxury properties starting above $1 million in Argyle.

The new crop of acre-lot communities forms a loose ring around Dallas-Fort Worth. In Argyle and Northlake, builders are pitching space and privacy within reach of the Alliance corridor and major commuter routes. To the east, the acre is turning up in McLendon-Chisholm and Heath. Head south, and production builders in Joshua and Waxahachie are offering similar elbow room at substantially lower starting prices.

The houses and price tags vary, but a trend emerges. Builders are pairing land that’s associated with country living with the conveniences of new construction, neighborhood infrastructure, and a catalog of floor plans and finishes.

An Acre For Less Than $600,000?

For buyers hunting for an acre at the lowest entry price, the search leads south.

At Mockingbird Hills in Joshua, Southlake-based Bloomfield Homes has carved out a separate “Classic Acre” offering alongside the community’s conventional 60- and 65-foot lots. If Joshua’s whereabouts are drawing a blank, look about 20 miles south of Fort Worth, between Burleson and Cleburne, where the Chisholm Trail Parkway provides a relatively painless commute back toward Fort Worth.

Bloomfield advertises its acre-lot homes from approximately $540,000 to $701,000, with floor plans ranging from about 2,500 to more than 4,200 square feet.

That is not exactly starter-home territory, but it changes the feasibility of the acre-lot conversation for many. Several communities closer to Dallas ask as much for the home alone — before anyone starts discussing a lot large enough for a pool, workshop, garden, detached garage, or guest quarters.

Farther southeast, Houston-based Chesmar Homes’ Lakeway Estates in Waxahachie offers one-acre estates beginning at approximately $560,000. Waxahachie used to feel like the place where DFW ended and the rest of I-35 began. Not anymore.

The city’s population has climbed rapidly since 2020, and a separate 3,170-acre development planned west of Interstate 35E could eventually add more than 13,000 homes. Suddenly, an acre in Waxahachie doesn’t sound like a house in the country. It sounds like buying some elbow room before the rest of the booming rooftops arrive.

The Acre Heads North

Travel north and northwest, and the lots remain supersized. But so do the prices.

Toll Brothers opened Enclave at Hickory Hill in Argyle in February, offering one-acre homesites with houses ranging from approximately 3,200 to just over 6,000 square feet. The builder currently advertises prices beginning just under $1.2 million.

For that, buyers can choose homes with four to seven bedrooms, and three- or four-car garages. I mean, you gotta fill that acre with something. This is the full luxury-production package, with estate-sized floor plans, a menu of architectural styles, and enough personalization options to keep the design center busy.

A little farther west in Northlake, Toll Brothers at Creek Meadows West offers another interpretation of the acre-lot neighborhood. Homes there currently start around $930,000 and range from approximately 3,200 to 5,400 square feet. The community also includes a fishing pond and walking trails and is served by Northwest ISD.

That puts more than $650,000 between the advertised starting prices in Joshua and Argyle. The same pattern is appearing east of Dallas, where builders are adding one-acre offerings in McLendon-Chisholm and Heath.

Of course, “starting from” is doing considerable work in all of these examples. Those prices generally cover a base house with standard features. Lot premiums, structural changes, finish selections, pools, outdoor kitchens, landscaping, and other upgrades can carry the final cost north like you are.

Production Building, Just Spread Out

None of this means North Texas developers are abandoning density. There’s only so much land available, and the cost of streets, utilities, and other infrastructure is easier to spread across more homes on smaller lots.. And the acre never truly disappeared. Custom builders and individual homeowners have continued building on acreage throughout the region.

What is notable is the way production builders are now packaging and marketing the acre. These communities offer recognizable plans, published starting prices, model homes, design centers, and defined construction processes. Buyers get more land without taking on every decision and uncertainty involved in purchasing a rural tract and building entirely from scratch.

The result occupies a nice middle ground: not quite country living, not quite the standard master-planned subdivision, and not necessarily a multimillion-dollar custom estate.

It seems the acre is back. You just have to decide how far you’ll drive — and how much you’ll pay — to get it.