Encanterra

Encanterra, a Trilogy Resort Community by Shea Homes, is an upscale master-planned community in Queen Creek, Arizona, straddling the border with San Tan Valley about 45 minutes southeast of downtown Phoenix and Scottsdale. The community is built around a private Tom Lehman-designed 18-hole championship golf course and is unusual in that it blends two lifestyles under one master plan: age-restricted 55+ Trilogy neighborhoods (all single-story homes) and all-ages neighborhoods where you'll find both single-story and two-story homes, plus several sections of low-maintenance villa-style townhomes. Total build-out is roughly 2,400 homes across four home collections — Encanterra, Francia, Italia, and Espana — with new-construction floorplans ranging from about 1,342 to 2,758 square feet and resales stretching up to 3,400+ square feet. Exteriors can be customized in Italian, French, or Spanish architectural themes, giving the neighborhood its distinctive Mediterranean look. The social heart of the community is La Casa, a ~60,000-square-foot Mediterranean-style clubhouse that reads more like a boutique resort than an HOA amenity center. Inside you'll find the Alvea Spa (named Best Clubhouse Spa by Arizona Foothills ten years running) with steam rooms and saunas, a state-of-the-art fitness center, aerobics and dance studio, culinary studio for chef demos and mixology classes, an artisan workshop, multiple multi-purpose rooms, and four on-site restaurants and bars including the swim-up Solaz Grill. Outside, a large resort-style pool anchors expansive landscaped patios used for concerts and festivals at the community's outdoor amphitheater. The second clubhouse, The Algarve, is an 8,000-square-foot secondary hub with its own resort pool, poolside dining at Tapas, a demonstration kitchen, artisan studio, indoor/outdoor concert space, eight pickleball courts, and bocce courts. Social life is run by a full-time activities director and concierge who help coordinate more than 100 clubs and interest groups — book club, camera club, garden club, cooking club, men's and women's golf clubs, Pilates, yoga, Zumba, spin, and on and on. The annual Good Life Festival brings national touring acts (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Cheap Trick, Jake Owen have all played recent seasons) to the community amphitheater. Wine dinners, happy hours, poolside parties, hiking trips, and guided excursions fill out the calendar almost every week. Location is a big part of the pitch. Banner Ironwood Medical Center sits directly across the road for 24-hour emergency care, and the newer AZ-24 freeway extension plus Loop 202 and US-60 have turned this once-isolated stretch of the East Valley into a quick commute to Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Scottsdale, and Phoenix Sky Harbor. The surrounding San Tan Valley area has exploded with shopping, dining, and services in the last few years, and the San Tan and Superstition Mountain ranges frame the community with dramatic desert scenery. Trilogy by Shea Homes has been named America's Most Trusted Active Adult Resort Builder for 14 consecutive years, and Encanterra is widely regarded as the flagship of that brand.