Homes are selling before the “for sale” signs are planted, and homebuilders have backlogs of customers that run a year-plus.

So why build a 20,000-square-foot “one-of-a-kind” pool as an eye-catching landmark for new housing development?

The family-owned Rancho Mission Viejo Co., which is developing the final slices of its southern Orange County ranchland, has been known for its long-view thinking.

This spring, the ranch owners are opening their third “village” at Rancho Mission Viejo. Rienda, with a massive pool as its centerpiece, will initially offer 1,463 homes in the coming weeks. When completed, Rienda will have 2,900 homes.

When it opens to community residents, they’ll find that the lagoon-like Ranch Cove isn’t just another big association pool. It’s almost double that of an Olympic-sized pool, and it’s got a decidedly high-end resort look. And it’s even bigger than the company’s previously biggest swimming spot — an 18,000 square-foot “lake” in Rancho Santa Margarita.

Its biomorphic shape makes it seem somewhat like a swimming hole. The pool’s edge curves in a meandering pattern that creates a creek-like atmosphere with private swim areas. The natural feel is amplified by what’s called a “rim-flow” design that lets the water go to the pool’s top.

“The goal was to provide a one-of-a-kind amenity,” says Kris Maher, Rancho Mission Viejo’s senior vice president of design.

Planning Ranch Cove started in 2018 as the ranch owners started to think about what would follow the sellouts of the ranch’s first two projects. Sendero, launched in 2013, has 1,334 homes, and Esencia, which started in 2015, has 2,700.

The initial thoughts were a community attraction for Rienda’s residents. The idea then grew into a recreation spot for all of Rancho Mission Viejo, just off the extended Cow Camp Road, which will eventually link Antonio Parkway and Ortega Highway.

The high-profile location created opportunities for a signature attraction and marketing. The pool is tied to something called “Ranch Camp,” which will serve as the hub for the ranch owners’ remaining sales efforts.

Related Articles

Marketing needs haven’t been entirely erased, despite a sizzling housing market. This company has ridden real estate’s ups and downs for the past 130-years plus of ownership. And its work on Rancho Mission Viejo is still relatively in the early stages. The ranch owners have 7,000 homes and 4.5 million square feet of non-residential spaces to design, develop and sell after Rienda — efforts that could take another three decades to complete.

The ranch owners’ logic for Ranch Cove was that residents craved places to be neighborly and a resort-like facility would be an ideal fit. In Rienda, many of the first homes sold will have smaller backyards in order to create “attainable” pricing.

Orange County’s median selling price in February for existing and new homes combined neared $1 million. Buyers of Rienda’s one-story condominium “flats,” however, will see prices starting in the $400,000-range.

Building Ranch Cove was no easy feat over roughly 18 months of the pandemic.

There were 3,591 cubic yards of dirt to be removed (a cubic yard is roughly what a typical pickup bed carries). Custom concrete work had to be done to facilitate the “rim-flow” drainage system that gives the pool its nature-like charm. Leveling the pool’s edge was done by hand because lasers weren’t accurate enough over the curving length of the pool.

Then there’s a 50-horsepower circulation pump and a 1,000-gallon chlorine tank used to circulate the water.

And if this giant pool wasn’t enough, ranch owners made a reasonable bet that Ranch Cove will get a tad crazy on the weekends. So for the older crowd that wants a more peaceful experience, Ranch Camp also has a separate four-lane lap pool.

Jonathan Lansner is business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at [email protected]