Click Here For Your Eagle Area Comparison Guide
This is Part 2 in my 2-part series of showing you the main areas of Eagle, Idaho. (View Part 1 Here) In the previous Blog, we went over the River area, East Eagle, and downtown. Today, I will show you the foothill and acreage areas, and West eagle. At the end, I’ll compare and contrast all 5 areas of Eagle.
In this Blog, I’ll be combining the acreage and foothill areas, as the foothill areas in North Eagle are all acreage properties, but there are other acreage properties scattered throughout Eagle, and I’ll show you those as well. Let’s check out what they look like.
NORTH EAGLE IDAHO
North Eagle covers pretty much the entire length of Eagle from East to West and is the very edge of the Boise Foothills. This area is very quiet, and some of these homes are tucked in between layers of hills and feel very secluded. They are actually only about 15 minutes from downtown Eagle and the Eagle schools, so it is a fantastic place to have property but still have quick access to town. These properties are typically 5 -10 acre parcels with custom homes. As each person has a different reason for wanting to live on 5-10 acres, there is quite a variety in what you’ll find with these homes. It can be that someone wanted the land just for space, so they haven’t added any outbuildings, or someone wanted it for recreation vehicles and a shop, or someone wanted it for horses, or maybe all 3. Some of these areas back to BLM land so you can have trail and recreation access right out your door or down your street.
The hardest thing about purchasing a home in the hills like this, or any of the acreage homes in Eagle, is that the pricing reflects things like: the amount of land, age and size of home, and value of any outbuildings or horse facilities. So you may find a home you love, but not want to pay the extra money for a barn if you don’t need it. You’ll have some decisions to make when searching for a home in this area. These homes are usually large and will range from $1.5 mil up to $3 million, depending on size, size of parcel, and outbuildings. Most of these properties look dry – that’s because they are usually dry land, meaning that they don’t have irrigation or water rights, and get their water from one well. But, this means you can have property and leave most of it natural sagebrush and grasses so you don’t have as much maintenance as you do with land with irrigation or water rights. It’s a great way to get space without having to maintain as much property.
If you want acreage in the Eagle foothill area with water rights, you can find that, and those homes will typically cost more due to the water access. Also, most of the 5 acre parcels that have water or irrigation rights are located in the flat area of North Eagle, just at the base of the foothills. They are about the same price range, and are also custom homes with a variety of features. There are many lovely communities in Eagle, and when people think of Eagle in the Treasure Valley, these luxury custom estates on acreage are usually what comes to mind.
But remember that if you are watering 5 acres, you’ve got to do something with it or you’ll be watering weeds. If you have at least 5 acres and follow certain rules, you can get an agricultural exemption that helps with property taxes, so many people here have found creative ways to meet the criteria, like to lease some of it out to someone for growing alfalfa, or to raise a cow on it for meat.
The areas of North Eagle with 5-10 acre parcels, are anywhere from a 5-15 minute drive to schools, grocery stores, and other amenities, but of course, if you are buying land, you most likely are seeking to be a little further out and have a bit more peace and quiet. It’ll take you about 25 minutes to get to Costco and 30 minutes to get to Trader Joes, and about 30 minutes to downtown Boise.
The other acreage areas of Eagle are scattered throughout. There are a very few luxury acreage type properties near the River Areas and East Eagle. Most are in North Eagle and scattered throughout heading west. Most of these types of homes are also large, custom homes, and are usually on 1-2 acre lots. They have been built anywhere from the late 90s to today and will range from about $1mil on up, with many being between the $1.3-$1.8 mil mark in 2022. These homes do have irrigation water for the yards, and so the cost to keep them green and beautiful through the hot summer months is very reasonable. Some of these communities will allow animals, and some will not, and many are small communities with just a handful of homes.
The acreage properties in Eagle, whether larger foothill acreage or smaller acreage closer to town, are very sought after. Even though they are farther out from things like Costco, they are still relatively close to schools – they are closer to Eagle Middle School and Eagle High, but can be farther from the elementary schools – they are close to grocery stores, and daily needs, so they make a fantastic place to live for those wanting space and a luxury home, but not to be too far out of town. And many people used to opt to buy lots and build their custom home in this area so they could get exactly what they wanted, but with the supply chain issues and cost of land rising so much here, for now, most people are opting to buy existing homes, making the competition steep for a home in this area that is priced right and shows well. It is also increasingly difficult to find a parcel of land for sale in Eagle that is above an acre to purchase and to bring your own builder.
WEST EAGLE IDAHO
And where is all the new construction in Eagle? It’s in the West! The bulk of the growth for Eagle is happening in the West as it expands closer to Star.
West Eagle is highly sought after because the homes are newer, most were built in the last 4 years or are being built now, some communities have larger lots without being acreage lots, and it is close to Eagle High, North Point Charter School, and Galileo STEM school. So if people want to live in Eagle but want a new home, they usually buy in West Eagle.
And just a side note, because people always ask me about living near trees, you need to know that because these communities in West Eagle are almost all newer, there are no mature trees here. The Treasure Valley is a high desert climate, and trees either grow near the river, or because they were planted. So of course, they are planting trees in the new communities, but they are still little, so if you get new construction, there will not be mature trees. Okay moving on…
West Eagle is still dotted with large cornfields, but those are getting developed rapidly. One of the iconic neighborhoods of West Eagle is Legacy, a luxury community with pools, tennis courts, a 3-par practice golf course, ponds and lakes, and custom to semi-custom homes. It has extensive landscaping with over 5 miles of paved walking paths along the irrigation canal. Residents can paddleboard on the water areas there if they like, and it is the only community of its kind in all of Idaho. Homes in Legacy range from $600k for an area that has tract homes up to over $2million for a large custom home that backs to water with a private beach.
Other favorite neighborhoods in West Eagle are Eagle Mountain, with semi-custom homes on almost half acre lots, and Homestead, also semi-custom homes on up to half acre lots. These homes in this area will range from $900k to well over $1mil and they are mostly 2800-4000 sf homes. The homes in a community called Syringa are slightly more affordable as their lots can be smaller and the homes can be smaller. These West Eagle neighborhoods tend to all have community pools, paved sidewalk paths, and again, small trees for now.
There are a few new communities in West Eagle that are along the river, so really I guess they are Southwest Eagle, communities like Riverstone and Riverwalk. Riverstone will be a resort style community with homes from patio homes to luxury estates along the river. It has direct river access, ponds for swimming and fishing, and homes range from $650k to over $1.5 mil in 2021.
These West Eagle areas do not have any direct access to things like the foothill trails as in East Eagle, or the river trails, as in the River communities of Eagle (except for Riverstone).There are sidewalks and streamside walking paths in many of these new communities, but you are limited to just your neighborhood and connecting neighborhoods for walks and runs. And although some of them are within walking distance of charter schools and Eagle High, they are about a 10-15 minute drive from the other Eagle schools. In fact, some of the far west Eagle communities are in the Star schools attendance zone.
It is also farther from downtown Eagle, about 10 minutes to downtown Eagle and about 35-40 minutes to downtown Boise.
The West Eagle area is more convenient to Star and Meridian than North or East Eagle. West Eagle is the closest area of Eagle to Costco in Meridian. One thing to know about West Eagle is that the main roads in that area…State Street and Linder, can have some of the worst traffic in Eagle. State Street bottlenecks down to 2 lanes in West Eagle, and since that is where all the new growth is, well, there is quite a bit of traffic on the main road. Once you get off the main road, it’s not too bad, and State Street is supposed to get widened, but it hasn’t happened yet. Oh, and you can still access the Boise River and trails from West Eagle at Eagle Island State Park, which is in West Eagle by the river. People tend to choose to live in West Eagle when a new home in a community with a pool is important to them, as well as quicker access to Meridian.
COMPARING ALL AREAS OF EAGLE IDAHO
Traffic – worst on Eagle Road getting to the River areas, and on State Street and Linder in West Eagle. Best in East Eagle and the Foothill Areas
Recreation Accessibility – Best overall in East eagle for access to foothills and close to river, great in the River area for the river, and in the foothill acreage for BLM access. Worst in West Eagle with mostly just neighborhood areas to walk- but still okay with creeks and ponds to walk by
School Accessibility – Best in East and West Eagle. Worst in foothills and river areas
Newer Construction – Best in West Eagle, then in the river areas. Worst in East Eagle
Convenience – Best in the river area as it’s in the center of most of the area overall. Worst in the foothill areas
Walkability – Hands down, downtown Eagle is the best for walkability, and best in the valley next to downtown Boise. But the river areas on the East side of Eagle Road are okay since you can at least walk to restaurants, gyms, and the movie theater.
Neighborhoods with Mature trees – opposite of new construction. Best in East Eagle and the River neighborhoods. Worst in West Eagle and Foothill Acreage properties
Best Luxury Homes – North Eagle takes the cake for the valley on this one as it has more areas with luxury homes on acreage that offer being close to recreation, foothills, and town than any other area. Other areas of the valley have luxury homes on acreage too, but those areas tend to be more mixed with many other types of homes, too, where North Eagle is a majority of luxury acreage homes.
