ArchDaniel

I grew up in The Woodlands, but not in a Life Forms home. I have always been a great admirer of the Life Forms concept, though. Trace Creek was the first "production" neighborhood that Life Forms did. Many of the homes were customized, though, making them very unique compared to other production builder neighborhoods. The idea was to bring Life Forms design to a wider audience in terms of the price point. It opened in 1987, I believe. The original model homes were on N. Wilde Yaupon Circle, which is the first right after you turn into the neighborhood. There are other large Life Forms-only neighborhoods; some of which are: Haydens Run and Cochran's Green in Cochran's Crossing (built early to mid-1990s), Alden Trace in Alden Bridge (built mid to late 1990s), and the Sundance and Summerlyn neighborhoods in Alden Bridge (built early to mid 2000s). Let me know if you have any other questions.

Lehigh Springs is one of the earliest Life Forms neighborhoods, with all of the homes being custom designs (in the late 1980s that Life Forms became more production-oriented.). I believe that the larger neighborhood that Lehigh Springs is situated in is called Havenridge. I grew up in the Village of Panther Creek, and Havenridge is within walking distance of Sally K. Ride Elementary and Ridgewood Park and pool. You can also bike to the nearby village center. The Woodlands concept as a whole is very family friendly, especially for young children. I would not say that any area of The Woodlands is in a decline, but with most of the homes in Havenridge being built in the early-mid 1980s, it is certainly a more mature area. As a side note, the Havenridge and Wedgewood Forest neighborhoods hosted the 1982 Showcase of Homes. Wedgewood Forest featured more upper-level custom homes at the time.

The neighborhood you're referring to is Sylvan Forest. All of the homes on Gannet Hollow and Otter Pond were built by Life Forms, including the more conventional designs. In addition, there are several Life Forms homes at the corner of Rainbow Ridge and Echo Bend. Some of the designs from Sylvan Forest were carried over into future neighborhoods such as Clover Park in the Village of Panther Creek. Other homes in Sylvan Forest were built by Ryland, Pulte, Hometown Builders, and Jefferson Homes.

Thanks fot the welcome. The homes in Timber Top are very close to Life Forms product line. They have a great location both on the golf course and near the Town Center, like you said!

Life Forms was founded by George Mitchell's (founder of The Woodlands) son, architect Scott Mitchell. They originally began building custom homes, then decided to become a production builder so that they could bring the Life Forms "concept" to more people. The company got the name "Life Forms" because in the beginning Mr. Mitchell would come to live temporarly with the family he planned to design the house for to observe the way they lived. Life Forms placed themselves as being much more unique than production builders (such as Ryland and David Weekley) because of their dramatic architecture but less than a custom home. Their first complete neighborhood as was Slash Pine located off of South Millbend in Grogan