On the morning Wayne and Robin Gulley picked up the keys to their new house in the Silverwood master-planned community of Hesperia, they got a warm welcome to the neighborhood.
The 60-something couple — he’s a project management consultant, she’s a retired behavioral health specialists who now runs the therapeutic dance program Robin’s Nest — got flowers and hugs. As someone stuck a “Welcome Home” sign in the gravel of their xeriscaped yard, another photographed the Gulleys in playful poses.
“When you’re younger, you do all this kind of stuff,” Robin Gulley, 64, said between shots, striking an Instagram-worthy pose with her feet off the ground and one hand raised overhead. After landing, she burst into laughter. “I can still do it, too.”
With this joyful start, the Gulleys became one of the first 50 families to close on a home in the sprawling community. The development launched in 2012 is projected to deliver 15,663 homes over the next two decades on its 9,366-acre site, with nearly half dedicated to open space and parks.
Construction is still in the initial 634-home phase, and affordability serves as a major selling point. Homes start in the $400,000s with a monthly HOA fee of $157, which covers gigabit internet and whole-house Wi-Fi from day one.
As Wayne Gulley, 68, put it, “It’s got a lower cost of living than down the hill.”
The Gulleys chose not to disclose the purchase price of their 2,247-square-foot Spanish style home, featuring three bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms. But Watt Capital Developers, one of five homebuilders developing Silverwood, shows that particular model starts at under $566,000.
That’s significantly lower than California’s median home sales price of $852,680 in November and comparable to San Bernardino County’s $545,000 average price for the same month, based on data provided by the California Association of Realtors and Redfin.In addition to affordability, the master-planned community caters to outdoor enthusiasts, Marketing materials highlight 59 miles of off-road trails, 107 miles of paths and paseos and 387 acres of parks within a 5 to 10-minute walk from every home.
The Pacific Crest Trail runs through the property, and Silverwood Lake, along with the mountain resort towns of Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear, are just a short drive away. But living over the Cajon Pass in this high desert town means a greater commute to major work hubs, being 19 miles from San Bernardino, 28 miles from Ontario and 63 miles from Los Angeles.
C. Michael Stockstill, co-author of “Transforming the Irvine Ranch” and whose next book about Irvine is due in spring, likens these early days of Silverwood to the beginnings of Valencia, a master-planned community established in the late 1960s in Newhall Ranch. At the time, residents faced long commutes to employment centers.
But Newhall pledged to establish a local employment center to create jobs.
“While there are some jobs in Victorville and to a lesser degree in Apple Valley and Hesperia, it will be a long time before a meaningful number of Silverwood residents can find work locally,” Stockstill said. “They must plan on either working remotely … or commuting.”
Relief could come in two new zero-emission infrastructure projects.
By late 2029, a $21.05 billion Brightline West high-speed passenger rail system will connect Las Vegas to Rancho Cucamonga, with stops in Apple Valley and Hesperia. The system will link its Southern California Station in Rancho Cucamonga to the existing Metrolink station by elevator or escalator, enhancing access to and from downtown Los Angeles.
According to a Brightline West spokesperson, the 218-mile project will create more than 35,000 construction jobs and 800 operational positions.
In addition, BNSF Railway’s 4,500-acre Barstow International Gateway (BIG), aims to make Barstow a major intermodal rail hub and bring jobs to high desert communities. That $1.5 billion project, expected to begin construction in late 2026 and to be completed in 2028, aims to shift cargo from heavy-duty trucking to rail transport at a location away from population centers, resulting in a net decrease in greenhouse gas emissions.
Lena Kent, BNSF executive director of public affairs, said BIG could create 62,000 jobs in both the short and long term.
“I’m hoping that we continue to see job growth up here in the Mojave River Valley so fewer people have to commute down the hill because there’s more opportunities,” said John Ohanian, Silverwood’s general manager. “That’s where this economy is going up here.”
Until then, Silverwood continues to emerge. This master-planned community, which cuts through desert terrain dotted by stalks of western Joshua trees. is still under construction.
A Western-style wooden arch emblazoned with “Silverwood” comes into view near the Village Green, a grassy park with a bandshell that has already been the site of community gatherings since residents started moving in over the summer. It’s just across from the Welcome Center.
There, prospective buyers load up on information before spilling onto the fireside patio. A paved walkway lined with native bunchgrasses growing in gravel beds alongside dense clusters of small purple flowers and yellow daisy-like blooms winds its way to 21 fully-furnished model homes.
Clairisa Mattig Smith, a 42-year-old Department of Defense employee, said curiosity about the extensive “dirt work” going on in the area eventually drew her and her 67-year-old mother to the community. The women, both widowed, had been planning a move to Texas, but changed their minds.
After touring all the models, they fell for a two-story, modern farmhouse-style home by Woodside and began the homebuying process on the spot.
The base price for the 2,807-square-foot house with six bedrooms and three bathrooms was $577,000, but they opted for customization, bringing the total to $639,000 in the end.
They also plan to install a pool, outdoor kitchen and garden.
For Smith, a mother of five, ages 13 to 24, the location was a big part of the appeal.
“Being able to look in the next three to five years and know what type of a development this is going to be was just astounding,” she said. “I don’t know if you’re familiar with the high desert, but this doesn’t look like the high desert. It’s just gorgeous.”
She added, “We like the sense of community they’re building.”
Silverwood aims to be more than just a collection of homes, but a vision for community. It asks residents to consider signing a “kindness pledge” before moving in.
While not enforceable, the pledge aims to create a sense of belonging.
“Being kind doesn’t mean you have to bake a pie for your neighbors unless you want to, it’s more about simple gestures,” said Jennifer Hernandez, who manages the Welcome Center at Silverwood. “If you come home and notice your neighbor’s trash cans are still out after two days, instead of calling the HOA to complain, why not pull them in for them? If you see their packages, place them behind their fence.”
For Robin Gulley, that was a big draw.
“The idea of neighbors really being there for one another,” she said. “This had massive appeal for me because that’s my heart.”
Still to come are commercial and retail spaces, schools, fire stations, and sports and pool complexes.
James Marrero, Jr. can’t wait. The 36-year-old father of three children, ages 5 and under, moved his family from a rental in nearby Olive Tree Apartments to their new 2,099-square-foot home in late July, when his youngest and only son was a couple months old.
“We wanted to find a place where our kids could grow up,” said Marrero, who was in the living room with his infant son, the TV streaming a children’s show on mute.
Although the community is still under construction, Marrero, an asset protection supervisor at Lineage Logistics in Riverside, said his family has been exploring the neighborhood on bicycle and getting to know the neighbors.
“We talk all the time,” he said of one neighbor, and that another neighbor “has a 4-year-old, same age as my daughter. A couple of times, we’ve come home late, and they were outside in the garage. The kids look at each other and wave.”
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