Blue Heron to build showcase home in MacDonald Highlands

Blue Heron is building a showcase home and neighborhood in the luxury community of MacDonald Highlands in Henderson.

Tyler Jones, owner and co-founder of Blue Heron, said the homes range from 4,500 square feet to 25,000 square feet on a quarter acre to 3.5 acre lots. Prices start at $1.5 million and exceed more than $15 million.

“It’s a really great fit for the type of home that we design and build,” Jones said of the company’s decision to build in MacDonald Highlands. “We create amazing living spaces with great indoor/outdoor connections and we have the opportunity to design them with unbelievable city, mountain and golf course views.”

Jones added that many of the homes are being built on a hill.

“They’re angled so you see the home differently,” he said. “You see them from every angle, including (where) you can see all four sides, which is exciting for us because you don’t typically see more than the front of the home.”

Blue Heron implements several green homebuilding technologies and energy efficiencies such as solar panels, light-emitting diode lights, tankless hot water heaters and high-efficiency HVAC and glass.

“From an architectural and interior design standpoint, we call our style Vegas modern, which is categorized by the indoor/outdoor relationship,” he said.

Jones, a lifelong Las Vegas resident, said when the company was founded in 2004, it sought to create a style that was appropriate for the desert climate.

“Our homes are meant to work with the environment here in Las Vegas,” he said. “Our architecture is setup to create shade and keep intense heat from entering the home by using heat and orienting windows and architectural overhangs to deal with it properly.”

Jones added that outdoor living spaces are shaded, protected and have water features to wick moisture through the home.

“We work with the climate we have here in Las Vegas and make our homes work well for the Las Vegas modern lifestyle,” he said. “People entertain in our homes and we want them to feel like it’s a private resort and somewhere to recharge their batteries and enjoy the space.”

Construction hasn’t commenced on model homes in MacDonald Highlands, however, Jones said he anticipates one to be open in the next 15 months.

“We’re in the process of designing a new model home,” he said. “I think it’s going to raise the bar for what we’ve seen so far in Las Vegas.”

Jones said Blue Heron’s next focus is a residential project near the intersection of Campbell Drive and W. Charleston Blvd.

“There will only be four lots and they’re going to be midcentury modern homes that will fit well in that mature neighborhood,” he said. “There are so many beautiful neighborhoods around the valley but no one has done something brand new and fresh in the core of the city.”

Contact reporter Ann Friedman at afriedman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4588. Follow @AnnFriedmanRJ on Twitter.