Orchard House wins “Best Community Amenity” from DBA

Orchard House, the modern farmhouse community center at the heart of The Grove Frisco, has won the Best Community Amenity Award from the Dallas Builders Association.

Presented during the DBA’s 2019 McSam Awards ceremony, it is the fourth major award won by The Grove Frisco in our first year of home sales.

As the flagship amenity for The Grove Frisco, Orchard House embodies our vision to be a connected, engaged community with amenities and programs that intentionally bring residents of all ages together for special events and everyday encounters.

Orchard House includes a sun-drenched fitness center with state-of-the-art cardio and weight training equipment, along with changing rooms and lockers. The main gathering areas in Orchard House are very open, giving literal form to the vision of breaking down walls and creating a neighborly community. Smaller meeting rooms can host resident events of all sizes.

Outside, Orchard House has a water oasis with two resort-style pools on two levels. This defines and separates the upper and lower pools, while connecting them with a scenic waterfall. Orchard House also has a splash pad, a gathering area with a linear outdoor fireplace, and an event lawn.

Miles of trails connect Orchard House to other amenities at The Grove Frisco such as Adventure Park, featuring a hand-built playground. 

While its modern farmhouse style echoes the past, Orchard House also embraces some of the newest technologies, such as geothermal water conservation.

The Grove Frisco also won several McSam marketing awards from the DBA, including Best Website, Best Overall Advertising Campaign, and Best Digital Media Campaign.

The DBA awards are the latest additions to a growing number of kudos won by The Grove Frisco.

The Dallas Business Journal named The Grove Frisco as Best Planned Community in its 2019 Best Real Estate Awards.

The Grove Frisco’s commitment to preserving the expansive groves of mature trees growing on its site was a standout accomplishment for the DBJ’s panel of independent judges.

“One of the biggest challenges of creating a premier village consistent with The Grove Frisco’s principles was determining how to relocate the undeveloped land’s existing trees, with minimal environmental impact,” the DBJ wrote.

Embracing nature as one of its five cornerstone visions, The Grove Frisco carefully relocated numerous existing large trees that would have been displaced by streets and utilities, transforming these trees into focal points for new amenities such as the Orchard House community center and Adventure Park. Large trees were also transplanted within residential neighborhoods for residents to enjoy near their homes.

Many existing trees were preserved with careful, strategic alignment of roadways, including the community’s main entry boulevard, Gartner Road, which now welcomes residents and visitors with a shady canopy of trees.

New additional trees have already been planted or will be added in future phases.

Key players recognized by the Dallas Business Journal include The Grove Frisco’s developer, Newland Communities and North America Sekisui House, Ltd. Planning and design engineering consultant Kimley Horn was also recognized, along with first-phase homebuilders including American Legend Homes, Drees Custom Homes, Highland Homes and Southgate Homes.

The DBJ’s Best Real Estate Award was the third major award honoring The Grove Frisco in its first year of being open for home sales. Located in the highly regarded

Frisco Independent School District, The Grove Frisco opened in the summer of 2018.

In the fall of 2018, The Grove Frisco won the Single-Family Development of the Year award from D CEO magazine.

“In one of the hottest residential markets in the country, these North Texas communities and developers rise above their peers…as the most compelling new communities,” D CEO wrote. “Nothing says ‘putting down roots’ more than buying a new home, and Newland Communities takes that concept to the next level at The Grove Frisco.”

Also in 2018, Newland Communities won the Single-Family Developer of the Year award from D Magazine, in large part due to its work on The Grove Frisco, its third major community the DFW Metroplex.

The Grove Frisco has also earned marketing awards, including a gold award in the 2018 W3 Awards for Online Video and Web Series for its “Vision” series of videos. In 2019, the community won a silver award from the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the American Advertising Federation for its overall campaign.

Ongoing development of The Grove Frisco is being guided by a five-point vision that includes:

• Unhindered – Offering residents the opportunity to live life unhindered, starting with a Four Corners location at a dynamic crossroads where Frisco, Plano, Allen and McKinney all come together. “Pursuing life to the fullest is possible when you live so close to the best jobs, schools, shopping and entertainment,” the vision statement reads.
• Natural – Starting with preserving its wooded environment, The Grove Frisco strives to build on a connection with nature, providing residents with intentional opportunities to enjoy miles of trails and parks such as Adventure Park, a butterfly park, hammock park and dog park.
• Engaged – Recognizing that being socially engaged offers physical and emotional benefits for residents of all ages, The Grove Frisco is creating a master plan and activities designed to intentionally bring people together. That can be meeting at Orchard House and Swirl Café & Bakery, joining in a community-wide event, or simply greeting each other along the trails.
• Crafted – The Grove Frisco strives to craft a modern village through amenities such as Orchard House and its hand-built playground in Adventure Park. Crafted with care it brings neighbors together, and new homes crafted by best-in-class builders offers residents in many different price ranges and stages of life the opportunity to put down roots.
• Intentional – “Everything serves a purpose, from our curving streets lined with homes by Frisco’s best-in-class builders all the way down to the berries on our bushes,” says the vision statement. This weaves together all of The Grove Frisco’s other visions, by actively identifying and executing ways to make sure that the community fulfills every aspect of its vision and potential.

Learn more about life in the award-winning community of The Grove Frisco.