A new type of community just completed construction in the buzzy, master-planned neighborhood of Southern Highlands, and it’s putting a fresh, flexible spin on luxury living.
Seneca at Southern Highlands sits on 10 acres perched atop mountain topography, overlooking the Las Vegas Valley and Strip. PHOTO COURTESY OF SENECA
Seneca, a division of the long-standing local luxury homebuilder Christopher Homes, brings flexible and convenient luxury to the area with its built-to-rent model for those seeking alternatives to homeownership, but who still value high-quality living accommodations and amenities. Seneca at Southern Highlands, the brand’s debut collection of 50 homes, sits securely in a gated community with sweeping, elevated views of the Las Vegas Strip and Valley. Seneca’s emphasis on community is bolstered by shared amenities including a pool and lounge area, a dog park, a community garden and custom concierge services. The two- and three-story residences for lease range from 2,200 square feet to 2,700 square feet, with three to four bedrooms and three full baths. High-end fixtures and finishes, smart home integration, light-filled spaces, private backyards, extended two-car garages, custom cabinetry and more are highlights of each home. Tesla-powered solar panels on each roof help Seneca achieve near net-zero carbon emissions, emphasizing its sustainability standards.
We toured the innovative new community and caught up with Michael Stuhmer, Seneca’s co-founder and president, to learn more about why it achieved an impressive 60% occupancy prior to completion.
Seneca’s pool and lounge space, Gather, features a fire pit and expansive views. PHOTO COURTESY OF SENECA
What would you say makes Seneca at Southern Highlands stand out among the standard Christopher Homes model?
Christopher Homes has been the preeminent luxury homebuilder in Vegas for 40 years, and we understand the luxury market as well as, or better than, anyone else in town. And I think that we saw a void in the market for luxury rental homes and that those consumers and residents weren’t being served. And so we formulated Seneca and decided that the approach we were going to take was a separate brand, but to do luxury single-family homes for rent at scale, at a much higher end, in terms of finishes and whatnot.
Describe Seneca’s luxury-for-lease model.
I think the stigma of renting isn’t what it used to be. And not only is unaffordability driving that, but the flexibility that renting affords people. And so I think in the age of remote working… people value flexibility more and more. We wanted to approach this segment of the market of single-family homes for rent purely from a luxury standpoint. And so while the product is really nice, we also offer the full concierge level of service as well.
Seneca homes are contemporary and eco-friendly. PHOTO COURTESY OF SENECA
Why do you think this model works particularly well in Las Vegas?
Obviously, there’s a huge influx of people moving to Las Vegas, and it hasn’t slowed down much. Vegas has been leading the way [in net migration] among some other markets in close proximity. But I think there’s a lot going on for Vegas as an economy; it’s becoming more sophisticated—the sports teams, new employers coming into the market as well. … I think this works well in Las Vegas because, quite frankly, there’s nothing [else] that exists like this. If someone wants to go lease a luxury home, for rent, it’s usually 10 to 15 years old in an existing community, and it’s [leased by] someone who may just own the home. And so a lot of the single-family homes around the country that are on the more affordable side are getting purchased by big institutions and managed. It still makes up a small percentage. … The vast majority of single-family homes that are rented are owned by what you would call mom-and-pop investors. And so we centralize all the operations so that the management is all here. It’s a professionally managed community—which the one-off single-family luxury home is not typically—and then we layer in concierge services. So anything you need, we’re going to do our best to make it happen for you.
Why did you choose to build in Southern Highlands versus Summerlin or another area in Las Vegas?
I think Christopher Homes as a company has built a lot in Southern Highlands over the years, specifically in the gates of the golf course, and so we understand Southern Highlands as a market. I think people just really like living in Southern Highlands with its close proximity to the Strip, all of the stuff going on just across the way on St. Rose and in Henderson that’s getting fully developed. That’s where the Raiders practice facility is; there are a lot of commercial projects that are going up, retail and restaurants. So we loved building on the side of the mountain so you can get views. There are a select few communities and neighborhoods that this type of community would make sense for, and Southern Highlands is certainly one of those. We like the future of Southern Highlands.
The pool is built into the surrounding topography for a uniquely private feel. PHOTO COURTESY OF SENECA
What type of resident is Seneca ideal for?
I think it’s a mix. … There’s definitely an emphasis on family here, and that’s why we also wanted to make sure that we designed the community to be comfortable for that. You know, kids are always playing in the street with everyone because they’re building a little sense of community there. And then we have empty nesters who just wanted to cut the tie and the burden of homeownership. They didn’t want to manage anything. They love the fact that there’s someone always to call; they don’t have to fix anything. We’re always proactively checking in with them to see how everything’s going. But I think you have a mixture of families, young families, young professionals in tech, people who have moved to Las Vegas, they’ve moved their business to Las Vegas. We’ve got professional athletes and coaches. We’ve got a couple of people that it’s a second home for. … Seneca is made up of professionals, families, folks who have just moved to Las Vegas, trying to figure out where they want to be in town. And what’s really attractive is this hands-off experience of living in a home like this.
How does the community find a balance between privacy and community?
[The residents are] attracted to the sense of privacy and security, and the professionally managed aspect. And I think with Seneca, we really want to promote a sense of community, and obviously, people have to participate in that, and they have to elect to want to do that. And so we want to just make it there for them to want to be a part of if they choose to, but not everyone necessarily wants to. Seneca is a place where you can live and you can get to know your neighbor, and we actively promote that. Again, you have to elect to want to engage and be a part of the little things that we do and that we’re starting to do to activate the community. But I think, just in general, a sense of community has been lost, and it’s unfortunate and sad. Most people who live in home communities, or really anywhere, don’t even know who lives next to them half the time. And so we want to actively try to make that not the case [at Seneca].
Kitchens feature waterfall countertops and sleek, modern appliances and finishes. PHOTO COURTESY OF SENECA
Why are wellness and eco-friendly measures so important to Seneca?
It was super important to me that from the beginning of the project, we designed Seneca in a way that was not only good for the environment but more importantly, good for the inhabitants of the home. If you look at how much time people spend in homes, it’s like 90% of your time is spent indoors, and so the health of your home matters, everywhere from the air quality and the water quality to natural light and how that affects your circadian rhythm, and all the things that support your physical and mental health. Everything is interconnected. For us, it was important from the inception of the project [to ask] how can we design these floor plans and everything to allow as much light in as we can and make sense?
We just knew we wanted to get the homes to be as close to net zero as possible. And so we did… a lot of things that most builders wouldn’t think of doing, especially in a rental product, but it was important to us because it also reduces the cost of living in the home. When you rent a home, you’re typically responsible for that. And so with where energy pricing is going, everyone’s power bills are higher and higher. Everyone feels that. It was important to us to make the homes affordable to live in from a utilities perspective. When you move into Seneca, all of your utilities, you don’t sign up for anything, it’s all in the community’s name. … Everything from the installation of the homes, the solar, the natural light, we try to incorporate that as being good for you and also good for the environment, and ironically, good for your wallet. … Two of the plans, residences three and four, are completely net zero.
Primary bathrooms feature free-standing tubs and backlit mirrors. PHOTO COURTESY OF SENECA
How does Seneca prioritize streamlined living, and why is this particularly important for residents of this community?
We’ve taken the philosophy of what a lot of [luxury] hotels do when they do branded residences and they sell homes or condos in buildings that are also connected to a hotel so they can leverage the services in the same way. What I like to say is that Seneca is working on merging hospitality with long-term living. And so, whereas short-term rentals and Airbnb really try to mimic the hotel world and try to do things better, we want to bring in some of that level of hospitality for as long as you live here. … We have a dedicated concierge who’s a human and not an app who will be there with you from the beginning to the end, trying to help you figure out what would make living in this home the best experience you can have. And so for some folks, that’s ‘I really need someone to hang TVs’ or ‘I want these accent walls painted’ or ‘Can you put me in touch with an interior designer?’ or ‘I like to get my car washed every week.’ The list can be endless. … [We want] to maintain that human element, to know that there’s someone on-site around the community who can help you out when it’s needed.
Our concierge, her name is Stefania, she’s been here forever. She knows everything, and she’s been in hospitality. And so we really wanted to layer in this hospitality approach and really do it and not just talk about it. We also really promote people personalizing their homes, which is kind of ironic. And so we have a whole home personalization menu, like a spa. So basically to know what you can and can’t do. There are 50 different things that you can do inside of the home, and we have vetted and approved companies that will do the work. So for a lot of folks, the No. 1 used thing by far is our handyman.
The Seneca community garden is a unique gathering place for residents to find fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables. PHOTO COURTESY OF SENECA
Can you speak about plans for the expansion of the Seneca brand? What’s next?
We’ve got one project that we’re getting close to breaking ground on, which is in Henderson, around the MacDonald Highlands area. And then we have another piece of land that we’re working on as well. So we’ve got two projects—one over what would be, southeast, and then another one on the west side.
Photography by: COURTESY OF SENECA
