The owners of Plano-based Highland Homes are transforming their 2,400-acre Denton County horse ranch into a master-planned development with 2,600 houses.

Rod Sanders and Jean Ann Brock purchased the equestrian spread in 2003 to share their love of horses, and they have fused their connection to the land, nature, and equine heritage throughout the new Sandbrock Ranch community. 

"Now, we are sharing it with North Texas families who will find it a well-located, peaceful oasis as development in the Dallas area continues to surge northward," Brock said in a statement.

Located on State Highway 1385 in Aubrey — just north of U.S. Highway 380 — Sandbrock Ranch is 10.5 miles north of Denton and minutes from Lake Lewisville. Though the development is easily accessible to employment opportunities, universities, shopping, dining, and entertainment in Denton, Plano, Frisco, Dallas, and other parts of the metro area, it’s far enough away to maintain a laid-back, small-town feel all its own.

New single-family homes in Sandbrock begin in the $230,000s. In addition to Highland Homes, other builders include Perry Homes and David Weekley Homes.

In June, model homes are slated to open for prospective buyer tours, and the Amenity Center with a swimming pool, splash pad, and event lawn will make its debut in the fall. 

Planned site for Sandbrock Ranch / Cortesy of Sandbrock Ranch

Other lifestyle features run the gamut from a fitness room, recreational fields, parks, and playgrounds to an outdoor amphitheater, hiking and biking path, and two fully-stocked fishing lakes. 

Served by the acclaimed Denton Independent School District, land within the development has been set aside for a future onsite elementary school.

In 1985, Sanders and Brock founded Highland Homes, which is now one of the largest builders in North Texas. Between Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio, the company builds more than 2,800 homes each year in the Texas market. 

While Sandbrock Ranch inherited its trailblazing spirit and horse ranch legacy from Sanders and Brock, the equine culture runs deep in Aubrey. Often called the horse capital of Texas, the 2.6-square-mile city was once surrounded by peanut farms, but since 2009, the bulk of its rural landscape has become sprawling horse ranches where graceful quarter horses and thoroughbreds roam.

Aubrey is rapidly becoming the new frontier for Dallas-Fort Worth homeowners who are seeking the best of both worlds — the country lifestyle within a short drive from everything urban. 

Though the city’s 2014 population was just 2,814, that reflected an 87.6 percent jump from the 2000 census. Today’s estimated population exceeds 3,300 residents. The 2,600 new households in Sandbrock Ranch will add another boost to the city’s growing census roll.