Less than half an hour’s drive outside the neon-lit hustle and bustle of the Las Vegas Strip sits a 320-acre private artificial reservoir that offers a rare slice of waterfront community living in the Nevada desert.
Approximately 15 miles southeast of the iconic Las Vegas entertainment corridor lies Henderson, the second-largest city in Nevada. Within the borders of this sprawling Clark County municipality is the exclusive, masterplanned community of SouthShore Lake Las Vegas. Encompassing 3,592 acres, SouthShore was largely built out in the early 1990s and has long been known for its multiple gated neighborhoods, multi-million-dollar luxury residences, and a prestigious country club featuring the first-ever championship golf course designed by golf legend Jack Nicklaus.
"At one point, it was very remote," Tri Pointe Homes Las Vegas Division President Klif Andrews tells Realtor.com. "But today, it’s very connected to the rest of Las Vegas."
The home construction company, headquartered in Incline Village, Nevada, is currently in the middle of writing a brand-new chapter for the area by developing an exclusive luxury enclave safely tucked behind the gates of SouthShore.
Henderson itself boasts an impressive reputation beyond its luxury real estate. According to a comprehensive 2023 study conducted by MoneyGeek, Henderson ranks as the third-safest large city in the United States, trailing only Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Honolulu, Hawaii.
"It’s very secure and has a strong police force," Andrews notes, emphasizing the municipality’s standing. "It has a reputation for being a well-managed small city."
Welcome to La Cova
The newest jewel within this secure environment is La Cova, a 15-acre boutique neighborhood featuring 42 single-family homes. Priced to start around $1.5 million and capping out near $3 million, the development brings a fresh wave of lakeside living to the market with six distinct floor plans, three of which are specifically dedicated to single-story living.
The smallest residence offered in La Cova spans 2,813 square feet, featuring three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a dedicated club room, an office, a powder room, a beverage center, a front porch, and two separate covered outdoor living spaces. At the other end of the spectrum, the largest available floor plan measures an expansive 4,225 square feet. This larger home includes four bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, a game room, an office, a powder room, two upstairs decks, two covered outdoor living spaces, a covered front porch, a private courtyard, and dual two-bay garages.
Architecturally, all the homes lean heavily into "Mediterranean and Tuscan influences," offering a "modern European hillside aesthetic." Remarkably, 38 out of the total 42 home sites provide direct lake frontage, a rare luxury in the arid Nevada landscape.
"It’s serene but new and very accessible price-wise and easy to get to," Andrews says. For perspective, Realtor.com data indicates that the median listing price in the broader ZIP code encompassing the SouthShore private community, 89011, sits at $538,950.
Given that La Cova provides a relatively accessible $1.5 million entry point for true waterfront living inside a renowned private country club community—all while remaining just 30 minutes from a major metropolitan hub—the project has experienced extraordinary demand. According to the developer, all 20 of the completed homes and all eight currently under construction are already spoken for and sitting firmly under contract.
"The market has had a great response to the product," Andrews says. "The ability to have a fresh new home in SouthShore Lake Las Vegas is very unique."
Interestingly, market dynamics reveal that many of the buyers are not newcomers to the area at all. A significant portion of purchasers already reside within the broader SouthShore community. Rather than leaving the neighborhood they love, these homeowners are simply looking to upgrade their lifestyle, opting to trade in a traditional view lot for a prime waterfront parcel directly on the reservoir.
Meanwhile, out-of-state buyers are frequently migrating from California or the Pacific Northwest, drawn by Nevada’s favorable tax climate and a lower overall cost of living. For these transplants, La Cova offers the kind of lakefront property that would easily command double the price in their home states.
Lake Las Vegas itself serves as a hub for outdoor recreation, offering residents access to a wide array of water sports. Activities on the water include paddle boarding, e-foiling on powered stand-up paddle boards, electric boating, and rowing. Additionally, a dedicated beach club provides a place for residents to swim and lounge by the water.
Andrews, who spent a decade working in Orange County, California, before relocating to Las Vegas in 1997, understands the cyclical nature of the local real estate landscape. During his tenure with Pardee Homes—which was ultimately acquired by Tri Pointe in 2014—he weathered numerous economic shifts.
"Las Vegas is a cyclical market, and we’ve seen our share of ups and downs," Andrews noted earlier this year in an interview with Builder magazine. "One of the most difficult challenges was maintaining a premium lifestyle brand during market downturns, when price per square foot becomes the only metric some buyers focus on."
Who Is Buying in SouthShore
Today, however, La Cova is navigating the market without any sales hurdles. Bolstered by local residents swapping view lots for water frontage and an influx of buyers fleeing higher-tax states, the neighborhood has achieved a 100% contract rate on its completed inventory.
"We’re getting people who are retired or planning retirement," Andrews explains, noting that buyers are heavily drawn to Nevada’s low-tax environment as they enter the next chapter of their lives.
He points to several couples from Silicon Valley’s tech sector who have made the permanent leap to Henderson, alongside buyers who are simply exhausted by hostile seasonal weather elsewhere in the country.
"Nevada is very livable for a lot of the year, and especially for people coming out of an area with long cold winters," he says. "It’s attractive to people from places like New York where they may be tired of it being gloomy and rainy in November."
To capitalize on the favorable desert climate, La Cova homes are purposefully designed to maximize indoor-outdoor living. Floor plans incorporate expansive courtyards, covered and uncovered decks, porches, and open-air living rooms designed to take advantage of the local environment.
"Indoor-outdoor living is a very big thing here," Andrews says. "We don’t have bugs or rain, and in the evening, we push the doors open and sit outside." He playfully adds one minor caveat to the desert lifestyle: residents must occasionally contend with the area’s native scorpions.
For everyday conveniences and retail therapy, residents can make a five-minute trip via golf cart down to The Village. Situated on the southern tip of the lake, The Village offers a collection of shops, restaurants, salons, and community events, alongside a neighborhood grocery store.
While La Cova itself does not feature a communal swimming pool—Andrews estimates that at least 90% of homeowners choose to construct custom pools in their own backyards—the neighborhood does feature a small communal park. The majority of heavy-lifting amenities, however, reside within the larger framework of the SouthShore community.
At the heart of these amenities is the SouthShore Country Club. Beyond Jack Nicklaus’s celebrated signature golf course, the club features a sprawling 28,000-square-foot golf clubhouse, an 8,000-square-foot lake club, sports courts, and full-service spa facilities.
According to estimates from golf cost tracking resources, the exclusive country club carries a steep initiation fee hovering around $100,000, accompanied by annual dues of approximately $12,000. Even for residents who choose to forgo a formal club membership, the surrounding ambiance offers constant visual appeal, with impeccably manicured golf turf weaving throughout the SouthShore landscape.
"That’s a lot of the attraction," Andrews says, highlighting La Cova’s integration with the country club grounds. "It’s easy to see yourself walking a dog around there. There’s the walkability of the neighborhood and then the connection to the larger neighborhood."
Added to the scenic appeal is a profound sense of security and privacy. The community operates under a "double-gated" security protocol. The outer perimeter gate of SouthShore is manned by security guards and requires specialized card access, while the interior neighborhood gates demand a specific entry code or a controlled remote.
"There’s a lot of privacy and quiet," Andrews concludes. "The quietness is pretty obvious, and you shouldn’t see any strangers in there."
