What Vaquero Is
Vaquero occupies 525 acres of the former Circle T Ranch, land the Hunt family once ran west of the DFW airport. Discovery Land Company bought the property from Ross Perot Jr., who had acquired it from the Hunts, and opened the community in 2001 around a golf course by Tom Fazio, according to a D Magazine community profile. The build-out now totals roughly 347 homesites across three phases, and Vaquero’s low-density zoning and guard-gated character come as much from Westlake’s status as an incorporated town as from the homeowners association itself.
The Three Ways to Buy Here
Vaquero real estate splits into three purchase types, each with a different timeline and cost structure.
Undeveloped homesites
A homesite is raw land inside the gates, ready for a custom build. One builder active in the community counted fewer than 30 vacant lots left out of roughly 347 total homesites, meaning most new construction now happens on scattered infill parcels rather than in one open section.
Village Homes
These sit on roughly one-third-acre lots along the fairways, a smaller, attached-style footprint than the estate lots elsewhere in the community, per an area broker’s community profile, and they trade at the lower end of Vaquero’s price range.
Custom estate resales
A custom home is a finished house already built on a homesite, sized to its original owner’s specification and now changing hands as a resale. This is the largest slice of current MLS inventory.
| Pathway | Typical Lot Size | What You’re Buying | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homesite | 0.3 to 3+ acres | Raw land plus building rights under Vaquero’s design review | Buyers with an architect and builder already lined up |
| Village Home | ~0.33 acre | A finished, smaller-footprint house | Buyers wanting low-maintenance golf-course living |
| Custom estate resale | 0.5 to 3.5+ acres | An already-built custom home | Buyers who want to move in without a construction project |
Pathway-specific current pricing is not independently published; get a lot- or home-specific quote from an agent with MLS access.
Is land still available in Vaquero, or only resale homes?Barely. Outside tracking of builder activity puts fewer than 30 vacant homesites left out of roughly 347 total, so most new construction is infill on scattered lots rather than a large open section of the community.
Club Membership vs. Home Ownership
Owning a house in Vaquero does not make you a member of Vaquero Club; the closing and the club application are two separate approvals. The homeowners association handles gates, streets, and common-area landscaping, naming a board of directors and an on-site property manager, but it publishes no due amount. Golf and clubhouse access sit inside a private club that vets applicants apart from the property sale. A 2007 profile in D Magazine put the club’s cash initiation fee at $175,000, payable outside the mortgage, plus $14,500 in annual dues; that figure is two decades old, and the club has not published a current number.
Do I have to join Vaquero Club to buy a home here?No. The purchase and the membership application go through separate approval processes, so a buyer can close on a house without applying for golf privileges, though most owners eventually apply for at least a social or family membership to use the clubhouse and pool.
Price Ranges and What Drives Them
Twelve properties were actively listed inside Vaquero when this snapshot was pulled from Zillow in July 2026: finished homes from $2.25 million to $6.8 million, plus two open land parcels at $2.85 million (5.02 acres) and $3.45 million (1.8 acres).
| Segment | Price | Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry-level finished home | $2,250,000 | 4,873 sq ft | Keller, TX-addressed parcel bordering the community |
| Mid-range finished home | $3,995,000 to $4,485,000 | 4,084 to 4,157 sq ft | Standard four-bedroom estate footprint |
| Upper-range finished home | $5,150,000 to $6,800,000 | 5,732 to 8,129 sq ft | Larger estate lots |
| Open land | $2,850,000 to $3,450,000 | 1.8 to 5.02 acres | For buyers pursuing the custom-build pathway |
Two of the twelve listings show public marketing times of 34 and 52 days, the only on-market duration Zillow exposes without an MLS login. An agent with full IDX access can pull sold-comp days-on-market, which tends to move faster for well-priced, updated estates and slower for land priced above $3 million.
HOA Fees and Club Dues
What is actually published about Vaquero’s carrying costs is thin, and the table below states exactly what is and is not on the record.
| Cost | Disclosed Figure | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| HOA due | None published | Vaquero HOA page | Contact the property manager directly |
| Club initiation fee | $175,000 (2007) | D Magazine | Dated; current figure unpublished |
| Club annual dues | $14,500 (2007) | D Magazine | Dated; current figure unpublished |
| Online initiation estimates | $150,000 to $300,000+ | Golf-community directories | Unverified, conflicting |
Schools: Resolving the District Question
Vaquero addresses can fall under Carroll ISD, Keller ISD, or Northwest ISD depending on the parcel, since Westlake’s own tax-district page confirms the town’s limits straddle all three. Carroll ISD opened out-of-zone enrollment to all Westlake residents starting in the 2023 to 2024 school year, which softens but does not erase the zoning question for a specific lot.
| Jurisdiction | Rate per $100 of Value | Serves |
|---|---|---|
| Town of Westlake (municipal) | $0.16788 (2024); proposed $0.18500 for 2025 | All Westlake addresses |
| Carroll ISD | $1.002500 | Eastern Westlake |
| Keller ISD | $1.312000 | Western Westlake |
| Northwest ISD | $1.090200 | Northern Westlake (no current residences) |
The gap between Carroll ISD’s rate and Keller ISD’s rate is nearly 31 cents per $100. On a $5 million assessed home that is roughly $15,500 a year in school tax alone, before town, county, or special-district levies, so confirming the zoned district for a specific Vaquero lot is worth the extra step before writing an offer. An independent tax-analytics firm, Ownwell, models Westlake’s blended effective rate, combining every jurisdiction, at about 1.25%, a modeled estimate rather than an official figure.
Which school district will my Vaquero address be zoned for?It depends on the parcel: most of Vaquero falls in Carroll ISD, but Keller ISD serves western Westlake, and Carroll ISD now offers open enrollment to Westlake residents zoned elsewhere. Confirm the exact address against both districts’ boundary locators before contracting.
Westlake as a Town: Tax and Municipal Context
Westlake’s municipal rate sits well below most Tarrant County suburbs, at $0.16788 per $100 of assessed value for the 2024 tax year, per the Town of Westlake, with a proposed increase to $0.18500 for 2025, the town’s first rate increase after several flat years. Westlake also levies a half-cent local sales tax dedicated to property-tax reduction, on top of the state’s 6.25%.
Amenities
Golf, a roughly 33,000-square-foot clubhouse, tennis courts, a fitness and spa building, a community pool, a stocked fishing pond, and a Kids’ Club program. None of it changes what a buyer pays at closing; it changes what the HOA due and club dues fund once you are inside the gates.
Recent Changes That Affect Value
Vaquero’s golf course reopened in fall 2023 after a full rebuild by architect Andrew Green, its first major change since Tom Fazio’s 2001 original, per the club, adding two new on-course amenity buildings plus a starter house. The rebuild also removed the original par-3 17th hole, replacing it with a new, shorter 16th, according to Golf Digest’s course profile.
Does the 2023 golf course renovation affect resale value?It is too early for sold-comp data to isolate the effect, but a full course rebuild plus two new amenity buildings is the kind of capital investment that supports club dues and resale confidence going forward. Ask any listing agent whether the seller’s home was marketed before or after the fall 2023 reopening.
Buying Through an Agent: What to Verify Before You Offer
- Confirm the ISD zoning for the specific address, since “Westlake” alone does not settle it.
- Get the current HOA due in writing, along with any capital-assessment history.
- Ask about club membership category availability, since waiting lists and categories change.
- Confirm homesite design-review status before assuming a specific home plan is pre-approved.
- Budget the club initiation fee separately from the land price if buying a homesite.
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