← HOA answers

Irongate Estates

What the recorded documents actually say about Irongate Estates in Granger — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.

9 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.

Before you rely on this page

THIS IS PHASE ONE, SECTION SIX. Other phases and sections of Irongate Estates have their own recorded covenants and may differ, so check which set governs your lot. Two rules here are stricter than the county norm and worth reading before you buy: a pool or a game court has to be completely invisible from the street and fully screened with natural landscape materials, and a dog has to be under seventy pounds with no more than two animals on a lot.

What you can build and change

Conditional

Fences

No fence of any kind - perimeter or anywhere inside the lot, permanent or temporary - may go up without the committee's prior written approval. An approved fence may not exceed four feet measured from the ground to the top of the fencepost, except a privacy fence immediately around a grade-level patio, pool or deck, which may reach six feet but goes in the rear yard only and may not extend forward of the nearest corners of the house.

Paragraph 11 - Fencing
Conditional

Sheds & outbuildings

Everything detached goes to the architectural control committee first, and the covenant's list is long: a storage structure, a gardener's shed, a garden gazebo, a deck, a grape arbour or a children's playset, temporary or permanent. It has to be workmanlike in materials and construction, kept attractive and neat, and blend with the established home.

Paragraph 13 - Detached Buildings
✗ Not allowed

RVs, boats & trailers

No recreational or commercial vehicle of any sort - campers, trailers, trucks, snowmobiles, boats and aircraft are named - may be kept in the subdivision's open areas, on a lot or off it. Using an unregistered or unlicensed vehicle on any road, easement or right-of-way here is expressly prohibited and the covenant says it is subject to prosecution under county code.

Paragraph 17 - Recreational and Commercial Vehicles
Conditional

Swimming pools & hot tubs

Above-ground pools of any nature are prohibited. A permanent swimming, lap, wading or diving pool, and a tennis, badminton, squash or handball court, all need the committee's prior approval, requested in writing with a detailed site drawing. And the standard is strict: it has to be professionally installed so as to be COMPLETELY invisible from the street the house faces, with the installation and its light fixtures fully screened using natural landscape materials.

Paragraph 12 - Tennis Courts and Pools
Conditional

Exterior changes & additions

Nothing may be built or placed until the architectural control committee approves it, and that reaches detached structures and landscape structures as well as the house. Driveways have to be reinforced concrete, and fireplace chimneys entirely masonry, faced with brick or stone the committee approves - wood-frame chimney surrounds and metal chimneys are prohibited.

Paragraph 13 - Detached Buildings, with Paragraph 14
✗ Not allowed

Satellite dishes & antennas

Outside above-ground communication, television, AM, FM, CB and short-wave antennas, discs, satellite dishes and other structures of any type are barred anywhere in the subdivision. All utility service runs underground, with only transformer and telephone housings allowed above ground. Federal rules on over-the-air reception devices limit how far a private covenant can restrict a dish under one meter on property in your own exclusive use and control, so ask the committee rather than assuming the blanket ban binds.

Paragraph 19 - Utilities, Antennas and Satellite Dishes
Conditional

Solar panels

Solar is addressed directly, which is rare in a covenant of this era: the exterior components of a solar or groundwater heating and cooling unit are made subject to the architectural control committee's approval.

Paragraph 5
Conditional

Landscaping, trees & gardens

The landscaping plan is not a sketch here. The plans submitted for approval have to include a proposed landscape plan PREPARED, SIGNED AND STAMPED by a professional landscape architect registered in Indiana - a requirement almost nothing else in the county imposes. The committee sets the design criteria, and they expressly include landscape materials and plans, exterior lighting, drives and walks.

Paragraph 2 - Architectural Control
Not stated

Mailboxes

We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.

We can find out →

How you can live here

Conditional

Pets

No more than two animals per lot, and the covenant puts a weight limit on a dog: a domesticated dog of less than seventy pounds, a cat, or another domestic household pet. None may be kept for commercial purposes, none may run free without the owner present and supervising, and no exotic animal or animal of a breed with a reputation for ferocity is permitted. A request involving a service or assistance animal is handled under fair-housing law rather than by this paragraph, so raise it with the committee. Outdoor pet shelters and pet storage areas of any type are strictly prohibited, temporary or not.

Paragraph 16 - Livestock and Poultry, with Paragraph 11
Not stated

Renting your home

We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.

We can find out →
Not stated

Basketball hoops

We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.

We can find out →
Conditional

Yard signs

One temporary sign of no more than five square feet advertising the property for sale or rent. A builder's sign during construction and sales may be larger but not more than thirty-two square feet. Signage easements shown on the plat are reserved for the developer.

Paragraph 15 - Signs
Conditional

Street parking

Driveways must be at least twelve feet wide and built of concrete properly reinforced with welded wire mesh, at least four inches thick - asphalt is not an option here, and stone and cinder are prohibited. A circular drive is at least eight feet. Recreational and commercial vehicles may not be kept in the open anywhere in the subdivision.

Paragraph 14 - Driveways and Chimneys, with Paragraph 17
Conditional

Running a business from home

A home occupation is allowed if it is carried on entirely inside the house by a member of the immediate family living there and stays clearly secondary to living there, with no sign or display of any sort visible from outside and nothing sold on the premises.

Paragraph 4 - Home Occupations
Not stated

Short-term rentals (Airbnb)

We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.

We can find out →
✗ Not allowed

Vehicle repair in the driveway

The storage, sale, construction, modification or extended repair of personal cars, recreational vehicles, boats, aircraft, snowmobiles, motorcycles and motorised tricycles is strictly prohibited.

Paragraph 17 - Recreational and Commercial Vehicles
Conditional

Trash & recycling containers

A heating-oil tank is limited to what domestic heating needs and has to be underground or concealed inside the house, basement or attached garage. Bulk storage of vehicle fuel is prohibited anywhere on a lot or in any structure. Firewood is capped at two cords, has to be concealed from view from any street, roadway, easement or right-of-way, and kept safe and neat.

Paragraph 20 - Fuel Storage Tanks
✗ Not allowed

Grilling & outdoor cooking

One of the strictest fire clauses on this site. No open fire of any kind may burn at any time on any lot, street, easement, right-of-way or roadway - construction debris included. Burning leaves, rubbish or refuse of any sort, in the open or in a barrel, frame or screen, is strictly prohibited and the covenant says it will be strictly enforced. Bottled gas and propane may not be used for domestic heating or cooking either, with one exception written in: occasional recreational outdoor cooking, with the bottle stored to the local fire code.

Paragraph 26 - Fires, with Paragraph 5
✗ Not allowed

Clotheslines

No clothesline, clothespole or other structure for drying clothing or household items outdoors may be erected.

Paragraph 11 - Prohibited Structures
Not stated

Flags & flagpoles

We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.

We can find out →
Not stated

Window coverings & decorations

We don’t have this one confirmed yet — we can ask the association and get you an answer before you commit to anything.

We can find out →

Where these answers come from

The documentProtective Restrictions, Covenants, Limitations and Easements for Irongate Estates, Phase One, Section Six, Clay Township, St. Joseph County, Indiana
Recorded asRecorded as instrument 9230884
How it was readThe recorded copy on file is a scan of paper with no digital text, so it was read by optical character recognition. That can misread individual words, which is why nothing on this page is presented as a direct quote.
Checked againstthree separate scans came down on different listings and read the same paragraph for paragraph
The associationThe recorded covenants route every approval through an Irongate Estates Architectural Control Committee. The developer kept an exclusive right to amend, waive or modify any of the restrictions for five years from the plat's recording, without further notice. Ask the committee or the neighbours about a current homeowners association and dues, which this document does not fix.

Ask us about Irongate Estates

Tell us the question and we will get you the answer from the recorded documents.

We’ll get you an answer — usually the same day.