What the recorded documents actually say about Northwood Hills in South Bend — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
10 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
BUILT ON THE AUGUST 2024 RECORDING, which is one of the most current covenant sets in this directory. Check your lot number first: the 2024 document covers 29 lots - 1 through 16 and 94 through 107 - so if your address is outside that range, ask the association which recorded set governs it. Two rules are worth knowing before you write an offer. A fuel storage tank of any kind, above ground or below or inside the house, needs the committee's specific written approval, which is stricter than the county norm in both directions. And the garage is expected to be SIDE LOAD for at least two cars - a front-load garage, a detached garage or a carriage house can be approved, but it is the committee's call, not a default.
There is no perimeter fencing here at all - the covenant says so flatly. The only fence allowed is a privacy fence up to six feet around a patio or a pool immediately beside the house, matching the architectural standard set by the style of the home and approved by the committee in writing. Anything else takes a written variance.
A detached storage or pet-shelter structure has to be quality construction, kept attractive and neat, blend with the established home, and go to the NorthWood Hills Architectural Control Committee for approval before construction begins.
Recreational and commercial vehicles - campers, trailers, trucks and boats - may not be kept in open areas anywhere in the subdivision, on a lot or off it.
Above-ground pools are not permitted. An in-ground pool or a tennis court is allowed with the committee's prior approval.
Nothing may be built, placed, maintained or altered, and the natural topography or drainage may not be changed, until the committee approves the plans in writing. Two sets of plans go in. Materials are prescribed: every house needs a facade with enough brick, wood or stone to look right and keep continuity through the development, the rest of the exterior is brick, wood, stone or vinyl as the committee approves, and front walks are brick or cement. The developer also approves the BUILDER - no construction may start without prior written approval of the contractor. Garages have to be side-load, though the committee will sometimes approve a non-side-load garage with a drywalled and textured interior.
The 2024 recording permits a dish, so an older copy of these covenants will tell you the wrong thing. No outside above-ground television, AM, FM or short-wave radio antenna of any type may be put up or kept on a lot or a structure - BUT a dish antenna of not more than THREE FEET in diameter may be erected if the architectural control committee approves it. All public utility service, cable television included, runs underground and out of sight, and street and lot lighting sits on posts with no visible lines.
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 →There is a real deforestation clause here. No live tree over four inches across, measured a foot off the ground, may be cut without the committee's prior approval - and nor may any flowering tree such as dogwood or redbud, any broad-leaf evergreen, or live vegetation on a slope steeper than twenty percent. The committee sets the rules for selective clearing. Side, front and rear yards are also planted within the period the completion paragraph sets.
Every lot has to have a mailbox, kept in good condition and repair, built to the design criteria the architectural control committee sets.
Dogs, cats and other household pets are allowed, as long as none is kept, bred or maintained commercially and none becomes a neighbourhood nuisance or hazard. Livestock and poultry may not be kept.
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 →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 →Worth knowing before you list. No sign of any kind may be displayed to public view on any lot - and the covenant names a for-sale or for-rent sign and a builder's sign specifically as included in that - unless the developer gives prior written approval. Almost every other covenant in the county carves out a five-square-foot for-sale sign; this one does not.
Stricter than most. Garages and parking have to be positioned so that no car and no garage door is readily visible from the street, and effectively screened from every other lot. No vehicle may be parked on the grass or landscaped part of a lot at any time, or on a right-of-way on a regular, recurring or permanent basis. Driveways are brick or concrete at least four inches thick - stone and cinder are not allowed - with a circular drive at least eight feet.
A home occupation is allowed if it is carried on entirely inside the house by a member of the immediate family living there, stays clearly secondary to living there, and uses no mechanical or electrical equipment. There can be no sign or display visible from outside, nothing sold on the premises, and nobody employed from outside the immediate family. A barber shop, styling salon, beauty parlour, tea room, fortune-telling parlour, animal hospital or any animal care such as dog trimming is named and excluded.
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 →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 →No lot may be used as a dumping ground for rubbish. Trash, garbage and other waste go in sanitary containers, and any incinerator or storage equipment is kept clean and sanitary. The fuel rule here runs opposite to most of the county and is absolute in both directions: NO oil or fuel storage tank may be installed above ground, underground, or concealed inside the house, basement or attached garage without the architectural control committee's specific written approval.
No fire may be allowed to burn on any street or roadway in the subdivision. A fire on your own lot is not addressed.
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 →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 →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 →Tell us the question and we will get you the answer from the recorded documents.