What the recorded documents actually say about The Villas at Brookhills in Elkhart — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
7 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
These answers come from the Amended and Restated Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions, The Villas at Brookhills, made in March 2005 and recorded with the Elkhart County Recorder as instrument 2005-08144 on March 22, 2005, together with the First Amendment to it, recorded as instrument 2006-19594 and signed in June 2006. The 2005 restatement replaced two earlier declarations in full, both from 2001 and both also in the county file here: instrument 2001-14463 from May 2001 and instrument 2001-29556 from September 2001. Neither superseded one was used for any answer, and the difference matters, because the parking and camper rules and the pet rules appear for the first time in the 2005 document. The amendment changed only two paragraphs, on the association's purpose and on the architectural committee, and says the rest of the declaration stays in full force.
One limit on who these answers govern is worth knowing before you rely on them. The declaration says the property it covers is any lot in Brookhills later developed as a villa, together with the common areas. That is the villa section of Brookhills rather than the whole platted subdivision, and the recorded copy on file does not include the Exhibit A legal description its own opening paragraph refers to, so there is no lot list in it to check an address against. If the home you are looking at is not a villa, a different set of restrictions may apply to it. Your title company can confirm from the chain of title which recorded documents run with a particular lot, and that is the right place to settle it.
Two further gaps. The Board of Directors is given power to adopt additional rules and regulations covering the property and the common areas, and none of those are in the county file here, so a rule that binds you can exist outside the documents these answers came from. And no dues figure appears anywhere in these documents; assessments are set each year by budget and the amount for a given home depends on the maintenance package attached to it, so ask the association for the current number in writing.
The covenants were written to run until April 30, 2011 and then to extend automatically for successive ten-year periods unless owners of at least 75 percent of the homesites agree to change them. Nothing in the file here records such a vote, so on the face of the document they are still running, but a later recorded change would not necessarily be in this file and the Recorder's office is where to confirm that.
On how this was read: the recorded documents are scans of paper with no digital text, so they were read by optical character recognition. Every rule above was read from the complete page-by-page scan of the recorded instrument rather than from a shortened extract, and the numbered paragraphs run unbroken from 1 to 29, so no part of the declaration is missing from what was read.
Perimeter fencing of any kind is barred on a homesite unless the Architectural Control Committee approves it in advance in writing. The declaration sweeps in hedges and other growing fences, chain link and split rail along with every other kind, so a planted hedge along a boundary is treated the same as a built fence. It sets no height, material or placement standard of its own, which leaves that to the Committee, and it does not say how long a decision takes. The seven-day clock the document gives elsewhere is written for plans submitted for a change to a dwelling or other structure, so it may or may not be applied to a fence request. Ask the association what it approves before you order materials.
A shed is not named, but it is covered as another structure. No structure other than the home is permitted on a homesite unless it is architecturally compatible with the development and complies with zoning, and before it goes up the owner has to get a building permit if one is required plus the Committee's written approval. A separate paragraph adds that nothing may be erected, placed, maintained or altered on a homesite until the Committee has approved the plans, which include materials, outside colors and where it sits on the lot. Nothing in the document sets a size limit, so the answer tends to come down to what the Committee will pass.
Trailers, campers and boats may not be parked anywhere within the development for more than three days in a row. That is a time allowance rather than a flat ban, so a short stay to load, unload or clean is within the rule as written and anything longer is not. The document does not say whether the three days reset after a gap, and it does not mention a garage either way, so whether a camper kept inside a closed garage is reached at all is genuinely unaddressed. Enforcement is spelled out: the association may use any lawful process including towing at the vehicle owner's expense, and it has to post adequate notice of the restriction first. Every home here is required to have a full-size attached garage sized for one to three cars, which is worth measuring against before you count on storing anything large.
Swimming pools are named directly. An owner may not install one without prior written approval from both the Board of Directors and the Architectural Control Committee. The document sets no rule about pool type, size, fencing or placement and gives the Committee full discretion over the decision, so approval is not a formality and the terms are whatever the Committee sets. This is a villa community where the association may maintain lawns and landscaping on a scheduled basis, which may bear on where a pool could go.
Changes to the outside of the home need written approval before the work starts. The declaration bars an owner from painting, decorating or changing the appearance of any part of the exterior in a way that varies from the approved plans, and it lists driveways, paint color, roof color and additions specifically, then closes with any other change. Approval comes from the developer before control passed to the owners, and from the Board of Directors together with the Committee after that. Plans for modifying a home or other structure go to the association in writing, and it has seven days from the day of submission to approve or disapprove. Routine replacement and repair of your own siding, plumbing, heating and cooling, driveway and exterior light fixtures stays the owner's responsibility.
Satellite dishes are named by the declaration itself. It treats a dish as a structure and says no building or other structure, satellite dishes included, may be erected, placed, maintained or altered on a homesite until the plans have been approved by the Architectural Control Committee. So a dish needs Committee approval rather than being free to install. The document sets no size limit and names no screening or placement standard, so the terms are whatever the Committee applies. Federal rules on antenna and dish installations can limit how far a private restriction like this reaches, which is worth raising with the association before assuming either answer.
Solar panels are not mentioned anywhere in these documents. What a solar install runs into is the general approval requirement: an owner may not make additions to the dwelling or change the roof color, and may not make any other change, without prior written approval from both the Board of Directors and the Architectural Control Committee. A separate paragraph requires Committee approval before any structure is placed on a homesite at all. Neither names solar, so this is an approval question rather than a ban, and how it would be decided is not something the documents settle. Indiana law has limited what a covenant can do about solar in some circumstances, so ask the association and check the current statute before you rule it out.
Planting is controlled more tightly here than in most subdivisions. An owner may plant or maintain flowers, trees, shrubs or other plants only in line with the landscaping plan the Committee approved for that homesite, or inside the area the plan marks as that home's personal patio garden. Removing a live tree or natural vegetation, or changing association landscaping, needs the Committee's written consent. The landscaping plan itself had to be prepared or approved by a landscape designer the developer approved, and the installer had to come off an approved contractor list. Every homesite carries an irrigation system that the owner installs, maintains, repairs and supplies the water for, even where it waters a neighboring lot or a common island. The association may maintain the lawn and landscaping of each home on a scheduled basis, with maintenance packages it determines. If an owner does not keep up the lot or fix damage within fifteen days of notice, the association may do the work and bill it back as a special assessment.
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 →Pets are permitted, with conduct rules rather than limits on type or number. They have to be under the owner's control at all times, and no animal may run loose. No animal may be tethered or kenneled outdoors for extended periods, and none may be a nuisance to neighbors. The declaration names no breed restriction, sets no weight or count limit, and does not define what counts as an extended period, so that judgment sits with the association. The Board is separately empowered to adopt rules and regulations, so a pet rule can exist outside this document; ask for the current one.
Renting is permitted, with one limit: no lease of a home may run longer than one year. The declaration sets no minimum lease length, caps no number of rentals, and requires no association approval of a tenant, so a standard one-year lease fits and a multi-year lease does not. Renewing year by year is not addressed either way. A separate paragraph says each home is intended to be used as a single family residence, which may bear on occupancy.
Basketball goals are not mentioned by name. The paragraph that reaches them says no building or other structure may be erected, placed, maintained or altered on a homesite until the Committee has approved the plans, and it names satellite dishes as an example of a structure, which shows the drafters meant the word to cover more than buildings. A permanent pole-mounted goal would usually fall in that class and need approval. A portable goal rolled out and back is not addressed, and the document gives no guidance on it either way. Worth asking the association, since the answer is not in the recorded documents.
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 →Permanent residents park in their garage or driveway. Street parking is limited to short term parking for visitors, so it reads as being for guests rather than for a second household car. The document does not define short term or set an hour limit, which leaves that to the association. Every home must have a full-size attached garage holding at least one and no more than three cars. Trailers, campers and boats carry their own three-day limit. The association may enforce all of this by any lawful process including towing at the vehicle owner's expense, and it is required to post adequate notice of the restrictions.
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 →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 →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.