What the recorded documents actually say about Westwood Forest Estates in South Bend — fences, sheds, pools, pets, parking and the rest — with the part of the document each answer comes from.
6 homes have sold here in the last four years, which is why this neighborhood was compiled early.
Before you rely on this page
ONE DOCUMENT, TWO NAMES. These covenants govern Westwood Forest Estates AND Westwood Estates together, and the association is named both ways in the same paragraph - so do not be thrown if the title work uses one name and the MLS the other. Three rules here differ from the county norm and are worth knowing before you write an offer. Lot owners WARRANT to maintain the wooded integrity of their lot, which constrains clearing trees. HORSES are permitted subject to county code, which is rare in a platted subdivision - confirm the zoning for the specific address. And a vacant lot has to be mowed so foliage never exceeds one foot, which is a real carrying cost if you buy a lot to hold. Fuel tanks need committee approval rather than simply being buried or concealed.
The only perimeter fencing permitted is split rail, two rails high and no more than four feet. A privacy fence up to six feet is allowed around the immediate patio, matching the architectural standard set by the style of the house and approved in writing by the committee, unless the committee grants a written variance. The paragraph expressly does not stop you planting or keeping hedges, shrubbery or trees. On a corner lot nothing between two and six feet above the roadway may block the sight triangle.
TWO detached buildings are permitted per lot - storage or pet shelter, for lawn tools, toys, pool equipment, other personal property or pets - where most covenants in the county allow one. Each has to be quality construction, kept attractive and neat, blend with the house, and go to the architectural control committee for approval before construction begins, and the covenant directs that they be placed near the house. No trailer, basement, tent, shack, garage, barn, tool shed, storage shed or other outbuilding may be used on a homesite at any time, temporarily or permanently, except a construction trailer while the house is going up. Semi-tractors and trailers, school buses, modular homes, mobile homes and house trailers are prohibited.
Campers, trailers, trucks, dune buggies and boats may not be kept in open areas in the subdivision - and the covenant closes the usual workaround by saying that holds whether the open area is on your own lot or off it.
Above-ground pools are not permitted, and neither are tennis courts. An in-ground pool is not separately addressed, so it falls under the committee's general approval requirement - ask before you plan one. A detached building for pool equipment is one of the two detached buildings the covenant allows.
The committee approves the plans, the specifications AND the exterior colours in writing before anything is built, and nothing may be placed, altered or re-graded until it does. There is a covenant here most subdivisions do not have: lot owners WARRANT TO MAINTAIN THE WOODED INTEGRITY of the lot, so clearing trees is not simply your own call. Minimum floor area is 2,000 square feet for a ranch; a one-and-a-half or two-storey needs 1,400 on the ground floor and 600 above. Buildings sit at least forty feet back from the right of way or the platted setback, whichever is greater, at least eight feet from a side line with the two side yards totalling twenty, and forty feet off the rear line. Every fireplace chimney is masonry, and every lot carries a dusk-to-dawn post light on an electric eye. Anything begun is finished within a year or removed.
Antennas are banned but ONE dish is expressly allowed. No above-ground television, AM, FM or short-wave radio antenna of any type may be put up or kept on a lot or structure. Each owner may have no more than one satellite dish for signal reception - it may not go in the front or the side yard, and both the placement and the SIZE are subject to the architectural control committee. All utility service including cable runs underground and out of sight.
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 →Three obligations here, and the last one catches people who buy a lot to hold. Yards are planted with grass seed, sod or ground cover within 120 days of the house being finished or occupied, whichever is earlier. The screen plantings on the recorded non-access easements are maintained by the lot owner at their own expense. And EVERY VACANT LOT has to have its weeds and brush mowed so the foliage never exceeds ONE FOOT in height. Owners also warrant to maintain the wooded integrity of their lot.
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 →Read this one if you have or want horses, because it is nearly unique in this directory. Dogs, cats and other household pets are allowed, none kept or bred commercially and none permitted to become a neighbourhood nuisance or hazard, and no dog may be permitted to run at large. Then the covenant adds that, SUBJECT TO COUNTY CODE, HORSES WOULD BE PERMITTED - so the binding limit is the county zoning ordinance rather than the covenant. Confirm with St. Joseph County what the specific lot's zoning and acreage actually allow before you count on it. Other livestock and poultry may not be raised, bred or 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 →One sign of no more than five square feet advertising the property for sale or rent, plus a builder's sign during the construction and sales period.
No vehicle of any type may be parked on a street in the subdivision, with one exception: a guest's vehicle, temporarily. Driveways have to be at least twelve feet wide and built of asphalt at least three inches thick, brick, or concrete at least four inches thick. Stone and cinder driveways are not permitted, and a circular drive in front of the house may be as narrow as eight feet.
A home occupation is allowed if it is carried on entirely inside the house and stays clearly secondary to living there, with no sign or display visible from outside, no commodity sold on the premises, and nobody employed from outside the immediate family living there. The covenant separately lets the developer use a house as a sales office or model during the construction and sales period. Every lot is otherwise restricted to single-family residential use.
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 for the storage of old lumber, CARS, materials or debris. A project car sitting on the lot is caught by that line.
No lot is used as a dumping ground for rubbish, and no lot may be used to store old lumber, cars, materials or debris - grass clippings expressly included. Trash and garbage go in sanitary containers, kept clean along with any incinerator or storage equipment. Firewood MAY be stored on a lot, provided it is stacked in an orderly and sightly manner. Fuel tanks are handled differently here than in most of the county: ANY tank must be approved by the architectural control committee before installation, and must meet all local, state and federal safety law - there is no underground-or-concealed default.
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.