Nearly 29 years on, development in Rivendell is still going strong. Changes, of course, are inevitable.
“I was thinking about my builders,” developer P.B. Odom III said. He concluded that none working in the neighborhood “started with me in the beginning — not a single one. Some have passed on, many have retired, and some have moved out of state. They've all changed through the years.”
But after consulting with builder Rocky Turnage, of Turnage Construction, who started building in Rivendell himself about 2000, they come up with one name, Wayne Long, of Wayne Long Custom Homes
“He's not totally retired, though, is he?” Turnage pointed out. “He kind of goes back and forth.”
Odom nodded. “I guess there is one,” he agreed. “Wayne's the one.”
Odom is a third-generation builder, following in the footsteps of a father and grandfather, who bore the same name. His work encompasses both residential and commercial properties.
Ronald Reagan was president when Odom launched Rivendell with a home show in October 1989. It was his flagship development — not his first, but certainly his most ambitious, designed to ultimately stretch over 400 acres at SW 134 and May Avenue.
It was also the neighborhood Odom's wife, Beth, finally deemed worthy of the name Rivendell in honor of the Elven town in J.R.R. Tolkien's “Lord of the Rings” books. Beth Odom found the books inspiring, and at some point in the 1970s, she suggested her husband name a neighborhood Rivendell if “it's worthy of this name,” P.B. Odom recalled.
It took a few years, but Odom finally presented a set of plans to his wife she deemed worthy. “She looked at it, studied the plats some and then said, ‘OK that'll work.' ”
Rivendell does feel like a world apart with its tree-lined avenues, landscaped green spaces and fountains. Odom has gone to great lengths, even founding a wholesale tree farm, Rosebrook Nursery, to ensure a steady tree supply for Rivendell.
But still, Norman, Tinker Air Force Base and downtown Oklahoma City are all 20 minutes or less away, he said.
“You've got interstates that basically ring this part of Oklahoma City,” he said, “so it's easy to get places.”
'Long-term investments'
The expansiveness of Rivendell offers Odom and the builders he works with a chance to get creative.
“With that much land, you have different types of amenities,” he said. “We had existing water from the beginning; we had ponds. We made some ponds; actually, they were farm ponds, and we expanded them.”
They also improved existing creeks. One, which feeds two lakes, was christened the Anduin River, another Lord of the Rings homage.
Again, though, change is inevitable.
In the beginning, Rivendell homes fell in the 2,400- to 3,500-square-foot range. Now the homes are much bigger.
“This section over here, we've got homes that are in the $3 million range,” Odom said of the newly completed Section 12. “We have many homes that are a million (dollars) plus.”
Trends also have changed. “Theater rooms were a big thing for a long time, and that's kind of gone away,” Turnage said. “Outdoor living has become a big thing.”
Case in point is the last new home in Rivendell's Section 12 at 12916 Endor Court. Turnage Construction built the home, with windows overlooking a massive back porch that could easily accommodate an outdoor kitchen.
The lot shape forced Turnage to change the original design, resulting in a long hallway just off the kitchen lined with cabinets and space for a second refrigerator.
“I did it because I had the space, and everyone loves the storage,” Turnage said. “But it also allowed me to extend the back porch and make the outdoor living area just enormous.”
Rivendell's 30 or 40 initial lots have grown to more than 500 with another phase set to add more. Homes range in size from 3,000 square feet to 10,000 square feet, and all are built to exacting community standards.
“That's important,” Turnage said. “If you don't have those rules, you'll get a lot of substandard things in here. You look around here, and it's not substandard in any way. Everything is at the top. It's all the best you can get.”
Work is under way on Rivendell's Section 13, where slightly scaled-back homes will go for about $500,000, Odom said, and there are probably four or five more sections still to come.
He's also developing corners of the property for commercial and office space. Legends at Rivendell Assisted Living and Legends Memory Care are near SW 134 and May Avenue. A mile north, land at SW 119 and May is zoned for retail, restaurant and commercial.
Rivendell will top out at about 700 homes when it's finally finished, but Odom said he can't be sure when that's going to happen.
“The markets tell me. The market's the boss.” he said. “And the homeowners are the boss. They tell us when they want to start and when they want to end.”
Which, he said, is fine. “We've been in business, my family, for 85 years, so we're very used to long-term investments.”
