Rob Roy comes up a lot when I’m talking with buyers about West Lake Hills, but I’ve never actually given it its own page on this site until now. That’s an oversight I want to fix, because Rob Roy has a personality of its own within West Austin’s luxury market, separate from its neighbors along Lake Austin. Here’s what I tell clients when they ask me about the neighborhood.
TLDR (Too Long; Didn’t Read): Living in Rob Roy, Austin TX
- Rob Roy is a gated community in West Lake Hills, made up of six distinct sections built out over roughly four decades starting in the early 1980s
- Lots typically run from a half acre up past five acres, with most homes sitting on an acre or more and averaging around 4,000 to 4,500 square feet
- Prices span roughly the high $800,000s for smaller or older homes up to eight figures for waterfront estates in Rob Roy on the Lake
- Rob Roy on the Lake is the only section with direct Lake Austin frontage; the rest of the neighborhood sits inland on hill country terrain
- Homes in Rob Roy are zoned to Eanes ISD, and the neighborhood sits about nine miles from downtown Austin off Bee Caves Road and RM 2222
Where Rob Roy sits in West Austin
Rob Roy sits inside West Lake Hills, tucked between Lake Austin and the Capital of Texas Highway, north of Bee Caves Road. Most of the neighborhood carries the 78746 zip code, though buyers cross-shopping the area often widen their search to include the 78733 corridor closer to the lake, where Cuernavaca and Austin Lake Estates sit. Downtown Austin is about nine miles away, which typically runs 15 to 20 minutes outside of peak traffic. If you want the broader picture of what West Austin real estate looks like beyond this one neighborhood, I keep an overview of the whole market on my Austin, TX page.
The terrain here is genuine hill country: steep, wooded lots, limestone outcroppings, and enough elevation change that a lot of homes were designed specifically around the drop from the street to the canyon or creek below. That terrain is part of why Rob Roy reads so differently from a flat suburban subdivision. Builders have worked with the land rather than flattening it, which is why you’ll see homes with walkout lower levels, terraced yards, and long driveways that wind down through trees before the house comes into view.
The six sections of Rob Roy
Rob Roy isn’t one subdivision, it’s six, each platted at a different point since the first homes went up in 1982:
- Rob Roy
- Rob Roy on the Canyon
- Rob Roy on the Creek
- Rob Roy on the Lake
- Rob Roy Rim
- Rob Roy West
Each section has its own homeowners association, which matters more than it might sound like. Dues, architectural review rules, and gate access can differ slightly from one section to the next, so when I’m working with a buyer I pull the specific HOA documents for the section their target home sits in rather than assuming Rob Roy operates as one governing body. I’d rather hand a client the real numbers for their specific address than a rough average for the neighborhood as a whole.
Lot sizes, home sizes and architecture
Lot sizes in Rob Roy range from about a half acre up to nine or ten acres in a handful of cases, with most falling somewhere between one and three acres. That range gives the neighborhood a different feel section to section. Some streets have homes close enough together that you can see a neighbor’s roofline through the trees, while other lots back up to greenbelt with no visible neighbor at all.
Home sizes average somewhere in the 4,000 to 4,500 square foot range, though I’ve sold and shown homes on both ends of that, from smaller original 1980s construction under 3,000 square feet to newer builds well past 8,000. Architecture varies by decade and by builder. You’ll find traditional Texas limestone estates from the 1980s and 1990s next to more contemporary and transitional homes built or renovated in the last ten to fifteen years. There isn’t a single dominant style the way there is in some planned communities, which is part of what makes house hunting here interesting rather than repetitive.
Rob Roy’s gates and HOA structure
Rob Roy is gated, with private security patrolling the neighborhood’s roads. Every homeowner belongs to their section’s HOA, and membership comes with an annual assessment that funds gate operations, common area maintenance, and road upkeep. The exact dues vary by section and change from year to year, so I always pull current figures from the specific HOA before a client makes an offer rather than quoting a number I read somewhere else. If gate access and HOA structure matter to your search, that’s a conversation worth having early, since it can affect financing timelines and how quickly you can get a home inspector or contractor onto the property.
Lake Austin access in Rob Roy
Only one section, Rob Roy on the Lake, has direct Lake Austin frontage. Homes there can include private boat docks and waterfront yards, and they carry a real premium over the inland sections because of it. The rest of Rob Roy sits back from the water, on hill country lots with views but no direct lake access. If waterfront living on Lake Austin is the priority and Rob Roy on the Lake doesn’t have the right inventory when you’re looking, I’d point you toward my broader guide on living on Lake Austin, which covers the full stretch of lakefront neighborhoods beyond just this one.
Current market snapshot
Pricing in Rob Roy spans a wide range because the neighborhood itself spans a wide range of lot sizes, home ages, and water access. Smaller or older homes on inland lots start in the high $800,000s to low $1 million range. Mid-range homes in the newer sections or on larger inland lots run from roughly $1.5 million to $3 million. Waterfront estates in Rob Roy on the Lake, or newly built homes on the largest lots, regularly clear $4 million and can run well past that for the right property. As with anywhere in West Lake Hills, pricing moves with lot size, view quality, and how recently a home has been updated, so two houses on the same street can carry very different price tags. If you want a read on where a specific property or section stands right now, that’s the kind of pricing work I do for clients before we ever write an offer.
Schools zoned to Rob Roy
Rob Roy is zoned to Eanes Independent School District, which carries an A academic rating from the Texas Education Agency. Depending on the specific address within Rob Roy, students typically attend Barton Creek Elementary, West Ridge Middle School, and Westlake High School, though I’d confirm current zoning for any specific address before assuming, since boundary lines can shift. I’ve put together a fuller breakdown of the district, including its programs and how attendance zones work across West Lake Hills, on my Eanes ISD area guide.
How Rob Roy compares to its neighbors
Rob Roy, Cuernavaca, and Austin Lake Estates get grouped together often, and for good reason. All three sit in the same stretch of West Austin near Lake Austin, all three are zoned to Eanes ISD, and all three trade in large-lot, custom-built homes. The differences come down to gate structure and water access. Rob Roy is fully gated across its sections with private security. Austin Lake Estates leans on shared community water access through a park and boat launch rather than private docks on most lots. Cuernavaca is really an umbrella term covering several communities in the 78733 zip code, including Rob Roy on the Lake, Austin Lake Estates, Lake Hills Estates, and Seven Oaks. I’ve written a separate guide on living in Cuernavaca if you’re weighing that broader area against Rob Roy specifically, since the pricing and lot characteristics do overlap but aren’t identical.
Getting around and daily life
Rob Roy is car-dependent, as is most of West Lake Hills. The nearest grocery and everyday retail sits along Bee Caves Road, with an H-E-B and a mix of dining and shopping options a short drive away. For outdoor recreation, Emma Long Metropolitan Park and Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve are both close by, and Lake Austin itself is right there for residents in the lakefront section or anyone with boat access through a neighbor or club. Loop 360 and RM 2222 give quick access out to the rest of Austin, whether that’s downtown, the Domain, or west toward Bee Cave and the Hill Country Galleria.
What I’d tell a buyer looking at Rob Roy
The biggest mistake I see buyers make with Rob Roy is treating it as one uniform neighborhood when it’s really six, each with its own HOA, its own dues, and its own mix of lot sizes and home ages. Before you fall in love with a specific house, it’s worth knowing which section it sits in, what that section’s HOA actually covers, and whether the lot has the views or privacy you’re picturing versus what you’ll actually get once you walk the property. I’ve spent years working West Austin’s luxury market, and Rob Roy is one of those neighborhoods where the on-the-ground details end up mattering more than the listing photos when it comes to whether a home is the right fit.
If you want to talk through a specific section of Rob Roy, a comparison against Cuernavaca or another West Lake Hills neighborhood, or just want a straight read on current pricing before you start touring homes, you can find more about how I work on my about page or learn more about my brokerage at Uncommon Realty. I’m happy to walk through what’s currently available and what a given lot or section is actually worth before you make any decisions.
Robbie English, Broker, REALTOR at Uncommon Realty.
