Escondido is a gated, master-planned golf community in Horseshoe Bay, built around a Tom Fazio-designed course and centered on the Escondido Golf & Lake Club. It’s the most exclusive of the Horseshoe Bay communities I show clients, and it’s set up that way on purpose, limited membership, a gated entrance, and a club campus rather than just a golf course with houses around it.
I’m Robbie English, REALTOR and Broker at Uncommon Horseshoe Bay, and I work Horseshoe Bay and the rest of the Highland Lakes market regularly.
Escondido at a Glance
- A 427-acre, gated master-planned community developed since 2006 into roughly 380 villa, casita, and estate homesites.
- Anchored by The Great House, a roughly 30,000-square-foot clubhouse with fine dining, a wine cave, and a cigar lounge.
- Golf is a Tom Fazio championship design with its own performance center and practice facility.
- The Lake Club and marina give members direct Lake LBJ access for boating, fishing, and watersports, and a private airstrip overlooks the lake as well.
- Membership in the club is separate from buying a home here, and most owners carry one alongside their HOA dues.
The Club and the Setting
The Great House, Escondido’s clubhouse, is a roughly 30,000-square-foot building with fine dining, a wine cave, and a cigar lounge, it’s the social hub of the community, not just an amenity. The Lake Club and Marina give members direct access to Lake LBJ for boating, fishing, and watersports, and the community also has its own private airstrip overlooking the lake, unusual even by Horseshoe Bay standards. The land itself is rolling Hill Country with mature oak trees, and a number of homes back up to the fairways or catch lake views, depending on the section. Golf here is a Tom Fazio championship layout with a dedicated performance center and practice facility, built for members who take the game seriously rather than play it occasionally.
What Homes Cost
As of mid-2026, Escondido listings have carried a median asking price of roughly $2.94 million, with a median value around $680 per square foot, well above the broader Horseshoe Bay average, which reflects the club amenities and land scarcity as much as the homes themselves. That figure moves a lot depending on section: a Tuscan-style villa or casita built for lock-and-leave living will typically price lower than a custom estate on a larger lot with sweeping golf or lake views, and true lakefront property in Lago Escondido tends to sit at the top of the range. Treat any single number as a starting point for a conversation rather than a fixed budget, since the right comparison depends heavily on which section and home style you’re actually considering.
The Homes
You’ll see Tuscan-style villas with stucco exteriors, clay tile roofs, and courtyards, alongside larger custom estates on bigger lots with golf course or lake views, and a smaller number of true lakefront properties, including those in the peninsula section known as Lago Escondido. Prices and lot sizes vary a lot by section, so it’s worth walking the community with someone who knows which streets sit on the course versus which are set back from it, that difference affects both price and privacy more than it might look like from a listing photo. Across the roughly 380 homesites, you’ll find everything from smaller casitas built for lock-and-leave living to full custom estates, so the entry point here is broader than the exclusivity of the gate might suggest.
Membership: What’s Included and What Isn’t
Buying a home inside Escondido’s gates doesn’t automatically make you a member of Escondido Golf and Lake Club. Membership is a separate agreement, with its own initiation cost and dues, and it’s what actually unlocks the golf course, the marina, and The Great House’s dining and social spaces. Most owners here do carry a membership, since the club is such a central part of daily life in the community, but confirm current membership tiers and costs directly with the club before you assume they’re bundled into a home’s price. This is the same structure you’ll find at other private golf communities around Horseshoe Bay, and it catches buyers off guard more often than it should.
Buying in Escondido: What to Ask
Because Escondido spans nearly 400 homesites across almost two decades of development, condition and style vary more than the gated exclusivity might suggest. Ask when a specific home was built and whether it’s had a recent renovation, since an original casita from the community’s early years will show its age differently than a home built in the last several years. If lake access matters to you specifically, be clear with your agent about whether you want true waterfront, like Lago Escondido, or a golf-course or interior lot with club access instead, since the price gap between those can be substantial. And as with any luxury purchase in this range, loop in a lender experienced with jumbo financing early, appraisal and underwriting timelines on multimillion-dollar homes can move slower than a typical purchase.
What a Day at Escondido Actually Looks Like
The rolling terrain and mature oak trees make this feel more like a private Hill Country retreat than a typical golf-course subdivision, and that’s intentional. A lot of owners split their time between the course, the marina, and The Great House rather than treating any single amenity as the main draw. If you golf regularly, the performance center and practice facility give you a place to actually work on your game rather than just play it. If the lake is more your speed, the marina and Lake Club put you on the water without owning a true waterfront lot. And if neither is the daily priority, the wine cave and cigar lounge at The Great House cover the social side just as well.
That range is part of why Escondido draws a broader mix of buyers than its gated entrance suggests. It’s worth being honest with yourself about which of those three, golf, water, or the social club, you’ll actually use most, since that answer should steer which section and home style makes the most sense for your budget.
A Few Things Buyers Get Wrong
The gated entrance and exclusivity lead some buyers to assume every home inside is enormous and every lot is on the water. In practice, the community includes a real mix, from smaller villas and casitas to sprawling estates, and only a portion of homesites carry direct lake frontage. It’s also easy to assume the golf course is the whole draw, when for a lot of owners the marina, the Lake Club, and simply having a gated, amenity-rich community close to Austin matters just as much as the Fazio design.
If Escondido’s price point or exclusivity isn’t quite the fit, Horseshoe Bay West is a more varied, less exclusive community about six miles away with the same Lake LBJ access. My full Horseshoe Bay community guide covers the rest, and Horseshoe Bay real estate for sale is a good place to compare the broader market. Marble Falls, about six miles off, is the closest full-service town if you need everyday shopping outside the Escondido gates, see current Marble Falls listings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does buying a home in Escondido include club membership?
No. Membership at Escondido Golf and Lake Club is a separate agreement with its own initiation cost and dues, on top of the community’s HOA fees. Confirm current terms with the club directly.
How big is the Escondido community?
It spans 427 acres and has been developed since 2006 into roughly 380 villa, casita, and estate homesites, so it’s larger and more varied than the gated entrance might suggest.
Do all homes in Escondido have lake access?
No. Only a portion of homesites, including the peninsula section known as Lago Escondido, carry direct Lake LBJ frontage. Many homes are golf-course or interior lots with club access to the marina instead.
What’s the clubhouse like?
The Great House is roughly 30,000 square feet, with fine dining, a wine cave, and a cigar lounge, functioning as the community’s main social hub beyond just golf.
How far is Escondido from Marble Falls and Austin?
Marble Falls, the closest full-service town, is about six miles away. Austin is roughly an hour’s drive, about 50 miles to the southeast.
If you want to tour Escondido or talk through membership and pricing, reach out and I’ll set it up.
Robbie English, REALTOR, Broker at Uncommon Horseshoe Bay.
