Land

Elevating, from
the ground up.

Dynamic, natural, rich with history, and full of promise.

The Region

A world out west.

There’s a singular place to discover: you just have to follow the sun.

Dawn arrives above the Wasatch Range in the east. The sun rises and makes its way across the valley to the Oquirrh Mountains. Just beneath that nightly sunset is a spot where the foothills soften into gentle slopes. That’s Terraine. For hundreds upon hundreds of years, this unique swath of land has welcomed foragers, farmers, ranchers, and riders. It’s just beyond where most Salt Lake Valley communities end today, and it’s where a different kind of life begins.

“Four generations of my family have deep connections to this land we’ve farmed and ranched since the 1940s. It’s been our sustenance, playground, horse riding grounds and scenic backdrop. We know the folks guiding this community share our love of the land—as they work to create a place that will allow other families to see nature close up.”

Norma Wood

Wood Ranch Matriach

Localscape

Taking root.

Instead of displacing the natural environment, Terraine embraces it. Our sensitive approach to planting puts resilient native plants at the heart of the landscape design and prioritizes plant species that can tolerate non-irrigated conditions—given Utah’s climate, it just makes sense. That’s localscaping in action.

Within the community, there are four distinct landscapes, each one designated for a specific use. Together, this “green fabric” runs through Terraine’s open space, meadows, gathering spaces, and streetscapes. This ensures diversity and an organic relationship between the protected, productive, passive, and active lands.

FLORABUNDANCE

Power to the pollinators!

“The Sagebrush Sea” is an interesting moniker for a desert landscape, but this iconic ecosystem is a defining feature of the region and the community of Terraine. Here, nature ebbs and flows through neighborhoods and gathering spaces, creating a seamless connection between the natural habitat and the people who live within it.

The sagelands are well represented in our own native nursery, where we’re growing wild prairie grasses and other indigenous plants that help bees, birds, and every manner of pollinator, forager, soil-enricher, and nectar-drinking critter thrive in a big way. See how we’re propagating.

Did you know that the sagelands have their own special scent? That honeybees dance? And that stepping out in nature has real restorative properties?

Seasons

The wild life.

Sure, we keep a close watch on our bloom calendar, but Terraine’s stunning views aren’t limited to the landscape. All that flora brings fauna to the yard too—from hummingbirds and hawks (avifauna if we’re being specific) to mule deer and marmots. Track all the gorgeous greenery, bright botanical palettes, and migratory patterns.

PARKS & TRAILS

Out for adventure.

A walk on the wild side: The Ribbonwalk

We’ve integrated a unique path that crisscrosses through the community and up to the foothills. But it’s not just about getting places—the Ribbonwalk offers a great vantage point for counting wildflowers, classifying migrating butterflies, or any other naturalist notion that strikes one’s fancy. One third of Terraine is preserved open space, and our own special trail showcases the view.

New beginnings: Meet our living library

This glass structure is the first lantern in a series of landmarks to be built throughout the community. Here, learning is a group activity: each Terraine resident can contribute a favorite book. The function of future lanterns will also be determined by the people who live here—scientists, painters, potters, students, and tinkerers of all kinds can dig in. That’s how Terraine co-creates.

Outlook good: Higher ground

Because Terraine has such interesting—well—terrain, it makes sense to make the most of it. Thanks to the lofty topography around here, the vistas you get along the ribbonwalk are unlike those you’re likely to see elsewhere in the basin. You can even elevate your mind, with a stop at the lantern library.

Plant power: Our native nursery

The iconic ecosystem here flows through neighborhoods and gathering spaces, creating a seamless connection between Terraine and the surrounding natural habitat. The sagelands are well represented in Terraine’s own native nursery, too, where we’re propogating native flora that helps support all the native fauna.

Nature

Abiding stewardship.

Awe-inspiring, beautiful, and essential. Nature is all of this. Creating a place where stewardship, education, and restoration efforts are built-in provides a vital opportunity to study our changing landscape. It also takes a team of experts—and they’re here: specialists in everything from landscape architecture and homebuilding to community life and coffee roasting. A healthy ecosystem benefits everyone—that’s why the Terraine community is committed to forging a focus around this big idea.

Clockwise from left:

Todd Hornback, Cohere
Clark Ivory, Ivory Homes
Angie Hamilton, Antelope Canyon Elementary
Norma Wood, Wood Ranch
Courtney Brown, Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District

Mike Mora, Heliotrope
Marcus Pulsipher, Loci Landscape Architecture
Ty McCutcheon, Third Cadence
Jonathan Golden, Land of a Thousand Hills

Establishing and managing a sagebrush ecosystem that weaves through the community is just the beginning. Here, people who want to engage with and learn about their environment can take part in stewardship opportunities in the Terraine community.

These programs will provide a platform for ongoing engagement related to research, sustainability, education, and volunteer pursuits, including everything from citizen science and astronomy events, to planting blitzes and restoration efforts that benefit the sage lands.

There will be field stations where researchers can conduct long-term studies, a native nursery for growing the plants that will make up part of the landscape, and The Shed where more stewardship events will take place.

And there is the promise to the future too: that we’ll nurture this splendor, for safekeeping until this next generation can take up the stewardship role when it’s their turn.

“It’s so refreshing to have land use planning and water use planning together in the conceptual phase of a large project! Terraine is ahead of its time when it comes to sustainable landscaping. It embraces concepts that enhance the natural environment rather than imposing outdated and unsustainable landscape practices.”

Courtney Brown

Conservation Programs Manager, Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District

THE MOVEMENT

A new kind of pioneer.

Eco-friendly building

What makes these new homes unique is the way they’re built and how they’re built to function—with reduced consumption of energy, reduction of water use in the home, and intelligent use of sustainable materials to benefit the community and the planet.

Water resourcefulness

We’re taking a mindful approach to planting and inhabiting natural landscapes. That means emphasizing resilient plants that are native to the Great Basin and other drought-resistant plant species. Where the majority of water use occurs outside the home, this is all-important.

Growing gardens

The community is growing! Think gardens, orchards, greenhouses, and row crops. Growing lands will bring Antelope Canyon Elementary out for onsite learning, and the community will be invited to pick and harvest the fresh cherries, apricots, apples, and plums.

Local wildlife preservation

The bees, birds, and critters that flourish here in these foothills are all part of a healthy ecosystem, and we aim to keep it that way—through mindful development where we’re guided by preserving the natural environment and the balance of all living things.

Why this? Why now?

Simply, because it’s time.

A restorative place, a sustainable way of life, sustainable buildings, and an authentic connection to the earth and each other. Now, it’s an imperative—an obligation—for our children and grandchildren. We know that we can’t keep importing front lawns from the Midwest and the East Coast. We must think about things differently, in the context of natural systems. And we’ve got to see ourselves in that context, integrated with the planet.

And what’s more, it is beautiful.