Frequently Asked Questions

Cypress Villages is one of the country’s most ground-breaking green home communities. A 144-acre eco-neighborhood located just a little north of Fairfield in Jefferson County, Iowa, we’re the state’s premiere green community, featuring LEED Platinum certified homes and a self-sufficient neighborhood that goes above and beyond most standards of sustainability. Our vision is to build a diverse, multi-use residential area with on-site-grown organic food, solar and wind power and ecological building options.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internationally recognized green building certification system. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED is a point-based certification system that measures how well a home performs in the categories of: energy savings, water efficiency, C02 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts. LEED Platinum is the highest designation of all; every building and home at Cypress Villages is either LEED Silver or Platinum.  Read more about LEED.

Our development plans include an eco-mall that will house a fresh foods market, green office space, a green building supply center, childcare and more. We hope to someday have educational facilities on-site.

In the interim, residents of Cypress Villages will find schools, supermarkets and businesses in Fairfield, Iowa. The bustling community of 10,000 is just a few miles away. Often dubbed “Silicorn Valley,” Fairfield is widely considered the entrepreneurial capital of Iowa. Fairfield boasts more Inc. 500 companies than any other city its size. This terrific little town also has more restaurants, per capita, than San Francisco and was recently designated Iowa’s newest Great Place. Read more about Fairfield.

There will be sufficient power for any home or business need. Our project is "on-the-grid" and will incorporate standard electric supply by Alliant Electric Company. CV homes are 70% more energy efficient than standard homes meeting Model Energy Codes! We can offset utility usage through Photo-Voltaic panels on homes, and a community wide wind generation system is planned. The final result is that we strive for Net-Zero usage of electricity, and no natural gas or propane.

Note that many communities that are "off the grid" only mean "off the electrical grid" and still use Propane Gas (LP). LP gas is used for approximately 75% of BTU's in rural homes, supplying energy for the Furnace, Water Heater, Stove and Clothes Dryer. These costs are increasing each year, the combusion gases can be dangerous and the heat by-products are a fire hazard.

Cypress Villages homes are designed to be completely economical, with clean indoor-air, with all-electric buildings that will soon be Net-Zero.

Yes. You can do that one of several ways:

* build a home on each lot (use it for rentals or relatives)

* purchase lots from LGDC

We are now building homes, apartments and condominiums. The minimum down payment with a contract on a lot or home is 10% of the sale value. If you have qualified as a buyer, we will then handle all the Construction Loan financing, and your lender will take over at the point of substantial completion.

For those persons who paid $2,500 as Earnest Money, this money is still held in a fully refundable interest bearing Escrow account. It is fully refundable up to the point a contract for building your home or commercial building is completed. The $2,500 Earnest Money will be applied to construction costs when your home is built.

Yes.  Your title and conveyance will be a Warranty Deed subject to typical utility easements and rights-of-way.

Our mark-ups and raw costs are the lowest in the county.  We use low General Contractor mark-ups (5% profit and 8% overhead) which qualifies you, our home buyers, for the lowest possible MSV fees (5% royalty and 5% design consultation).

We have organized for raw land, labor efficiency, purchase of materials, finance costs, design costs and project management to achieve the lowest possible costs for homeowners.

Cypress Villages homes will have a 3-way guarantee of quality:

1. New home warranties will be available.
2. They will meet or exceed the 2006 International Residential Code standards
3. They will be Maharishi Sthapatya Veda (MSV) design compliant (Read more about MSV)

Yes. There is a proven market value for homes of Maharishi Sthapatya Veda (MSV) construction in Jefferson County, and that market value is protected in an all-MSV subdivision.  Read more about MSV.

Land and homes at Cypress Villages subdivision will have taxes lower than either Fairfield or Maharishi Vedic City.  They are the same as for county residents.  Specific questions on Taxes will have to be answered by the Jefferson County Tax Assessor, your attorney or accountant.

Yes. Phase I land will provide commercial services to Cypress Villages and surrounding communities. Development is planned for retail, offices, warehouse, restaurants, fuel services, food retailers, and a motel/hotel.  This is in the SE corner.  You may contact Joel Hirshberg at Green Building Supply for more information, or, Dan Walker at 641-469-5900.

July 25th, Pre-sales began.

October, 2007, Grading and roads began.

June 2008, first scheduled homes completed.

We are applying for incorporation to become City of Cypress Villages: An Iowa Eco-City.

Taxes for Cypress Villages will be the lowest in the county, and services will be provided by both  the Homeowner's Association and mutual agreements with Fairfield and Jefferson County.

The noise is really negligible. The airport houses just a few small planes and light aircraft, all of which use an approach that does not take them directly over the Cypress Villages property. 

With the by-pass to the Ottumwa area airport completed, an airport already capable of handling regional commercial carriers is 25 minutes away so the chance of the Fairfield airport expanding in the future is slim.

There are no large livestock operations for a significant distance on any side of Cypress Villages.

Yes, we welcome investors in the Cypress Villages project!  You can earn interest on your investment used for Infrastructure, or you can invest in a single or multi-family home, for re-sale or rental.

Yes, as with other green communities, Cypress Villages has a set of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions to ensure your comfort and safety while living in our neighborhood. Click here to view the PDF of our CC&R's.