📍 La Ventana Location Map
What clients say
“Johnny not only helped me buy a great home in Lakeway at a great price back in January of 2021 but he then helped me sell that same house for over $200K of what we purchased it for only 9 months later. Johnny helped us get an offer that was $50K over our asking price. We are extremely happy with Johnny as our "go-to" guy for anything related to real estate.”
Ryan B. · Lakeway buyer & seller
“Johnny guided us to our dream home. He understood exactly what we were looking for and he made the process flow smoothly and gracefully. I never imagined buying a house could feel so easeful! We are so grateful we had Johnny to show us just how smooth the process can be!”
Brandilyn B. · Lake Travis buyer
“I am so grateful that my family and I found Johnny! Johnny is incredibly hardworking, knowledgeable, and detail-oriented, and he TRULY cares about his clients. He worked nonstop to help us find our perfect home and we couldn’t be happier with the results of his hustle and care.”
Julie H. · Austin buyer
More verified reviews on Zillow (5.0★).
The 15-second answer
La Ventana is a gated acreage community in Driftwood, ZIP 78619, developed from roughly 2003 and built out around 2013, with an unusually deep amenity package: three resort-style pools with a spa, a clubhouse and outdoor pavilion, tennis courts, a sand volleyball court, a putting green and driving range, children’s play areas, horseback riding trails through the neighborhood, and longhorns kept in the front pasture. Over the twelve months ending September 24, 2026 it closed 20 homes at a $1,205,000 median on 1.73-acre lots at $326.63 per square foot. The number that should change how you approach it: the median sale took 132 days, against 43 days across Dripping Springs. Note also that La Ventana is Hays CISD, not Dripping Springs ISD.
La Ventana market data
Twenty closings in twelve months is a healthy sample for a community this size, and the price story and the speed story point in opposite directions — which is exactly why this page is worth reading before you list or offer.
Metric | La Ventana | Dripping Springs 78620 |
|---|
Closed sales, 12 months | 20 | 640 |
Median close price | $1,205,000 | $613,000 |
Median close price per sq ft | $326.63 | $244.89 |
Median home size | 3,495 sq ft | 2,590 sq ft |
Median lot | 1.73 acres | 0.23 acres |
Median year built | 2006 | 2021 |
Median days on market | 132 | 43 |
Price range | $782,500 – $2,180,000 | $175,000 – $8,000,000 |
On price, La Ventana is strong. $326.63 per square foot is 33% above the Dripping Springs median and above Bunker Ranch ($341.98 is higher, but Bunker Ranch homes are a decade newer). On a median home built in 2006, that is a real premium, and it is being paid for the gate, the acreage and an amenity package that almost nothing else in the area matches.
On speed, La Ventana is the slowest market in Dripping Springs and Driftwood by a wide margin. A 132-day median against 43 days ZIP-wide, 26 days in Sunset Canyon and 12 days in Saddletree Ranch. I want to be careful about what that does and does not mean, because the easy reading is wrong.
It does not mean values are falling — the price per foot says otherwise. It means the market here is thin. Gated 1.7-acre properties at $1.2 million in Driftwood have a small, specific buyer pool, and at any given moment only a few of those buyers are in the market. When the right one shows up, the house sells well. Until then, it sits.
What that means if you are selling: price for a 132-day market, not a 43-day one, and plan your timeline and your carrying costs accordingly. A La Ventana listing that has been up 70 days is not in trouble — it is roughly on schedule. Reflexively cutting price at day 60 here gives away money for no reason.
What that means if you are buying: you have more leverage and more time than in almost any other neighborhood out here, and the properties that have been sitting the longest are where the negotiation is. Just do not mistake a long days-on-market number for a distressed neighborhood, because the closed data does not support that.
Source: Austin Board of REALTORS® (ACTRIS) MLS, closed residential sales for the twelve months ending September 24, 2026, pulled September 24, 2026. 20 closings in La Ventana; Dripping Springs 78620 comparison is 640 closings over the same window.
What Do Homes in La Ventana Sell For? 2025 vs 2026 Closed Sales
Short answer: La Ventana single-family homes closed at a median of $1,000,000 ($305.50 per square foot) across 15 MLS sales from January 1 to October 2, 2026, compared with $1,205,000 ($323.66 per square foot) across 20 sales in all of 2025. Median days on market went from 65.5 to 133, and sellers closed at 89.2% of original list price versus 92.0%. Like for like, mid-size resales (2,400–3,600 sq ft, built 2000–2024, no new construction) closed at a median $930,000 in 2026 against $1,150,000 in 2025, or $285.54 against $326.24 per square foot.
| La Ventana | Sales | Median close | Median $/sq ft | Median days on market | Close ÷ original list |
|---|
| All single-family · 2025 (full year) | 20 | $1,205,000 | $323.66 | 65.5 | 92.0% |
| All single-family · 2026 (Jan 1–Oct 2) | 15 | $1,000,000 | $305.50 | 133 | 89.2% |
| Same months of 2025 (Jan 1–Oct 2) | 15 | $1,150,000 | $321.08 | 87 | 92.2% |
| Last 90 days (Jul 4–Oct 2, 2026) | 2 (too few for a median) | — | — | — | — |
Same Size, Same Age: La Ventana Homes in 2025 vs 2026
Every row compares the same kind of home, year against year: single-family resales with 3+ bedrooms, 2+ full baths and a 2+ car garage, built 2000–2024, with new construction left out. Each size band runs 20% either side of 2,000, 3,000, 4,500 and 6,750 square feet, the way an appraiser brackets a subject home.
| Home size | 2025 sales | 2025 median close | 2025 $/sq ft | 2026 sales (Jan 1–Oct 2) | 2026 median close | 2026 $/sq ft |
|---|
| Mid · 2,400–3,600 sq ft | 9 | $1,150,000 | $326.24 | 11 | $930,000 | $285.54 |
| ↳ Mid with a private pool | 4 | — | — | 7 | $995,000 | $305.50 |
| Large luxury · 3,600–5,400 sq ft | 8 | $1,375,000 | $319.74 | 3 | — | — |
A dash means fewer than five sales in that band that year, so no median is published. New construction, meaning a home built in the year it sold or the year before, is left out of the rows above: 3 sold in 2025 and 1 in 2026.
Homes are taking longer to sell in 2026: a median 133 days on market against 65.5 in 2025. Sellers closed at 89.2% of original list price, so buyers are negotiating real discounts. MLS sales since January 2025 closed between $782,500 and $2.18 million.
Source: Unlock MLS (ACTRIS) via Matrix, pulled October 2, 2026. Closed single-family sales in subdivisions named La Ventana, ZIPs 78620, 78619, 78737, 78736 and 78738. 2025 = full year; 2026 = January 1 to October 2, 2026. Medians, not averages. Sales counts are not a trend on their own because 2026 is a partial year; compare against the same months of 2025. Private and off-market sales that never reached the MLS are not included. Like-for-like rows use a second MLS search of the same area limited to 3+ bedrooms, 2+ full baths and 2+ garage spaces; resales only, built 2000–2024 (the 30-year span that holds the most resales in this area); new construction reported separately. Compiled and analyzed by Johnny Ronca, Luxury Associate Broker, SERHANT. Compare every neighborhood in my Austin 2025 vs 2026 price table.
What La Ventana is actually like
La Ventana sits off La Ventana Parkway in Driftwood, between Ranch Road 150 and Ranch Road 12, in Hays County. It is gated, and the community is run by the La Ventana Ranch Owners Association, managed by PS Property Management.
The amenities are the reason people buy here
Per the association’s own management company, the community has a clubhouse with a large outdoor pavilion, fireplace and picnic area; three resort-style pools with a spa; tennis courts; a sand volleyball court; a putting green and driving range; multiple children’s play areas; horseback riding trails running through the neighborhood; and a herd of community longhorns in the front pasture.
That is a country-club amenity list attached to acreage homesites, and there is very little like it in this part of Hays County. It is also why the HOA assessment here is a serious line item rather than a rounding error — three pools, tennis courts and a driving range cost money to run. Get the current dues, the budget and the reserve study before you go under contract, and read the most recent annual meeting minutes. On a community with this much built amenity and a build-out around 2013, the reserve position for the next replacement cycle is a fair question and you are entitled to the answer.
Utilities and land
Driftwood acreage generally means septic, and La Ventana properties commonly reference a shared community water arrangement and propane rather than city utilities. Verify all three per property rather than assuming: the water source and who bills for it, the septic type and its permit history with Hays County, and the propane arrangement. None of these are problems — they are simply different from a city-services purchase, and they belong in your inspection period.
Living in Driftwood
Driftwood is quieter and more rural than Dripping Springs proper, and that is the point. You are close to the Salt Lick, Duchman Family Winery, Driftwood Estate Winery and the Fitzhugh brewery corridor, with Wimberley a short drive south. Downtown Dripping Springs is a straightforward run up Ranch Road 12. Downtown Austin is typically 45 minutes or more, and that is the honest trade.
If you want the gate and the acreage but a faster, more liquid market, Bunker Ranch in Dripping Springs traded 15 homes at a $1.2 million median with a 39-day median. If you want acreage without heavy HOA involvement, Sunset Canyon and Saddletree Ranch are the alternatives. Howard Ranch is the other Driftwood option. The area overview is on the Dripping Springs page.
La Ventana schools
La Ventana is in Hays CISD — not Dripping Springs ISD. GreatSchools ratings as verified in September 2026:
School | GreatSchools | Enrollment |
|---|
Carpenter Hill Elementary School | 9/10 | 538 |
Eric Dahlstrom Middle School | 8/10 | 803 |
Moe and Gene Johnson High School | 6/10 | 2,869 |
This is the single most important thing to check before you fall in love with a La Ventana house. Despite the Driftwood address and the Dripping Springs lifestyle, La Ventana is zoned to Hays CISD, confirmed on the tax and MLS record. Carpenter Hill Elementary rates 9 out of 10 and Dahlstrom Middle 8 out of 10, both strong. Johnson High School rates 6 out of 10, which is below the Dripping Springs High School rating of 7 and well below the Lake Travis and Eanes campuses — I would rather you weigh that openly than find it out after closing. For families for whom the high school is decisive, the comparable gated acreage in Dripping Springs ISD is Bunker Ranch or Saddletree Ranch. (Confirm assigned campuses for any specific home.)
Source: GreatSchools.org profile pages, verified September 2026.
Working with the right realtor in La Ventana
I have been selling Austin luxury real estate for 20 years — 300+ closings and more than $250 million in volume — and La Ventana is the clearest example I can give you of why a neighborhood-level number beats a market-level one.
Every general Austin market report will tell you homes are selling in about six weeks. In La Ventana the median took 132 days. An agent working off the metro average will price a La Ventana listing wrong, panic at day 60, and talk a seller into a reduction the data never called for. On the buy side, the same agent will tell a client that a property sitting 90 days must have something wrong with it, and that client will miss the house.
What I do here: price and time a listing to the actual La Ventana distribution rather than the metro one; prepare the property properly up front, because in a thin market the listing has to be right the first time a qualified buyer appears; pull the HOA budget, dues and reserve study early, since the amenity package makes that a live question; and verify the Hays CISD assignment in writing before a family commits. Nothing on that list is exotic. It is just work that most agents will not do on a neighborhood that sells twenty houses a year.
“Johnny did an incredible job helping me to negotiate the price down on this house. We got tens of thousands of dollars in discounts that I would not have had without his support. He remained available to me through several months of escrow while the house was being fixed up and was incredibly helpful in identifying new contractors.”
Andrew H. · Austin buyer
La Ventana Pocket Listings and Off-Market Homes Not on the MLS
Looking beyond La Ventana? My Austin pocket listings page carries the current off-market count for every area I cover, how these homes reach me before the MLS, and a short form to tell me exactly what you are looking for.
Off-market access
Ask me what is quietly for sale in Dripping Springs
Not every home here reaches Zillow or the public MLS. Some sellers will trade privately but will not sign a listing agreement, and those homes only surface through relationships. Mine run 20 years deep — a cross-brokerage network, Austin Luxury Network access, and Johnny’s Off Market Private Luxury Listings. Some of the coolest and most coveted luxury properties in Austin only ever sell as pocket listings.
Tell me your price range and must-haves and I’ll send you what matches — today, not when it hits the market. Contact me to see which gems match your specific needs, and what I expect to come up in Dripping Springs in the next 90 days.
Call or text 512-797-0965 · [email protected]
More from clients
“We were so fortunate to have found Johnny Ronca 7 years ago when we bought our first home in Austin. He helped us find the right house in the right neighborhood, for the right price. He was so great we came back for his expertise when it was time to sell that first home and to help us with the purchase of our next home. Our family has definitely found our lifetime realtor.”
India G. · Repeat client, buyer & seller
“He sent us tailored options that considered all of our must-haves and was patient with us being super picky too. Once we found The One he went above and beyond to get our offer accepted within our budget — on a Saturday afternoon too! It was a really tight timeline before the holidays and before baby was born, and there’s no way we could have done it without Johnny!”
Margeaux O. · Austin buyer
“Johnny Ronca has been an invaluable asset throughout the sale of our old home and the purchase of our dream home. During the sale, Johnny facilitated a bidding war and got an all-cash offer significantly over our asking price. He helped us find and strategize our way into our new dream home and negotiated a way for us to move in prior to closing.”
Buyer & Seller · Austin buyer & seller
More verified reviews on Zillow (5.0★).
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Closing-Day Video Testimonial
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Josh Trent · Host of the Wellness + Wisdom podcast · Austin homebuyer
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the best realtor in La Ventana?
Johnny Ronca is widely regarded as a top realtor serving La Ventana. He is a Luxury Associate Broker with SERHANT. with 20+ years in the Austin market, 300+ closings, $250M+ in sales and 100+ five-star reviews, and he publishes the closed-sale numbers for La Ventana straight from the MLS on this page instead of estimates. Call or text Johnny at 512-797-0965.
How much are homes in La Ventana?
Over the twelve months ending September 24, 2026, 20 homes closed in La Ventana at a median of $1,205,000, ranging from $782,500 to $2,180,000. The median closed at $326.63 per square foot on a 3,495-square-foot home on 1.73 acres. Source: Austin Board of REALTORS® MLS.
Why do homes in La Ventana take so long to sell?
The median sale took 132 days, against 43 days across Dripping Springs 78620. This is a thin market rather than a weak one — prices per square foot are 33% above the area median, so values are holding. Gated 1.7-acre properties above $1 million in Driftwood simply have a small buyer pool at any given moment.
What amenities does La Ventana have?
Per the association’s management company: a clubhouse with a large outdoor pavilion, fireplace and picnic area; three resort-style pools with a spa; tennis courts; a sand volleyball court; a putting green and driving range; multiple children’s play areas; horseback riding trails through the neighborhood; and community longhorns in the front pasture.
Is La Ventana gated?
Yes. It is described as a gated community by the association’s own management company, PS Property Management, and it is run by the La Ventana Ranch Owners Association.
What school district is La Ventana in?
Hays CISD — not Dripping Springs ISD and not Wimberley ISD. This is confirmed on the tax and MLS record. The assigned campuses are Carpenter Hill Elementary (GreatSchools 9/10), Eric Dahlstrom Middle (8/10) and Moe and Gene Johnson High School (6/10). (Confirm assigned campuses for any specific home.)
How big are the lots in La Ventana?
The median closed sale over the last twelve months sat on 1.73 acres. Published lot ranges for the community vary by source, so confirm the acreage on the specific property from the MLS and county record rather than a neighborhood description.
When was La Ventana built?
The community was developed starting around 2003 and built out around 2013. The median home that closed in the last twelve months was built in 2006.
Is La Ventana on city water and sewer?
Generally no. Driftwood acreage typically means septic, and La Ventana properties commonly reference a shared community water arrangement and propane. Verify the water source, the septic type and permit history with Hays County, and the propane arrangement on any specific property during your inspection period.
Should I be worried about the HOA dues in La Ventana?
Not worried, but informed. Three pools, tennis courts, a driving range and a clubhouse cost real money to operate, so the assessment here is a meaningful line item. Ask for the current dues, the annual budget, the reserve study and the last set of annual meeting minutes before you go under contract.
What should I compare La Ventana against?
For gated acreage in Dripping Springs ISD with a faster market, Bunker Ranch (15 sales, $1.2M median, 39 days). For acreage with a light-touch association, Sunset Canyon or Saddletree Ranch. The other Driftwood community is Howard Ranch. Area overview: Dripping Springs.
Related Reading: More on La Ventana
Guides, market reports and local reporting from my blog on La Ventana and the surrounding area:
