UPDATED JULY 6, 2026

Love the feel of Harveston but feel it is overpriced? Check out this fantastic alternative that might just be Temecula’s best kept secret.

Located just a few miles from Temecula‘s very popular Harveston neighborhood is a newer community that features all of the same high-end amenities (minus the lake). It is a gated community that features a lower price per square foot and far lower taxes.

Roripaugh Ranch is one of Temecula‘s newer communities that features a manned, secure entrance, security patrols, a fully-fenced perimeter, a beautiful community recreation center with clubhouse, meeting, facilities, pool and a central park.

There are only three other communities in Southwest Riverside County that have this combination of features: 1. Bear Creek in Murrieta (median price $1.7M), 2. Olive Hill in Murrieta ($2.0M+) and 3. The Colony in Murrieta (55+ community).

There are a couple of small neighborhoods that are gated in Temecula’s Redhawk area, but these are unmanned gates that can easily be bypassed.

My favorite feature of Roripaugh Ranch and why I prefer this neighborhood over Haveston is the ultra cheap tax rate of about 1.25%. This low rate more than makes up for the monthly HOA fee of $307.

OK, so what’s a feature of this community that I don’t like?

Well, it’s not so much a problem with the community. But approximately 20% of the homes within Roripaugh Ranch are located in an unfavorable area. If you get serious about this neighborhood, make sure to avoid the homes that back up to Murrieta Hot Springs Rd. The traffic noise at certain times of the day can be pretty significant when standing in your backyard.

Otherwise, all of these homes have the highest level of energy efficient features. A huge plus is the low E thermalpane windows, which do a good job of keeping it quiet inside the home and reduce cooling costs.