Prestleigh

Prestleigh is one of the newest subdivisions in Wake Forest, and it is still going up. Building started in 2023, and the plan calls for about 140 houses off Jenkins Road, north of Traditions. The plans are larger than most of what the new construction nearby is selling, and three-car garages are common enough here that builders lead with them. Prices run from roughly $550,000 to $800,000, which puts Prestleigh at the top of the market on this side of town. A community pool is planned for 2027. Anyone buying now is buying the idea of it.

Where it is

Prestleigh comes off Jenkins Road, north of Traditions, so Traditions is the neighborhood sitting between it and the older part of town. This is the outer edge of the new building on the north side. Nothing is within walking distance, and with the subdivision still under construction, some of the streets on the site plan do not exist yet on the ground. A car comes out for school, for groceries and for dinner, and the drive is always back down toward town first. Buyers who want to be able to walk to a coffee shop should look somewhere else and pay for it.

What to know if you're moving here

Everything here is single-family and new, about 140 houses when the last phase sells. What separates Prestleigh from the cheaper new construction nearby is square footage, and what you trade for it is time.

• The price band is $550,000 to $800,000 and the homeowners association is $800 a year.
• Schools are Richland Creek Elementary, Wake Forest Middle and Wake Forest High.
• The larger floor plans are the real reason people choose Prestleigh over something cheaper nearby.
• New houses come with builder warranties and current-code systems, which is worth money in the first ten years.
• The honest drawback is the pool, planned for 2027, so today's dues pay toward an amenity nobody can use yet.
• Construction traffic runs until the neighborhood finishes, so ask the builder in writing what the dues cover now and what they become once the pool opens.

What to do if you're visiting

There is no reason to visit Prestleigh itself. It is houses, graded lots and a pool that is three years out. What you actually do is eat in the town around it.

• The sit-down Italian end of an evening is Il Bacio Italian Grill & Pizza.
• The drive-through stop on the way back from a ball game is Culver's Wake Forest.
• A night with kids in the car tends to end at Lumpy's Ice Cream.
• Classes and shows fill the town calendar through Arts Wake Forest, whose listings are the easiest way to find out what is happening on a given weekend.
• House-hunters should drive Jenkins Road on a weekday morning and see the construction traffic before making an offer.