BEN GRAHAM / LIFESTYLES / RV GARAGE & SHOP HOMES
Section VII · Lifestyles
RV Garage & Shop Homes
Room for the boat, the RV, the trailer, and a real shop. Still inside the city, still close to everything.
The garage most buyers assume doesn't exist here still does.
An RV garage, a gated side yard, a detached shop, room for the boat and the trailer. Still inside the city, still close to everything.
Most homes in South Tempe and South Chandler sit on lots that leave no room to park anything bigger than an SUV. RV garages and real shops are a function of lot size, so they live where the big lots are: Buena Vista Ranchos, Sunburst Farms, Circle G Ranches, and Caballos Ranchitos. These neighborhoods were platted with room to spare, and many allow the outbuildings that master-planned communities won't.
The rule of thumb: the bigger the lot and the lighter the HOA, the better your odds. Even in these pockets the feature is the minority, so the search is the work. Some homes already have it. Others have the lot and the rules to add it.
WHO THIS FITS
Buyers with an RV, a boat, a car collection, or a trade that needs a real workshop, who are tired of paying for storage across town and want everything parked at home.
FEATURED COMMUNITIES
Buena Vista Ranchos
85284 · ACRE+ LOTS
Sunburst Farms
85284 · ACREAGE
Circle G Ranches
85284 · ACRE+ LOTS
Caballos Ranchitos
CHANDLER · ACRE+ LOTS
WHAT TO EXPECT
Lot size Large, often an acre
RV parking Garage bay, gated yard, or both
Shop Detached, where zoning allows
HOA Light or none, read the CC&Rs
PRO TIPS
Read the CC&Rs before you fall in love. Even on a big lot, some HOAs cap gate height, ban visible RV parking, or limit detached buildings. The lot has to allow it, not just fit it.
WHO THIS PAGE IS FOR
You're in the right place if any of this sounds like you.
RV and shop buyers aren't shopping for the most house. They're shopping for a place where everything they own and everything they do fits on one lot. If a few of these land, keep reading.
You're done paying for storage across town.
The boat, the RV, or the trailer should live where you live, not in a rented lot you visit twice a month.
You need a real shop, not a corner of the garage.
Woodworking, cars, a trade, a home gym that needs ceiling height. A detached building changes what a weekend looks like.
You'd buy the lot and build the garage yourself.
If the right home has the land but not the bay, the right lot with the right rules is just as good. Often better, because you build it the way you want it.
You're not willing to drive 30 minutes for it.
You want RV parking that's still in a strong school area, still close to shopping, still about 15 minutes to the airport. That's a tiny inventory, and these are the neighborhoods that have it.
The neighborhoods · tap to expand
Where the RV garages and shops actually are.
These are the pockets where the lots are big enough and the rules are loose enough for RV garages and detached shops. Not every home here has one. These are the neighborhoods worth searching. Tap any card to read what makes it different.
South Tempe
Buena Vista Ranchos
Acre+ lots · RV + shop friendly
The deepest pocket of RV garages and detached shops in South Tempe. Big lots, horse zoning, and a culture that doesn't fight outbuildings.
Buena Vista is the first place I look when a buyer says "the RV has to fit." The lots have the footprint for a full RV bay or a gated side yard, and horse zoning allows the kind of detached building most neighborhoods won't. You still get the community park and pool. Most RV-friendly neighborhoods make you choose.
Acre+ lots · community park and pool
South Tempe
Calle de Caballos
Boutique estate · large lots
Small, quiet, and tucked away. Large lots with room for a garage bay or a shop, on a street with few neighbors.
Calle de Caballos is small by design. The lots give you room for an RV bay or a detached shop without the scale of a bigger neighborhood. Quieter streets, fewer homes, and fewer listings, so the right one is worth waiting for.
Boutique · large lots
South Tempe
Sunburst Farms
Acreage · shops common
Some of the largest lots in South Tempe, which is exactly why shops and RV parking show up here. Buyers wait for the right one.
Sunburst Farms is where workshops and outbuildings are part of the landscape. Real acreage gives you the footprint, and long-tenure owners have built out shops, barns, and garages over the decades. Low turnover means inventory is the constraint, not buyer demand.
Acreage typical · low turnover
Chandler
Caballos Ranchitos
Acre+ lots · RV + shop friendly
The South Chandler answer for RV garages and shops. Real acre lots at a more accessible entry point than South Tempe.
Caballos Ranchitos is one of the most underrated places in the Southeast Valley to park an RV at home. The lots carry the footprint, horse zoning allows outbuildings, and older homes on big lots leave room to add the bay you want. Buyers who shop here often would have shopped Buena Vista. They found Caballos first and stayed.
Acre+ lots · horse-zoned
South Tempe
Circle G Ranches
Acre+ lots · estate shops
One of the original large-lot communities in South Tempe, with some of the most built-out garages and outbuildings in the area.
Circle G is where the estate version of this lives: oversized garages, detached shops, and full outbuilding suites on large lots. Owners here didn't buy with a five-year horizon, so inventory turns slowly. When the right one hits, the buyers who win already had a plan.
1+ acre typical · low turnover
South Tempe
Tally Ho Farms
Acre+ · watch list
Established large-lot pocket where homes with RV parking and shops rarely come up officially. The buyer pool is already waiting.
Tally Ho Farms is a watch-list neighborhood. The right approach isn't a Zillow alert. It's a call to someone who knows which owners with the garage or the shop are quietly thinking about a move. When something good appears, the buyers who win usually had advance notice.
Watch-list neighborhood · limited turnover
West Chandler
Stellar Airpark
Airpark · hangar homes
The one neighborhood in the Southeast Valley where the oversized garage is a hangar. A category of one.
If what you need to park has wings, Stellar Airpark is the answer. Residential hangar access, large lots, and custom homes built around the infrastructure. Nothing else in the area works the same way, so when a hangar home lists, the buyer pool is small and serious.
Airpark · unique in the SE Valley
Price tiers · what you actually get
What RV parking looks like at each tier.
In this category, you're paying for the lot and the rules first, and the home second. That changes how you read price. Here's how to think about it.
ENTRY
The lot, not the bay
An older home on a lot with the room and the rules to add an RV garage or shop. You're buying the footprint. The build is the project.
e.g. Caballos Ranchitos, entry Buena Vista, parts of Sunburst Farms
CORE
Garage in place
An updated home with the RV bay or the shop already built, often with a pool and room left over. The sweet spot of this category.
e.g. mid-tier Buena Vista, Calle de Caballos, Caballos Ranchitos
ESTATE
The full stack
A premium lot with an oversized garage, a detached shop, and room for every toy, or a hangar home. Rare inventory, often off-market or first-look.
e.g. estate Circle G, Stellar Airpark, premium Sunburst Farms
This is the stuff I tell every RV and shop buyer in our first 20-minute call. It saves people from offers they'd regret, and from missing the right lot because they didn't recognize it.
Six things every RV and shop buyer should know before they tour.
WHAT TRIPS BUYERS UP IN THIS CATEGORY
01"RV parking" in a listing can mean almost anything.
It can mean a full RV garage, a gated slab, or a strip of gravel by the side gate. Measure the door height, the gate width, and the turn from the street before you get excited.
02
The CC&Rs matter as much as the lot.
Even on a big lot, some HOAs ban visible RV parking, cap gate height, or limit detached buildings. Read the rules before you assume. The zoning permission matters as much as the footprint.
03Adding a garage or shop means approvals.
Building an RV bay or a detached shop usually needs city permits and, where there is one, HOA approval. Setbacks decide where it can go. Verify before you buy the lot you plan to build on.
04A shop needs power you can actually use.
A detached building without the right electrical service is a storage shed. Check the panel, the run to the shop, and whether it can handle the tools you own before you write the offer.
05"Horse-zoned" is often the reason the shop is allowed.
Most owners in horse-zoned neighborhoods don't have horses. What they have is zoning that permits outbuildings and lots that support them. If you need a shop, those neighborhoods belong on your list.
06The best RV and shop homes often never hit the market.
Long-time owners tend to sell quietly, to a neighbor or to a buyer an agent already had waiting. And listing portals rarely let you filter for a shop at all. Get on a watch list, not just a search alert.
ABOUT BEN GRAHAM
I live in this farm. My kids go to school here. I coach soccer here. Buena Vista Ranchos, one of the flagship RV and shop neighborhoods on this page, is the neighborhood I personally want to buy in.
Since 2011 I've helped over 500 families across the Southeast Valley, with a deep focus on South Tempe and South Chandler. Feature searches like this one take the longest, because the listing rarely tells you what you need to know. I know which lots have the bay, which HOAs will fight a shop, and which owners are quietly considering a move.
If an RV garage or a real shop is what you're after, you're in the right place.
LIVE INVENTORY
RV garage and shop homes in South Tempe and South Chandler, in real time.
Measure before you commit.
Door height, gate width, setbacks, and HOA rules vary home by home. I'll walk you through what fits, what can be added, and what's a deal-breaker, before you write an offer. Here’s how I help buyers sort it out.