A first stop for prospective Bridgeland home buyers is the community’s Welcome Center, which blends historically authentic architecture with the latest interactive technology to facilitate the selection of the perfect home and homesite.

Welcome Center visitors are greeted by the warmth of a traditional home, with the lobby decorated to resemble a family room with a fireplace, luxurious area rugs, rich mahogany accents and decorative duck decoys reflective of Bridgeland’s natural bird habitat.

Then technology takes them into the future. A 60-inch interactive touch-screen plasma map showcases the infinite possibilities of the community, with the map highlighting everything from a regional perspective of the development to a microcosm of each individual homesite, elevation, price and builder. With a touch of the screen, pop-up windows of information illustrate Bridgeland’s “life of balance,” including an aerial photo showing the entire 11,400 acres, the conceptual plan, renderings of planned amenities and shopping.

Other touch screens allow visitors to access builder information and AT&T’s U-verse technology, available to each new homeowner. Bridgeland is one of the first communities in Houston to offer fiber-optic technology wired directly to the home. This fiber-to-the-premises technology differs from a fiber-to-the-node delivery system that runs fiber-optic cables to a single point in the community and then uses copper phone cable, rather than fiber optics, to carry services to the homes.

Three wall-mounted plasma screens feature nonstop information on the 3,000 acres Bridgeland is dedicating to natural recreation, encompassing wide open spaces, 900 acres of lakes and more than 60 miles of hike-and-bike trails offering connectivity between neighborhoods.

Industry experts recognize the caliber of the Bridgeland Welcome Center, naming it “Best Welcome Center” during the Sunbelt Builders Show 2007 Star Awards gala, a regional competition. The nod is just one of many awards Bridgeland has won, including being named “Master-Planned Community of the Year” by the National Association of Home Builders.

The development offers more than 200 designs priced from the $180,000s to more than $1 million from a slate of well known Houston builders: Highland Homes, David Weekley Homes, Meritage Homes, Darling Homes, Wilshire Homes, Perry Homes, Village Builders, Partners in Building and Trendmaker Homes. Custom craftsmen include Ronny Carroll Custom Homes, Tommy Bailey Homes, and Masterpiece Custom Homes.