The development is known as Chevalle, which is French for “equine.” It would create 235 housing units, parks, riding trails, and a stable that would host a riding program for people with disabilities.

An existing farm home would be preserved, and the new homes would be clustered to maintain open space in the development area, which is surrounded by Lake Bavaria, large-lot homes, farmland, a park and a golf course.

The Igels hope to get final approval for the project in August, and anticipate having the first model homes completed by next spring or summer.

Home prices would range from $450,000 for twinhomes to $1.8 million-plus for some of the lakeside residences.

“We're 98 percent over the hump,” David Igel said. “The rest is just filing formalities.”

The Igels discussed their development plans on a sunny summer afternoon at the project site. A tour of the site in the Igels’ Range Rover revealed rolling hills, clusters of mature trees, untouched wetlands, and row after row of cornstalks.

Two-thirds of the site will be preserved as open space, according to the Igels, and most of the trees will remain standing.

Unlike other developments in the growing area, the homes will be mostly camouflaged by the natural surroundings, all but invisible to bypassing motorists.

It looked like a fitting backdrop for a horse stable -- something that wasn't lost on the Igels when they acquired their first 20 acres of the property in June 2005.

The Igels, who share a fondness for horses, saw the property as a good location for a riding program they've long supported.

The Minnetonka-based We Can Ride program http://www.WeCanRide.org teaches riding skills to children with severe handicaps. The Igels were sold on the program’s benefits based on the experiences of close friends who have a child with cerebral palsy.

The program, which currently has six satellite operations, will establish its headquarters at the Chevalle property.

“For five years, we've been on a quest to try to help We Can Ride,” Rachel Igel said. “This was the perfect opportunity to do it.”

The Igels stressed that the riding program will be independent from the rest of the development. In other words, homeowners won't have to support the facility with their association fees.

After finding space for the riding program, the Igels looked at the surrounding area and wondered what would become of it.

They feared that the area would quickly be swallowed up by traditional, suburban-style development.

Putting those fears to rest, they quickly acquired additional land with the idea of creating housing lots that would respect the natural environment and maximize open space.

“Our opinion has always been, if you want to have control of it, instead of complaining and yelling and screaming, do something about it,” David Igel said. “That’s what we've done. And by doing that, it’s a much better project for the whole community.”

Some of the development’s amenities -- including a 30-acre park with a beachfront and fishing piers, and five-plus miles of riding trails that will hook up to existing trails in the city -- will be open to the community at large, the Igels said.

Permanent conservation easements will be placed on land that’s not slated for housing, meaning there will never be any homes on the undeveloped tracts.

It appears to be the kind of development that even an environmental attorney could embrace -- one like Rachel Igel, who focuses on wetland preservation and the environment.

Her background is a nice complement to David Igel’s experience as head of Chanhassen-based Igel Properties, a real estate development firm.

His previous real estate ventures range from renovating rental properties to putting up communication towers throughout the Midwest.

“We have done other neighborhoods, from small two- to nine-lot neighborhoods to the assembling of 300- to 400-acre parcels on the western parts of the Twin Cities,” David Igel said. “We have talked for years about planning a place where you could see both the horses and the ski boats on the lake, and this property did it.”

The Igels are working on contracts with builders to construct the homes on the property, and they've already enlisted Mike Sharrat, of Excelsior-based Sharrat Design, to do much of the design work.

Designs will be subject to an “architectural review committee,” according to the Igels.

“The goal is not to over-control any particular builder or any retail customer,” Rachel Igel said, but to have minimum standards “so nobody comes in and builds a structure that offends the sensibilities.”

The Igels hope to have at least three model homes open by next summer.