Rancho Mission Viejo in South Orange County

Carpenters work on the roof of a home under construction in the Rancho Mission Viejo development.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The entire Rancho Mission Viejo project is a master-planned community developed by a family-owned business with the same name. The ranch once spanned more than 200,000 acres, from which arose the cities of Rancho Santa Margarita and Mission Viejo, and the home developments of Ladera Ranch and Las Flores. Above, workers put up a roof in the Sendero section of the project.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Newly decorated condominiums built by Shea Homes await would-be home buyers in the “village” of Sendero.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Dan Kelly, senior vice president with Rancho Mission Viejo, walks through one of the condominiums in the Sendero development.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A cow statue adorns one of the common areas in the Sendero development.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Sendero opened to the public at large at the end of June. The developers expect homes to sell at a pace of about 300 a year. Above, the patio area of a condominium in Sendero.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Pool cabanas in the clubhouse area await new owners of homes in Sendero.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Landscaping is done on the slopes surrounding Sendero.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Cattle graze near surveyor’s stakes marking the area near Rancho Mission Viejo’s cow camp, where the another community will eventually be built east of San Juan Capistrano.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)