Money Hill Or Beau Chêne: Two Northshore Golf Communities At Opposite Ends Of A Lifecycle

Open two browser tabs. In one, a fairway-view listing inside a gated Northshore community with a par-72 championship course, pools, tennis, and a clubhouse. In the other, the same. On the portals, Money Hill and Beau Chêne read like substitutes.

They are not. One is a 39-year-old community with fixed HOA line items and a stable resale market. The other is still being built. That single difference reorders almost every question a serious buyer should be asking.

The Thesis, Stated Plainly

Beau Chêne is a mature market. Money Hill is a mid-build market. When you compare them lot by lot, you are not comparing two versions of the same product. You are comparing a finished neighborhood against a neighborhood whose amenity roster, road network, and homesite inventory will look different in three years than it does today. That has real consequences for pricing, carry, and exit.

Everything below is evidence for that claim.

What The BCHOA Packet Actually Tells You

Beau Chêne's economics are unusually legible for a private community because the homeowners association publishes them in a document any buyer can download before writing an offer. Dues are $219.45 per month for dwellings and $70.79 per month for lots, per the 2025 BCHOA packet. That number funds neighborhood services, not golf.

The club is a separate corporation. The country club, golf courses, swimming pool, tennis facilities and golf course ponds and lakes are owned and operated by The Earnest Corporation. Membership in the club is separate and apart from BCHOA membership. No property owner is exempt from BCHOA membership. That last sentence matters. Every owner pays HOA dues. Club membership is optional and priced separately.

The practical read for a buyer:

Because these figures are published and the community was originally developed in 1974, a buyer running a carrying-cost model can lock most inputs before ever touring. That predictability is the product.

Money Hill's Fee Puzzle Has A Moving Piece

Money Hill separates dues the same way in principle, but the community is younger and still expanding, which means the amenity set you are paying to belong to is not the same amenity set you will belong to at closing.

Start with what exists. The club sits on a Ron Garl-designed course that was built in 1997. Ron Garl (1998) is the architect, playing to 7131 yards. The rating of Money Hill Golf & Country Club is 74.4. The slope of Money Hill Golf & Country Club is 136. The setting is unusual for the region: community with one of La.'s Top 10 Golf Courses, 186-acre bass fishing lake, nature trails, the Grille for dining and more, surrounded by 3,500 acres of nature preserves. Highland Homes is the featured builder, marketing homesites across roughly over 5800 pristine acres.

Now the moving piece. Money Hill is in the middle of a capital cycle. Biz New Orleans reported this spring on a multi-million dollar clubhouse renovation, a greens renovation, and a brand new residential section called "The Woods", Money Hill's expansion plans continue with the additional opening of new phases and a variety of homesites, and construction now underway on The Hill Market. This boutique grocery and gathering space is expected to be completed in Fall 2026. The Hill Market will offer residents and surrounding communities a welcoming place to shop, gather, and connect. The Village at Money Hill is already home to a St. Tammany Physicians Network clinic, also include additional conveniences such as a bank, spa, and other neighborhood retail and services in its long-term plan.

Two of those items change buyer math in opposite directions.

The clubhouse and greens renovation supports the club dues you are paying. That is upside baked into what you already carry.

The Hill Market and Village build-out is different. It adds daily-life convenience that raises the value of every homesite around it, and it is scheduled to open in the months after most 2026 buyers close. If you buy in early 2026, you are pricing a lot whose walk-to-groceries story does not exist yet. That is a real information asymmetry, and it usually favors the earlier buyer.

Membership structure is also less standardized than Beau Chêne's. Prior reporting on the community notes membership options include Full Golf, Young Executive, and Social categories with access to golf, dining, events, racquets, pool, and fitness, and buyers should confirm whether membership is deed-tied for their specific parcel. Beau Chêne's packet answers that question in one sentence. At Money Hill, you ask the club and read the covenants for your lot.

Inventory Tells The Same Story Twice

Look at what is actively listed inside each community.

Beau Chêne's inventory is dominated by resale of existing homes across four decades of architecture. This massive community is home to approximately 4,500 residents that include 339 condominiums, 1,173 single family homes and 38 lots. With its own private water and sewage facility, this unique neighborhood has over 40 years of residential home styles ranging from Acadian Old Style charm to the modern traditional style homes of today. The lot count is small because the neighborhood is essentially built out. If you want new construction inside the gates, you are building on one of very few remaining parcels or tearing something down.

Money Hill's active mix skews the other way. Portal snapshots this spring showed roughly two dozen active listings with a heavy share of homesites and new-construction inventory, alongside custom homes on the fairways. Marketing language across current listings references Great location on the #1 Tee at MoneyHill Plantation. Walking distance to the Country Club. Last lot available to to build on in The Villas section of MoneyHill. When "last lot in this section" is a common phrase, you are shopping a development, not a resale market.

The consequence for a buyer:

• In Beau Chêne, comps are dense. You can price a fairway lot against several recent sales within a few hundred yards.
• In Money Hill, comps thin out fast, especially in newer sections like The Woods where nothing has traded yet. Appraisers lean harder on cross-community comps, and offer strategy has to account for that.

The Location Trade That Portals Flatten

Portal filters treat "Northshore gated golf community" as a single bucket. The two addresses do different jobs.

Beau Chêne sits between Mandeville and Madisonville, close to Lake Pontchartrain and the Tchefuncte, with access via the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge to New Orleans and Interstate 12. It is the community you pick if you are commuting south across the Causeway or you want a marina slip and quick lake access.

Money Hill sits on the northeast side of Abita Springs, off LA-435 at Money Hill Pkwy. It is the community you pick if you want deep pine forest, higher elevation, and proximity to the Tammany Trace and downtown Abita Springs. It is a longer drive to the Causeway. It is a shorter walk to a heron.

Neither is better. They are answers to different questions. The mistake is treating them as interchangeable because both have gates and golf.

A Due-Diligence Checklist That Follows The Thesis

Because the two communities are at different lifecycle stages, the questions you ask should not be identical.

If you are looking at Beau Chêne, focus on the fixed carry and the age of the housing stock:

1. Confirm current BCHOA dues against the most recent packet, not the number on any third-party site.
2. Ask for the reserve study and any special assessment history. A 40-plus-year community with private water and sewer has capital cycles.
3. Price club membership separately from HOA. The club is a different corporation, and you can own without joining.
4. For homes built in the 1970s and 1980s, budget for systems replacement even when the interior has been remodeled.

If you are looking at Money Hill, focus on phasing risk and future amenity:

1. Ask which section your lot sits in and where it falls in the build-out sequence. The Woods behaves differently than an older street near the clubhouse.
2. Confirm in writing whether club membership is required for your specific parcel. Do not rely on general marketing.
3. Weigh The Hill Market timing against your closing date. If groceries and gathering space matter to your daily life, buying before Fall 2026 completion means living without it for a stretch.
4. For new construction, ask the builder for a realistic timeline that includes design review by the community, not just permit-to-slab.

The same buyer, using the same budget, should not run the same checklist against both.

FAQ

Is one community "better" than the other? No. Beau Chêne rewards buyers who value predictable carry, mature landscaping, marina access, and a short hop to Mandeville and the Causeway. Money Hill rewards buyers who value elevation, forest, custom-build flexibility, and a bet on where the community will be in five years.

How current are the HOA figures? The $219.45 dwelling and $70.79 lot figures come from the BCHOA's 2025 packet published on bchoa.org. Confirm the current schedule directly with the association before writing an offer.

Are club dues public? No. Both clubs quote dues privately by tier. You request a membership packet during due diligence.

What about the Hill Market completion date? Biz New Orleans reported a Fall 2026 target this spring. Construction schedules move. Treat it as directional, not contractual.

If you are weighing Money Hill against Beau Chêne, the right first step is not another portal search. It is a candid conversation about which lifecycle stage fits your household and your timeline. Felicity Kahn & Associates works both communities regularly and can walk you through the specific covenants, comps, and carry for the lots you are considering. When you are ready, get your free home valuation and we will build the comparison around your numbers, not a generic portal filter.