Westlake / Eanes ISD Homes for Sale in West Austin

Welcome to Westlake & Eanes ISD

Westlake is what happens when Hill Country terrain sits four miles from a state capital. Limestone ridges, live oak canopy, and Lake Austin shoreline, all within a fifteen-minute drive of downtown Austin's office towers.

The name itself is a little loose. "Westlake" isn't a single incorporated city. It's shorthand for the collection of communities west of MoPac Expressway that share the 78746 ZIP code and, more importantly, share Eanes Independent School District.

That school district is the organizing principle of the entire submarket. Eanes ISD boundaries do more to shape home values here than any single street, view corridor, or lot size. Families relocating to Austin for work often start their search by drawing the district map first and looking at houses second.

What buyers find inside those lines is an unusual combination: a small-town civic culture built around Friday night football and a Fourth of July parade, layered over one of the most expensive residential markets in Texas. Median sale prices sit above $2 million, and waterfront compounds trade in the double-digit millions.

This guide covers what the area actually offers, how the neighborhoods differ from one another, and what your budget realistically buys at each tier.

Where Westlake Is Located and How to Get Around

Westlake occupies the Travis County land immediately west of downtown Austin, along the southern bend of Lake Austin. The core of it is the incorporated cities of West Lake Hills and Rollingwood, plus a ring of unincorporated pocket communities that fall outside city limits but inside the same school and ZIP boundaries.

Two roads do most of the work.

Loop 360, the Capital of Texas Highway, runs north-south through the heart of the area. It's the scenic artery, crossing the Pennybacker Bridge at the north end and connecting toward the Arboretum and Domain. South, it links to US-290 and the Oak Hill corridor.

Bee Cave Road, or FM 2244, handles east-west movement. Head east and you're downtown. Head west and you reach the Hill Country Galleria in Bee Cave. Nearly all of Westlake's retail, grocery, and medical services cluster along this road, which keeps residential streets quiet.

Practical reality: this is a car-dependent area. Public transit options are minimal, and the topography that makes Westlake beautiful also makes it poorly suited to walking between destinations. Rollingwood is the exception, with genuine walkability to Zilker Park and the Barton Creek greenbelt.

Downtown Austin is a 10 to 15 minute drive outside of peak hours. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport runs 20 to 25 minutes via Ben White Boulevard and Highway 71.

Inside Eanes ISD: One of Texas's Top-Rated School Districts

Eanes ISD serves roughly 8,000 students across ten campuses, and it has spent decades near the top of state and national public school rankings.

The structure is compact: six elementary schools, two middle schools in Hill Country and Ridgeview, and a single high school in Westlake High. That single-high-school design matters more than it sounds. It means the entire district funnels into one student body, one stadium, and one graduating class identity, which is a large part of why the community feels as cohesive as it does.

Academically, the district consistently earns "A" ratings from the Texas Education Agency, with high Advanced Placement participation and a steady output of National Merit Scholars.

Athletics and fine arts carry real weight here too. Westlake's football, swimming, and golf programs compete at a national level, and the music and performing arts departments are state-recognized.

One element that distinguishes Eanes from peer districts is the Eanes Education Foundation. As a property-wealthy district subject to state recapture, Eanes loses a significant share of local tax revenue back to the state. The Foundation raises private funds to backfill that gap, directly underwriting teacher positions and instructional staff. Parents here don't just pay taxes into the schools. They fundraise into them, often substantially.

For buyers, the practical takeaway is simple: every home in this guide sits inside Eanes ISD. That access is baked into the price, and it's the single most durable value driver in the 78746 market.

Neighborhoods Within Westlake

Westlake is not one neighborhood. It's five or six meaningfully different ones, and choosing among them comes down to whether you want walkability, privacy, views, golf, or a more accessible entry price.

Rollingwood is the closest thing Westlake has to a traditional walkable village. It's an established luxury enclave just across the creek from Zilker Park, where 1950s ranch homes sit beside ultra-modern rebuilds on the same block. The city maintains an active community park with a pool and ball fields. If proximity to downtown and the greenbelt ranks above acreage on your list, start here.

West Lake Hills is the wooded, hilly heart of the area. Custom architectural estates are built directly into the rolling topography, and strict low-density zoning protects the tree canopy that defines the streetscape. This is where you find dramatic skyline and hilltop views, and where the most architecturally significant homes in the submarket tend to be located.

Davenport Ranch sits along Loop 360 near the Pennybacker Bridge, a master-planned upscale community anchored by Austin Country Club. The inventory here is more varied than elsewhere in Westlake: luxury condominiums, golf-course estates, and gated enclaves all coexist. For buyers who want low-maintenance living without leaving Eanes ISD, Davenport Ranch is often the answer.

Lost Creek nestles along the Barton Creek Greenbelt and skews mid-century to 1980s in construction. It's the most family-accessible pocket in the district, with meaningfully lower price points than the ridge lines and a strong neighborhood culture supported by country club amenities. Many buyers who want Eanes schools on a tighter budget land in Lost Creek.

Rob Roy is the gated, high-security option. Large estate lots, sprawling multi-acre properties, and sweeping Hill Country views near the Wild Basin Preserve. Privacy is the product here.

Beyond these, several unincorporated pockets and smaller enclaves fall within Eanes boundaries, including sections near Barton Creek that share the district without sharing the West Lake Hills or Rollingwood city addresses. Verifying school zoning parcel by parcel matters in these edge areas, because assumptions based on mailing address are frequently wrong.

The Westlake Real Estate Market at a Glance

Westlake is one of the most exclusive and most resilient residential submarkets in Texas, and the two qualities are connected.

Median sale price in 78746 typically runs between $2.1 million and $2.4 million. Luxury waterfront and custom hilltop estates routinely trade above $5 million, and the top of the market reaches well past $10 million.

Price per square foot commonly lands between $600 and $1,000, with condition, lot size, and view corridor driving most of the variance. Two homes of identical square footage a quarter mile apart can differ by hundreds of dollars per foot based purely on what you see from the back terrace.

Days on market average roughly 50 to 70 days. That figure can mislead. Turnkey properties priced near true market value move quickly, while ambitiously priced or dated inventory sits and drags the average upward. In practice, this is a market where accurate pricing produces fast results and aspirational pricing produces long holds.

Three forces keep values steady through broader market cycles. The first is proximity: under fifteen minutes to downtown is a fixed geographic advantage that no new development can replicate. The second is Eanes ISD access. The third, and most underrated, is land supply. The same hilly terrain and low-density zoning that make Westlake attractive also make it nearly impossible to add meaningful new inventory. Supply is effectively capped.

Architectural Styles and What to Expect from Westlake Homes

Westlake's housing stock reads as a timeline of Austin's architectural preferences, layered across sixty years of building.

Hill Country Modern and Contemporary dominates recent construction and the top of the market. Expect floor-to-ceiling glass, native Texas limestone, clean steel lines, and flat or low-pitched metal roofs. These homes are designed around a single goal: dissolving the boundary between interior space and the panoramic valley or downtown view outside.

Mid-Century Modern and original ranch homes populate the established pockets, especially Lost Creek, early West Lake Hills, and Rollingwood. Single-story profiles, vaulted ceilings with exposed beams, and mature tree canopies are typical. A significant share of these homes now function as land plays. Buyers acquire them for the lot and either execute a high-end gut renovation or build new.

Mediterranean and Tuscan estates define the 1990s and 2000s building wave, concentrated in gated enclaves like Rob Roy and golf communities like Davenport Ranch. Tile roofs, stone facades, double iron entry doors, and resort-style pool grounds. These homes offer substantial square footage per dollar, though buyers seeking a contemporary aesthetic often factor in renovation cost.

Transitional Farmhouse has become the default for recent custom builds. Board-and-batten siding, dark window frames, and open, family-centric floor plans.

One note that catches out-of-state buyers: the terrain here means many homes are built into slopes rather than onto pads. Multi-level entries, basement-level living space, and long driveways are common. Inspect the retaining walls, drainage, and foundation on hillside properties with particular care.

Price Ranges and What Your Budget Buys in 78746

The ZIP code offers entry options in the lower ranges for condominiums and original-condition structures, but the median standalone home list price sits closer to $2.3 million to $2.7 million.

Here is how the tiers break down in practice:

The jump most buyers underestimate is between the second and third tier. Moving from $2.4 million to $2.9 million frequently buys not just more house but a fundamentally different property type: a real view, a private lot, and a home that doesn't need a renovation budget attached to the purchase price.

The other thing worth understanding is that waterfront operates as its own market. Lake Austin frontage with a usable private dock is a finite asset, and pricing there tracks shoreline scarcity more than it tracks square footage.

Hill Country Living: Lake Austin, Greenbelts, and Outdoor Recreation

The outdoor access here is not a marketing line. It's a daily-use amenity that sits within a few minutes of most Westlake front doors.

Lake Austin allows motorized watercraft, which is the critical distinction from Lady Bird Lake downtown. Residents wakeboard, water ski, and take pontoons out on weekday evenings, while the quieter coves support paddleboarding and kayaking. Waterfront homes typically include private boat docks. Everyone else uses nearby public launches and marina rentals, which works perfectly well for most families.

The Barton Creek Greenbelt runs along Westlake's southern border and delivers miles of hiking, trail running, and mountain biking. The Loop 360 trailhead connects directly to Twin Falls, Sculpture Falls, and the limestone climbing walls. After a wet spring, the swimming holes along this stretch are genuinely excellent.

Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve is the quieter option: 227 protected acres in West Lake Hills with about 2.5 miles of trail winding through native woodland, creek beds, and canyon overlooks. It's a research and education preserve, so expect solitude rather than crowds.

For everyday recreation, Davenport Park and the Rollingwood community park handle playgrounds and sports fields. Austin Country Club, private and historic, anchors the northern edge of the area with golf and dockside dining on the lake.

Road cyclists should know that Loop 360's shoulders are one of Austin's most-used training routes, which is worth factoring into both your commute expectations and your weekend plans.

Dining, Shopping, and Everyday Conveniences in Westlake

Nearly all commercial activity concentrates along Bee Cave Road and Loop 360. That design keeps residential streets quiet while putting most errands inside a five to ten minute drive.

Village at Westlake functions as the practical center of the area, anchored by an upscale H-E-B and surrounded by everyday services, local restaurants, fitness studios, and retail. Medical and wellness services spread along Bee Cave Road as well, including boutique specialty practices and urgent care.

The dining scene is smaller than downtown but well-established. The Grove Wine Bar & Kitchen draws locals to a shaded, tree-covered patio with extensive wine flights and New American bistro fare. Sway brings high-end modern Thai to a sleek Bee Cave Road setting. Texas Honey Ham Company is the everyday staple for breakfast tacos and sandwiches, and it becomes a genuine institution around the holidays. Vaqueros Café & Cantina and Las Palapas handle Tex-Mex, margaritas, and family patio dinners.

On the retail side, Breed & Co. deserves its own mention. It's a hybrid of luxury home goods, fine china, hardware, and garden center that has operated as a Westlake fixture for decades and has no real equivalent elsewhere in Austin. Davenport Village and Westlake Square round things out with upscale boutiques, gift shops, and specialty fitness studios.

The honest limitation is that Westlake is not a nightlife or dense dining district. Residents who want that range drive fifteen minutes east into downtown or south into South Lamar, which most consider a fair trade for the quiet.

Community Life, Local Events, and Culture

For an area minutes from a major city, Westlake retains a distinctly small-town civic rhythm. Most of it traces back to having one high school.

Friday night football is the cultural centerpiece. Chaparral Stadium fills on autumn Fridays with thousands of residents supporting one of the premier high school programs in the country, one that counts NFL quarterbacks Drew Brees, Nick Foles, and Sam Ehlinger among its alumni. "Chap Nation" is not a slogan the school invented. It's how people here actually talk.

The West Lake Hills Fourth of July Parade, hosted by the Westlake Chamber of Commerce along Westlake Drive, is a decades-old tradition with patriotic costume contests, floats, classic cars, community booths, and food trucks. It's the single best morning to see the whole community in one place.

The Eanes Education Foundation Gala ranks among the largest annual fundraising events in the region, uniting parents and local businesses to raise millions that fund teaching positions directly.

Weekend life fills in around the Westlake Farmers Market and a heavy calendar of youth athletics, from Western Hills Little League to Westlake Youth Basketball. Add cycling on Loop 360 and trail running through the greenbelt, and you have a community where a large share of social connection happens outdoors and around kids' activities.

Buyers without school-age children sometimes find this culture more family-oriented than they expected. It's worth knowing going in.

Commuting to Downtown Austin and Major Employment Hubs

Westlake's position west of MoPac gives residents a structural commute advantage over suburbs further north or south, largely because it avoids I-35 entirely.

A practical note from experience: eastbound Bee Cave Road backs up near the MoPac interchange between roughly 7:30 and 9:00 AM. The delay is real but measured in minutes, not the multi-hour sits that outer-ring commuters face on I-35. If you work downtown or in the Barton Skyway corridor, Westlake is close to the best commute geography available at this price point.

The Domain commute is the one to scrutinize. Off-peak it's twenty minutes. At 5:30 PM it can approach an hour. Buyers working north should test that drive at the actual time they'd be making it before committing to a specific neighborhood.

Working with a Westlake Real Estate Expert

Westlake rewards local knowledge in ways that a listing feed cannot convey. Whether a lot's view corridor is protected, whether a hillside foundation was engineered properly, which parcels near the district edge actually zone into Eanes, and which properties are quietly available before they ever reach the MLS are all questions that come down to relationships and experience in this specific submarket.

Kathryn Scarborough brings both. A fifth-generation Austinite, Kathryn has represented more than $2 billion in active, pending, and sold inventory since 2001, with a practice built around Lake Austin waterfront, Hill Country luxury estates, premier golf course communities, and downtown high-rise living. She was recognized in the 2026 RealTrends Verified rankings as the #5 real estate professional in Austin, #14 in Texas, and #303 in the United States, and was previously ranked #1 among Austin's top Realtors® by the Austin Business Journal.

As a License Partner and Private Office Advisor with Engel & Völkers, Kathryn holds a place among the top .001% of Texas Realtors® and belongs to Austin's Elite 25 and Luxury League. Her clients gain access to both on-market and off-market opportunities, supported by a global referral network and concierge-level service at every price point.

If you're considering a move into Westlake or Eanes ISD, or you own here and want a clear read on what your property would bring in today's market, reach out directly:

Kathryn Scarborough
License Partner, Private Office Advisor | Engel & Völkers Austin
Phone: (512) 970-1355
Email: [email protected]
Office: 3700 Bee Caves Rd., Suite 102, Austin, TX 78746
License #483433