The best kept secret in Maricopa County is starting to get some attention.

Goldfield Ranch, located east of Fort McDowell Yavapai Community, is a 5,000-acre parcel of land that still boasts the wide, wild desert. There currently are 27 homes under construction, but the jury is still out on what will be happening on the 2,200 acres purchased by the Ellman Companies in July.

Fountain Hills Realtor Phyliss Kern said Steve Ellman is “playing this real close to the chest. Nobody has heard when he will start developing (the property).”

Several calls placed to the Ellman Companies by HOME were not returned by press time.

Goldfield Ranch features land parcels no smaller than 4.4 acres, with most being sold in five-acre parcels. Kern said prices for an acre range from $65,000 to $100,000.

“I think Goldfield will take off here pretty soon,” she said. “This is the last of the big acreages in the northeastern part of Maricopa County to be developed.”

Some say that a rudimentary infrastructure has kept development moving slowly. Current residents depend on well water and septic systems. The telephone system is completely wireless. All the roads are gravel.

Goldfield Ranch is an unincorporated area of Maricopa County, and plans for the Ellman project will be reviewed by the county planning staff. The area is bounded by the Tonto National Forest on three sides, and Fort McDowell on the other.

The property originally was purchased by McCulloch Properties, Inc., the original developer of Fountain Hills, in 1972 from Page Land and Cattle Company. McCulloch sold the property in the late 1970s and it was sold off in 40 acre parcels much of which has subdivided into the five-acre parcels that are now developed.

Kern said the appeal of Goldfield is its beauty.

“The area out there is beautiful,” she said. “The solitude is unbelievable. Those two things are primarily what attract people to the community.”

Residents at Goldfield include families with children, doctors, lawyers, contractors and restaurateurs.

“It’s a wonderful mix of people,” Kern said. “They feel like they are living in paradise.”