Build Guide: Lake Quivira, Kansas
Lake Quivira is a private, gated incorporated city of about 1,000 residents built around a 224-acre spring-fed lake on the western edge of Shawnee, Kansas, roughly 20 minutes from downtown Overland Park. It is unusual even by Kansas City metro standards: the city line straddles Johnson and Wyandotte counties, with most of its roughly 400 homes on the Johnson County side and the county line running through the north end of the lake itself.
Faust Construction builds new homes, additions, and whole-house renovations in Lake Quivira and across the Kansas City metro.
What defines Lake Quivira
Lake Quivira began in 1922 when developer Charles E. Gault set out to build a recreational lake fed by the springs on the site. Dam work started in the fall of 1927 and finished in June 1929. Nine holes of golf opened in the summer of 1930 and the full eighteen by July 1931. Residents formed the homes association now known as Quivira, Inc. in 1941, and in 1944 Q Inc. bought out the Quivira Land Company and made the residential areas private. The community became gated in 1966 and was approved as a third-class city by the Johnson County commissioners in 1971.
Physically it is unlike anything else in Johnson County: heavily wooded, steeply graded, and organized around water rather than around a street grid. The housing runs from original mid-twentieth-century lake cottages through extensively renovated homes to large newer custom construction. Direct lakefront and immediate dock access are scarce, which is why renovation and rebuild dominate over new construction.
The county line is not just trivia. It puts the clubhouse, golf course, and tennis courts in Wyandotte County while most homes sit in Johnson County, splits the community between the Shawnee Mission and Turner school districts, and means two nearly identical houses can carry noticeably different tax bills.
What homeowners should know
Lake Quivira is the most logistically constrained place to build in the metro, and the constraints are mostly about access and equipment rather than design. The requirements below come from the city’s Construction and Building Permits page.
Three separate approvals, and only one of them is the city
A project here clears a private association committee, a city permit, and a county license. Quivira, Inc.’s Restrictions and Architecture Review Committee reviews projects for compliance with Q Inc. rules and regulations. The city issues the building permit. And Johnson County licenses the contractor.
Q Inc. does not publish its covenants, guidelines, submittal requirements, or meeting calendar publicly, so we do not state them here. Get them from the association at the start of a project. The city also does not publish whether association approval must precede the city permit, so confirm the sequence rather than assuming it.
The City of Shawnee does Lake Quivira’s plan review
Lake Quivira contracts with the City of Shawnee to review construction plans, conduct inspections during the project, and perform the final inspection. Applications are submitted through the city’s CitizenServe portal, reviewed first by the Lake Quivira building official, then forwarded to Shawnee.
That is a real practical fact, not a curiosity. It means the plan reviewer looking at a Lake Quivira house is the same office that reviews Shawnee houses, and Shawnee is a city with demanding submittal standards.
Concrete trucks are capped at six cubic yards
Because the roads are private and the terrain is steep, Lake Quivira publishes vehicle weight limits: two-axle vehicles at 40,000 pounds gross, three or more axles at 51,500 pounds, and ready-mix haulers limited to a load no larger than six cubic yards.
A standard mixer carries eight to ten yards. On a foundation pour that means more trucks, more trips through the gate, and a longer day. It has to be in the concrete bid and the schedule from the start, and it is the single item most likely to blow up a budget built on metro averages.
Work hours are limited, and Sundays are out
Construction is permitted Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. No construction is allowed on Sundays or holidays. Combined with an association-controlled front gate, that makes crew scheduling less flexible than on an open site.
Permits, bonds, and codes
A permit is invalid if work does not commence within 180 days and expires one year from issuance, with one extension of up to 180 days available. Permit fees and bond money are forfeited on expiration. Some projects require a performance bond on top of the permit fee, refundable conditioned on no property damage, no excessive inspection failures, no ordinance violations, and no fee overages. The city does not publish the bond amount, so ask.
The city currently lists the 2024 International Building, Mechanical, Plumbing, Fire, and Fuel Gas Codes, the 2018 International Residential Code, and the 2023 National Electrical Code. Note that the codified ordinance text still references the 2018 International Building Code, so confirm the current edition with the building official before drawing to it.
Contractors need a Johnson County license, even on the Wyandotte side
The city states it directly: contractors must have a current Johnson County contractor license to perform work at Lake Quivira. That applies across the whole city, including the roughly seventeen homes on the Wyandotte County side. A current contractor registration form must also be on file with the building official.
The lake, and what we could not confirm
The city and Q Inc. are jointly working on lake dredging: the coves have shallowed as silt has come in from upstream, and Q Inc. funded bathymetric mapping after no dredging since the 1980s. Beyond that, rules on docks, boathouses, seawalls, shoreline structures, tree removal on slopes, and lakefront erosion control are not published on any public city or association page. They are almost certainly Q Inc. covenant matters. We have not stated them here rather than guess, and any lakefront project should start with the association.
| District | Min. lot area | Lot width | Front | Side | Rear | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R-1 | 12,000 sq. ft. | 100 ft. | 40 ft. | 7 ft. each | 25 ft. | 30% |
| R-2 | 25,000 sq. ft. | 150 ft. | 40 ft. | 18 ft. | 30 ft. | 25% |
| R-3 | 32,670 sq. ft. | 150 ft. | 40 ft. | 18 ft. | 30 ft. | 20% |
| R-4 | 43,560 sq. ft. | Confirm | 50 ft. | 25 ft. | Confirm | 20% |
Why Lake Quivira projects take local experience
Faust Construction has built in the Kansas City metro for more than 25 years. Lake Quivira is a project where the design is rarely the hard part. The hard part is getting material and equipment onto a steep, wooded lot behind a gate, on private roads with published load limits, inside a six-day work week.
Our pre-construction phase is built for exactly that. We price the concrete against a six-yard load cap rather than a standard mixer, sequence deliveries around gate access and permitted work hours, and confirm the association review calendar and the Shawnee plan review step before committing to a schedule. On a site like this, logistics planning is what protects the budget.
Pre-construction
We price the design, evaluate materials and alternatives, and build a schedule that accounts for city review milestones.
Construction
We work with a consistent group of craftsmen and trade partners, with daily on-site presence throughout the build.
Management
We track cost against budget transparently and meet monthly with the architect and homeowner.
What we build in Lake Quivira
Lake Quivira runs from original mid-century lake cottages to large newer custom homes on wooded, sloping lots, and the work reflects that spread.
- Whole-house renovations. Reworking layout, systems, and finishes in an original lake house so it functions as a year-round home without losing what makes it a lake house.
- Additions. Expansions on sloping, wooded lots where grade, access, and tree cover shape the design as much as the setbacks do.
- Rebuilds and new construction. Replacement houses on existing lots, planned around private road load limits, gate access, and association review.
- Interior renovations. Kitchens, baths, and lower-level finishes, which still carry the same permit, work hour, and access constraints as everything else here.
Our completed work spans new construction, additions, and full renovations across the Kansas City metro, including lake communities on both sides of the state line. Lake Quivira sits inside our regular service area alongside Shawnee, Mission Hills, Prairie Village, Leawood, Overland Park, and the Kansas City, Missouri neighborhoods along Ward Parkway.
Recent work
Browse new construction, additions, and full-home renovations from across the Kansas City metro, including projects in established neighborhoods that share this area’s scale and housing stock.
Questions about building here
Answers to what homeowners ask before starting a project in this area.
Is Lake Quivira a city or a private community?
Both. Lake Quivira is an incorporated third-class city, approved by the Johnson County commissioners in 1971, and it is also a private gated community that has been closed to the public since 1966. The city provides police, fire, water and sewer, roads, and dams. Quivira, Inc., the homes association, manages the country club, golf course, community center, and front gate security.
What county is Lake Quivira in?
Both Johnson and Wyandotte. The city line straddles the two, with most of its roughly 400 homes on the Johnson County side and about seventeen on the Wyandotte side. The county line runs through the north end of the lake itself, and the clubhouse, golf course, and tennis courts sit in Wyandotte County. The split also divides the community between the Shawnee Mission and Turner school districts and produces different tax bills for otherwise similar houses.
Who reviews building plans at Lake Quivira?
Two bodies. Quivira, Inc.’s Restrictions and Architecture Review Committee reviews projects for compliance with the association’s rules and regulations. The city issues the building permit, but contracts with the City of Shawnee to perform the construction plan review, the inspections during the project, and the final inspection. Applications are submitted through the city’s CitizenServe portal.
Are there construction restrictions at Lake Quivira?
Yes, and they are unusually specific. Because the roads are private, the city limits two-axle vehicles to 40,000 pounds gross, vehicles with three or more axles to 51,500 pounds, and ready-mix haulers to a load no larger than six cubic yards. A standard mixer carries eight to ten yards, so a foundation pour takes more trucks and more gate trips. Construction hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, with no work on Sundays or holidays.
How long is a Lake Quivira building permit valid?
A permit is invalid if work does not commence within 180 days and expires one year from issuance, with one extension of up to 180 days available. Permit fees and bond money are forfeited on expiration. Some projects also require a performance bond on top of the permit fee, refundable conditioned on no property damage, no excessive inspection failures, no ordinance violations, and no fee overages. The city does not publish the bond amount.
Does Faust Construction build in Lake Quivira, Kansas?
Yes. Faust Construction is a Kansas City metro custom home builder and remodeler working in Lake Quivira along with Shawnee, Mission Hills, Prairie Village, Leawood, Overland Park, and the Kansas City, Missouri neighborhoods. Brian Faust founded the company more than 25 years ago, and it builds new homes, additions, and full-home renovations.
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