In the fall of 1992 the idea for the Silver Oak Planned Unit Development was conceived when longtime Carson City resident and real estate developer Garth Richards secured an option to purchase the 650 acre Hartoonian Ranch located in northwest Carson City, along with an additional 100 plus acres directly adjacent to the Ranch and formed the Silver Oak Limited Partnership.
Mr. Richards was a 1953 graduate of Carson City High School and in 1957 completed his formal education at Utah State University as a distinguished military graduate after a tenure in the U.S. Army where he was Assistant Post Commander of the Nuremburg, Germany Ordinance Depot. In the spring of 1960, Mr. Richards returned to Carson City along with his lifetime friend and fellow Utah State graduate Floyd Saltern where they opened R&S Realty Company with offices in both Carson City and Sparks, Nevada.
In 1962 Mr. Richards developed his first subdivision, Comstock Hills. There were many more subdivisions developed by Mr. Richards in the years subsequent to Comstock Hills, but the largest and most successful of his career is the Silver Oak Planned Unit Development. Containing an eighteen hole golf course, approximately twelve hundred homes, and many acres of commercial property, Silver Oak has become the flagship of land developments in Carson City and a model for the booming land development business in Northern Nevada.
In 1968, Garth Richards married Joanie Presti, who was born and raised in the town of Lovelock, Nevada. Ms. Presti graduated from the University of Portland in Portland, Oregon and began her career as an elementary school teacher at Edith Fritsch School in Carson City. Joanie is best known for her decades of devotion to charities and more particularly, the Carson Tahoe Hospital Auxiliary ,where her tireless efforts have helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the hospital.
The Silver Oak Development Company is a Nevada Limited Partnership operated and controlled by G.T.S. Corporation. The officers of the controlling entity are as follows:
Garth Richards, President
Todd Richards, Vice President and Director
Sean Richards, Vice President and Director
Mark Turner, Vice President and Director
Mark Turner, Secretary and Treasurer
The eighteen-hole golf course you find at Silver Oak was designed by some of the partners. Several local contractors contributed to the construction of the golf course which was supervised by G.S. Richards Construction. The beautiful common landscaped areas found throughout the Silver Oak community, as well as both the irrigation systems for these areas and the golf course were constructed under the supervision of Sean Richards, son of Garth and Joanie Richards.
The majority of the existing residential lots and all future lots are being developed by Silver Oak Homes, a Nevada Corporation owned by Garth Richards, Sean Richards, and Mark Turner. The construction company responsible for building the lots inclusive of streets and utilities is Black Pine Construction, Ltd. co-owned by Sean Richards and Mark Turner. Most of the single family residences will also be constructed by Black Pine Construction, Ltd and property sales are being handled by Silver Oak Properties, Inc. which is owned by Mark Turner.
The owners and operators of Silver Oak wish to recognize and thank the following other investors in Silver Oak for their loyal support and friendship over the years:
Floyd E. Saltern, a personal friend of Mr. Richards for over 60 years
Donn and Linda Simons and Family Founders of Artistic Fence Company and friends of the Richards family for 40 + years.
Dr. Richard and Terry Long of Carson City, long time friends of the Richards Family.
