A Guide to the Century West Neighborhood in Southwest Bend
Bend, Oregon › Southwest Bend › Century West District
Century West is one of 13 official City of Bend Neighborhood Districts, covering roughly 1,544 acres along SW Century Drive on the southwest side of town. The name gets used loosely around Bend, but inside the actual district boundary you’ll find the Broken Top golf club community plus the quieter Bachelor View and Braeburn residential streets closer to town. What draws people here is the Century Drive corridor itself: it’s the same road that climbs into the Cascades toward Mt. Bachelor, so mountain views, golf, and easy access to skiing and mountain biking are part of daily life, not just a weekend plan.
Homes in Century West have generally ranged from around $500,000 on Bachelor View and Braeburn up to $2.6 million or more for larger Broken Top view and fairway homes. If you’re cross-shopping this corridor, know that Tetherow and Widgi Creek sit right next door but just outside the official Century West boundary, in unincorporated Deschutes County. More on that below, because it actually matters for taxes and jurisdiction.
Where it sits in Southwest Bend
Finding Century West on the map.
The map below outlines the Century West district boundary. Broken Top sits at the western edge, wrapped around its golf course and ponderosa forest. Bachelor View and Braeburn are the streets closer to town, east of Broken Top, within easy reach of Summit High School. SW Century Drive runs through the middle of it all, connecting the district to downtown Bend in one direction and to Tetherow and Mt. Bachelor in the other. Use the map to orient yourself, then explore the sections below.
Century West
Broken Top
Tetherow
Century West district boundary — approximate, based on the City of Bend Neighborhood District map. Tap to explore.
Character and identity
What Century West is
actually like to live in.
Century West isn’t one subdivision with one feel. It’s a City of Bend district boundary drawn to organize neighborhood associations and civic participation, and the character genuinely changes block by block. Inside the gates of Broken Top, you’re living around a private golf club with mature landscaping and Cascade views that took thirty years to grow in. On Bachelor View and Braeburn, you’re in a quieter, more conventional residential setting, still close enough to Century Drive to feel the mountain pull, but without the club dues or the golf-community formality.
“What surprises buyers most about Century West is how differently the same district can feel from one street to the next. I’ve walked Broken Top listings where the whole conversation was about club membership tiers, and I’ve walked Braeburn listings the same week where nobody mentioned golf once. You have to know which conversation you’re actually having before you write an offer.”
Broken Top is the anchor. In the early 1990s, a group of investors organized as Broken Top Limited Partnership ran a real design competition for the golf course, and the team of Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish won the job over a competing bid from Jack Nicklaus. Wadsworth Golf Course Construction built the course through 1992, it was completed on October 31, 1992, and the club opened to members on July 4, 1993. Deschutes County GIS records list 68 separate recorded plats under the Broken Top name, spanning the original phases, golf tracts, Painted Ridge, and courtyard and townhome sections, which is part of why home styles range so widely within the same community.
The terrain shifts too. Broken Top sits in ponderosa forest with rolling, golf-course-shaped lots, while Bachelor View and Braeburn are more conventional flat-to-gently-sloped residential lots. Lot sizes vary block to block rather than following one pattern, so if a specific lot size matters to you, verify it against the county assessor record rather than assuming based on the street name.
Century Drive itself is what ties the district together as a place, not just a name on a map. It’s the road you take to the grocery store, to Summit High School, and eventually up to Mt. Bachelor, so it carries real daily traffic alongside the tourist traffic headed to the mountain.
Outdoors
Trails, parks, and
what’s right outside the door.
Century West’s eastern edge sits close to the Deschutes River Trail, so a morning run or bike ride toward the river and the Old Mill District is realistic without getting in a car. Century Drive going the other direction is the access route to Mt. Bachelor and the Cascade Lakes Highway, which means ski days and mountain bike rides start closer to home than they do from most of Bend.
Farewell Bend Park — river access, trails, and open lawn space along the Deschutes, a short drive or ride from Century West.
Mt. Bachelor — reached directly via SW Century Drive and the Cascade Lakes Highway, roughly 20 to 22 miles from the district.
Winter changes the calculus a little. Century Drive gets plowed regularly since it’s the main route to Mt. Bachelor, but expect more traffic on powder days and during ski season weekends than you’d see the rest of the year.
Day-to-day life
Groceries, coffee, and
where people actually go.
You’re not walking to a corner grocery store from most of Century West. Most errands mean a drive of five to ten minutes toward town along Century Drive, where you’ll find the closer commercial stretches near the Old Mill District. What you gain in exchange is quiet, and for Broken Top residents specifically, a golf club with dining on site.
Widgi Creek Golf Club — public course about a mile from Broken Top, an option for golf without club membership.
Mt. Bachelor — dining and apres options at the mountain itself during ski season.
The commercial corridor along Century Drive closer to town handles most of the day-to-day needs. For a bigger night out or a specialty grocery run, most people head into downtown Bend proper.
Development history
Century West’s history
and how it was built.
Century West as a name is a City of Bend planning designation, not a single development, so its history is really the history of what got built inside its boundary. Broken Top Limited Partnership, based out of Portland, San Francisco, and Japan, set out in the early 1990s to build a golf community west of town along Century Drive. The design competition for the course came down to Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish against Jack Nicklaus, and Weiskopf and Morrish won it in 1990 and 1991.
Wadsworth Golf Course Construction built the course through 1992, with completion on October 31, 1992, and Broken Top Club opened to members on July 4, 1993. Growth after that came in phases rather than all at once, with 68 separate recorded plats under the Broken Top name spanning golf tracts, Painted Ridge, and various courtyard and townhome sections over the years that followed.
Bachelor View and Braeburn developed on a more conventional residential timeline as Bend grew west, without the master-planned golf-community structure that shaped Broken Top. Today the district is essentially built out. Any new activity tends to be individual lot infill or remodels rather than new subdivisions, since there isn’t significant raw land left inside the boundary.
Architecturally, expect a mix: golf villas and larger custom view homes in Broken Top with materials and styles that vary by phase and builder, and more traditional single-family homes on Bachelor View and Braeburn. There’s no single dominant architectural style across the whole district, which is part of what makes “Century West” a harder neighborhood to describe in one sentence than most.
Schools
Where your kids will
go to school.
School assignments in Bend are set by home address and can shift when the district redraws boundaries. Confirm the current school for any specific address before relying on it — the Bend-La Pine Schools locator is the authoritative source.
Central Oregon Community College and OSU-Cascades are both within Bend and serve students from all neighborhoods. Distance from Century West runs about 10-15 minutes by car.
Century West Homes for Sale, Right Now
Active Century West listings, including Broken Top, Bachelor View, and Braeburn, are updated daily from COAR MLS on the main neighborhood page. Inventory moves fast in this district, especially in Broken Top, so what’s live today may be under contract by the weekend.
Advantages and Considerations
What to know before
buying in Century West.
Every neighborhood has genuine strengths and honest tradeoffs. Here’s what matters most to buyers who end up in Century West, and what’s worth knowing before you commit.
- The name “Century West” covers a wide range of price points and lifestyles. Don’t assume every listing here comes with golf club access or Broken Top’s HOA structure.
- If you’re buying in Broken Top, budget for HOA dues plus a separate golf club membership. The two are not automatically bundled with the home.
- Because Broken Top spans 68 recorded plats built out over years, home age, lot size, and finish level vary significantly even within the same community.
- Century Drive traffic increases during ski season and on Mt. Bachelor powder days. Factor that into your commute expectations if you work downtown.
- Tetherow and Widgi Creek are commonly lumped in with Century West, but they sit outside the official district and city limits, in unincorporated Deschutes County. That affects taxes and which jurisdiction handles the roads.
- School assignment can differ block to block even within the district. Confirm your specific address with Bend-La Pine Schools before assuming.
How it compares
Century West vs Broken Top and Tetherow.
These three names get used almost interchangeably around Bend, and they sit within a few miles of each other along the same Century Drive corridor. Here is the honest breakdown of how they actually differ.
Century West
Broken Top
Tetherow
Boundaries approximate, based on City of Bend and Deschutes County public data.
The official district, widest range
The original golf estate
Newer, outside city limits
None of these is objectively “better.” Broken Top offers three decades of established landscaping that Tetherow simply hasn’t had time to grow yet. Tetherow offers newer construction and contemporary design that some buyers prefer over Broken Top’s early-90s architecture. Which one fits depends on whether you value history and mature trees or modern floor plans and finishes.
Neighboring areas
What’s around
Century West.
Immediately west of Century West, just outside the official district, sit Tetherow and Widgi Creek, both unincorporated Deschutes County communities that share the Century Drive corridor and the golf-and-mountain lifestyle. Buyers cross-shop all three constantly, since the drive time between them is only a few minutes. To the east, Century West gives way to more established in-town Bend neighborhoods near the Old Mill District and downtown, where prices are typically set by proximity to the river and walkability rather than golf access. If golf course living and Cascade views matter more to you than walkability to downtown, Century West and its neighbors are the corridor to focus your search on.
My honest take
What I tell clients
about Century West.
The first thing I tell anyone looking at “Century West” listings is to stop treating it as one neighborhood, because it isn’t. I’ve shown Broken Top homes where the buyer’s whole decision came down to club membership tiers and whether the lot backed to the fairway or the forest, and I’ve shown Braeburn homes the same month where golf never came up once. Knowing which conversation you’re actually having, before you fall in love with a listing photo, saves a lot of confusion later in the process.
I also spend a fair amount of time untangling Century West from Tetherow and Widgi Creek for out-of-area buyers, because online listings and even some agents blur the line. It genuinely matters. It affects your tax rate, which jurisdiction you call about the road in front of your house, and in some cases how quickly emergency services reach you. None of that shows up in a listing photo, but it shows up on your closing statement and in your day-to-day life once you’re in the house.
If you’re serious about this corridor, whether that means Broken Top’s established fairways, a quieter street on Bachelor View or Braeburn, or you’re still deciding between here and Tetherow, reach out to me directly. I’ll walk you through what’s actually different about each option before you spend a weekend touring homes that don’t fit what you’re really looking for.
Century West FAQ
Questions people ask
about Century West.
Guide last updated September 2026 by Tiffany Vasquez, Life in Bend. Neighborhood facts sourced from the Bend Park & Recreation District, Bend-La Pine Schools, Deschutes County GIS and plat records, and the City of Bend Neighborhood District map.
22 years in real estate · 250+ homes sold
Top 3% Bend, per COAR MLS
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Tiffany is your guide, contact, and advocate from the first tour through closing, and her support staff makes sure you get the concierge service you deserve. With 22 years in real estate and a background raised by a father who built and developed custom luxury homes, she walks every Century West home, whether it’s in Broken Top or on Braeburn, with a builder’s eye.
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