River Oaks subdivision began in 1987. Most of the homes were built by the end of 1988. Four models were built along River Oaks Drive, on the east side of the street. Besides regular publicity for home sales in real etate pages and with signage, River Oaks also appeared in Better Homes and Gardens and on the holiday front page of the Chicago Tribune Sunday homes section.
The October 1988 issue of Better Homes and Gardens featured a story on new homes available across the US for $125,000 or less. At this point, most of the homes in River Oaks were already sold.
The home from River Oaks featured in the BHG spread was the Briarwood model. At the time of the article, that particular house, one of the model homes, had a list price of $170,000, so not quite in the range quoted in the story.
In the December 19, 1987 edition of the Sunday Chicago Tribune, the Homes section had this large color picture of the decorated interior of one of the River Oaks models. The caption read:
"Anden Corp., like many other builders, believes that the creation of a festive atmosphere in model homes is essential during the normally slow holiday sales season. This is the Coventry, a single-family home in Anden's River Oaks subdivision in Warrenville.