Pros and Cons of a Courtyard Villa

[JimJohnson]

We are shopping and like the theory of a Courtyard Villa with a few reservations:

1. Problems like noise from neighbors side patio.
2. Having to go on neighbors drive way to go thru your backyard gate.

Does being so close become too close in these courtyards? Any feedback from owners will be greatly appreciated.

[asianthree]

We rented one before we made the decision. We did not buy. One very good reason to buy is if you have a dog(s)
It’s very convenient to give them space. The barking was tolerable, but echoing off the walls. We could also hear conversations from those on their phones, guessing their hearing was not great.

You do get total seclusion since your garage is most of the front of your house, and lanai is facing walls.

[zmarkp]

I have a CYV on a corner lot with 2 gates in. I very much like the privacy. My adjacent neighbors are quiet and don't own pets.

[brianherlihy]

I have a court villa on the corner. with two gates . the day we moved in. the next door neighb my adjacent neighbors told me not to go on his driveway . so we are going to sell and buy a home. and by the way I wont talk to him. he try to talk to me

[l2ridehd]

To close, garage to small, no storage, no privacy, and cost per square foot to high, IMHO.

It's a place you will love or hate, seems to be no in between. If you grew up in a city apartment you might find them great, if you grew up on a farm with lots of space you will probably hate it.

[Goldwingnut]

3 weeks short of 6 years on our CYV and the experience has been very very good.
With 2 Golden Retrievers our corner lot being fenced/walled has been a blessing, many of our neighbors also have pets and also love the this feature.
Privacy is great in a CYV because of the wall and only rarely do we notice any traffic noise from Buena Vista. Only on a rare occasion do we hear neighbors when we're sitting outside and even then it is very muted because of the wall/fence, unlike many designer homes with kissing-lanais.
The closeness of the homes (10-15 ft apart) and the angled configuration allow us to see more neighbors from our front lanai than we could from other home designs. This has resulted in more conversations with neighbors and friends walking by on the street than would have happened if we only saw them for the usual 2-3 seconds they would have been visible in the squared orientation of typical homes.
Our CYV community is very close and we have a very socially active neighborhood. Conversations with friends and other acquaintances live who live in or moved into/out of CYV communities have made the same observation of the other CYV communities.

The downside:
Short term renters who have little respect for others have been problematic with parking, their pets, and treatment of the community as a hotel.
Long term renters, when they move it saddens the community because they have become close friends and a part of our extended families. Many do keep in touch and stay engaged with the community.
Cars not obeying the 10MPH speed limit that is posted in the CYV communities.
People/vehicles that cut the left turns. Because of the shallow front yards and narrower streets almost every left turn is a blind turn and people cut the turn early crossing into oncoming traffic blindly and without slowing. There have been many near misses in our neighborhood of cars and trucks almost hitting people and other cars and in 2015 a short term renter cut the left turn in front of my house and ran head long into a Community Watch vehicle that was pulling up to the stop sign. The worst offenders are the garbage trucks and the delivery vehicles (FedEx/UPS), while most of the landscaping companies are very good about not doing this and take the turns wide.

A CYV community is not for everyone, some feel walled in and crowded, some don't like the layout, but if privacy and pets are important to you a CYV can be a great choice.

[Chatbrat]

Was turned off by the angled garage entrances and the garages appeared way too small--just a guess , got to be a lot of dents & dings on cars in a CYV

[PoolBrews]

We are now on our 2nd CYV, and wouldn't buy anything else! We absolutely love the privacy in the back yard, and not having to walk out back and look directly into our neighbors back lanai/windows.

We don't have dogs - just really like the CYV. We have a corner lot on our 2nd home, so we have both sides with gates now - that is a huge plus. We have a 2 car extended garage, so no issues there. We put in a huge birdcage (1,300 sq ft) and a pool, and the walls really help with privacy in our pool.

Our first CYV was a standard CYV where we only had the back side that entered through our neighbors driveway (BTW - I could never figure out why they did it this way - they could have easily switched all of them around and everyone could enter through their own driveway). We had the standard 1 car/ 1 golf cart garage, and very limited backyard compared to our new home. We still loved it! Again, the privacy in the back yard is fantastic.

We never had any issues with loud neighbors, or barking dogs.

To the poster who said their neighbor told them they couldn't go over his driveway to use their back gate - the deed restriction clearly state that you have full access to your back yard through your neighbors driveway. I have never had a neighbor that had an issue with this.

[Fredman]

Have a cyv and love it. Very private, quiet, and in a very active community. Plus no grass to worry about. Garage is small but adequate for car and golf cart. So far no dings in car.

[Topspinmo]

Was turned off by the angled garage entrances and the garages appeared way too small--just a guess , got to be a lot of dents & dings on cars in a CYV

Not if you can drive. I Amit 1 1/2 garage is tight, but most don’t park in garage anyway.

[Goldwingnut]

I have a court villa on the corner. with two gates . the day we moved in. the next door neighb my adjacent neighbors told me not to go on his driveway . so we are going to sell and buy a home. and by the way I wont talk to him. he try to talk to me

Your neighbor is both wrong and in violation of their deed restrictions. As far as it being "his driveway" he should look at were the property lines are, he'll find he is actually on your driveway as it is on your property.

Don't let one ignorant jerk cause you to move.

[OCsun]

We have lived in our courtyard villa for four years now, after moving from our designer home. We do sometimes miss the extra garage space but love all of the other privacy features. Our property is easy peasy to take care of. Full disclosure we have an awesome golf course view. Bond is lower too!
There are wonderful houses for everyone who moves to The Villages and you never know when circumstance might change no matter where you live.
For now, we are Villa people in The Villages.

[Goldwingnut]

Was turned off by the angled garage entrances and the garages appeared way too small--just a guess , got to be a lot of dents & dings on cars in a CYV

6 years and not a dent in either car. A small miracle with my wife's parking abilities.

[Topspinmo]

I have a court villa on the corner. with two gates . the day we moved in. the next door neighb my adjacent neighbors told me not to go on his driveway . so we are going to sell and buy a home. and by the way I wont talk to him. he try to talk to me
How are you going on his driveway in front of you’re house? you’re driveway in front of you’re house and the sidewalk leading to you’re corner lot gate which you have two on certain corner lots, but not all is your’s between you’re house and his. Is only his on other side of you’re side walk and it don’t include the driveway in front of you’re house.

[CWGUY]

Your neighbor is both wrong and in violation of their deed restrictions. As far as it being "his driveway" he should look at were the property lines are, he'll find he is actually on your driveway as it is on your property.

Don't let one ignorant jerk cause you to move.

:mademyday: Once again you have made my day...... I could not have said it better! And God knows I would not have said it as nice! :icon_wink:

[CWGUY]

How are you going on his driveway in front of you’re house? you’re driveway in front of you’re house and the sidewalk leading to you’re corner lot gate which you have two on certain corner lots, but not all is your’s between you’re house and his. Is only his on other side of you’re side walk and it don’t include the driveway in front of you’re house.

:ohdear: Is there an English version of that? :1rotfl:

Many (most) owners of CYV have a gate to their yard accessed near the front of their neighbors home. You walk up their drive and go thru your gate. Like GWNut said - they will find they are actually on your driveway as it is on your property.

Nice to get along with your neighbors ...... I have 2 gates and my neighbor has a key to them. :ho:

https://www.districtgov.org/departments/community-standards/images/CourtYard.pdf

[perrjojo]

Not if you can drive. I Amit 1 1/2 garage is tight, but most don’t park in garage anyway.

I agree. Jeesh! My husband and I have been going in and out for 8 years and haven’t dinged anything yet.
We love our courtyard villa. Yes, our garage is smaller...that means we don’t have a lot of needless junk. Lol. We can sit in our back yard and on our lanai without lookin into our neighbors lanai. I love our little personal paradise. Yes, occasionally we hear a neighbor but as close as all homes are I would imagine you can hear them too. You can get a bad neighbor anywhere but we are fortunate to have great neighbors. No wild parties , no barking dogs and no old grouches
Btw, the newer villas mostly have straight driveways and larger garages. I can only speak for myself but I wouldn’t want anything but a courtyard villa.

[vintageogauge]

You might want to consider a designer veranda model as they are fully fenced in, great for dogs, and they give you privacy without being on top of your neighbor, they are very popular south of 44. Some of them have open fencing to the rear giving great water views and I believe some are on golf courses too.

[John_W]

We moved here in 2011 with a budget of $200,000 cash and with salesman Tony Trussler we looked at new Patio Villas in Buttonwood, new CYV's in Pennecamp and Tamarind Grove and new Cottages in Buttonwood and Tamarind Grove.

I liked the size and 2 car garage of a cottage, especially a Hammond model with the island in the kitchen, open to the LR and the vulted ceiling. Could of had a brand new one for about $180K. however I didn't like stick built and vinyl siding, I had vinyl siding back in Maryland, I wanted masonry and the bond on a cottage was $21,000 then. I've lived in Florida off and on since 1959 the 4th grade and grew up in St. Petersburg in a masonry home. Patio Villas brand new were $135K to $145K in Buttonwood, but they seem to have too many absentee owners, and too little space to call their own and were vinyl stick built.

The CYV, especially the masonry ones I found are built using poured forms, not cider blocks, feel so sturdy and cool inside even on a hot day with no a/c on. Of course if a tornado hit, the roof will most likely come off no matter how the home is built.

We settled on a masonry CYV and will be 9 years this July. I love living here, especially since were on a last street of a community of 80 villas, I feel like I'm in a cocoon and the outside world is so far away. Yet I can jump in my car and I'm 3-1/2 miles from Brownwood and 3-1/2 miles from LSL and 5 minutes from Trailwinds Village stores. We got such a fantastic deal, the last 4 units in our community our 2 BR was priced at $169K and we got for $157K and the bond is only $14,000.

The only negative is the garage is too small. I had a 2017 Camaro and which is 75" wide, my previous and current car are 70" wide. I had to back in the golf cart and still be careful not to scratch the Camaro. I ended up trading it in for a small SUV that is 5" narrower. So a 2 car garage would be on my wish list. Between 466A and 44 a lot of CYV's were built with 2 car garages, however the price is much higher in that area and for those models.

[n8xwb]

We have been living in The Villages for 13 years. We have lived exclusively in Courtyard Villas. We are currently in our second home. We have had no noise issues. As for the gate -- it is seldom used and have never had a problem.

As long as you don't mind being walled in, they are great. Very private.

[Challenger]

We are now on our 2nd CYV, and wouldn't buy anything else! We absolutely love the privacy in the back yard, and not having to walk out back and look directly into our neighbors back lanai/windows.

We don't have dogs - just really like the CYV. We have a corner lot on our 2nd home, so we have both sides with gates now - that is a huge plus. We have a 2 car extended garage, so no issues there. We put in a huge birdcage (1,300 sq ft) and a pool, and the walls really help with privacy in our pool.

Our first CYV was a standard CYV where we only had the back side that entered through our neighbors driveway (BTW - I could never figure out why they did it this way - they could have easily switched all of them around and everyone could enter through their own driveway). We had the standard 1 car/ 1 golf cart garage, and very limited backyard compared to our new home. We still loved it! Again, the privacy in the back yard is fantastic.

We never had any issues with loud neighbors, or barking dogs.

To the poster who said their neighbor told them they couldn't go over his driveway to use their back gate - the deed restriction clearly state that you have full access to your back yard through your neighbors driveway. I have never had a neighbor that had an issue with this.

no validity to the driveway issue . Unless your CYV property is much different than mine (doubt that), you have a recorded easement over the driveway portion located on neighboring property. Unless the driveway was extended after closing.

[600th Photo Sq]

We are shopping and like the theory of a Courtyard Villa with a few reservations:

1. Problems like noise from neighbors side patio.
2. Having to go on neighbors drive way to go thru your backyard gate.

Does being so close become too close in these courtyards? Any feedback from owners will be greatly appreciated.

Try to find a " End Unit " vs " Corner Unit....2 gates the real possibility of adding a Golf Cart Garage. All Courtyard Villas can remove grass , add nice sugar palms, pavers, etc. etc.
Mine is ideal and I have done all of the upgrades. Courtyard Villas are ideal IMO, however the price range for privacy can be $$$$ ++ it all depends on your likes/dislikes. and your pocketbook.

The Villages home prices are way overpriced compared to the other nearby Retirement Communities, but.... The Villages is Unique and for us we would rather be here. :clap2:

PS: We moved from Del Webb in Summerfield so we speak from experience, also the noise, barking etc. never been a problem.

[John_W]

Try to find a " End Unit " vs " Corner Unit....2 gates the real possibility of adding a Golf Cart Garage. All Courtyard Villas can remove grass , add nice sugar palms, pavers, etc. etc.

That's a good point I had forgot in my earlier post. Corner lots might be harder to find with the two gates, but if the yard space or lack of, is bothering you. Just like finding a 2 car garage, even more available are end units, every street has 4 of them. On my street 3 are end units and one is a 2 gate corner lot. Here's a end unit home that is on my street so I'm familiar with it. Originally it sold new in 2011 for $224K, that owner added a pool and birdcage but passed away and it was resold with the pool addition for $340K in 2015. That owner resold it last year for $400K.

The point is, all the villas have gone up in our area because of the location halfway from LSL and Brownwood and masonry villas and end units go up even more. Here's what you can have with an end unit lot. Also I've given some compliments to Terrascape in the past, this home's yard was also done by Terrascape and they still come out and maintain the yard for the past 9 years. The pool and birdcage was by T & D.

https://ap.rdcpix.com/505686110/90ae9ba588408d3a2f120f7c37d46e9al-m2xd-w1020_h770_q80.jpg

https://ap.rdcpix.com/1951127997/90ae9ba588408d3a2f120f7c37d46e9al-m5xd-w1020_h770_q80.jpg

[coffeebean]

I have a court villa on the corner. with two gates . the day we moved in. the next door neighb my adjacent neighbors told me not to go on his driveway . so we are going to sell and buy a home. and by the way I wont talk to him. he try to talk to me

I don't own a CYV but have a friend who just bought one. Is it not in the covenants that a person has "right of way" on their next door neighbor's driveway to access their gate?

[John_W]

I don't own a CYV but have a friend who just bought one. Is it not in the covenants that a person has "right of way" on their next door neighbor's driveway to access their gate?

It doesn't have to be because you own the land, your neighbor doesn't actually own all of his driveway. I just went on the Sumter County Tax Records website and pulled up this map of my home. My villa is the one in the middle on the right. The yellow line is the property boundary. It runs right through the middle of the gate to my backyard and across his driveway. That's also makes that entire 10' between homes, not all mine either, it's split halfway but they would have a heck of a time getting to it without my cooperation to unlock the gate.

http://sumterpa.com/gis_tmp/SumterPA158458665431720.jpg

[CFrance]

When we bought in 2011, I wanted a villa. My husband wanted a bigger garage. So we bought a Begonia designer with golf cart garage. When we decided to become seasonal, we downsized to a CYV with stone landscaping, cozy enclosed lanai, patio out the back and put a retractable awning over that. So easy to close up and leave for half the year. The Begonia was beautiful but felt like a bowling alley for just the two of us, and the lanai was 8 x 153 (kidding) and we only used about ten feet of it.

I so love the CYV, and my husband keeps teasing me--Why didn't you let me buy this to begin with?!

[Decadeofdave]

We rented a cyv for 10 years before purchasing a home.
Layouts and privacy is fine.
Driveway and small garage were the deal breaker. If you look a little you can find a cyv with full 2 car garage ( at a higher cost of course)

[jebartle]

Noticed when visiting a friend in villa, parking for guests and vendors is at premium.

[JohnN]

We lived in a patio villa as snowbirds for four years to get to know The VIllages and see if we really liked it here. We do.
Moving down full time, we talked about what kind of house to get and we chose - a corner lot, 3 BR courtyard villa.
It's great. The only way to go as far as we're concerned. Private, large enough. And in our case, our lanai faces the towards the corner street while our neighbors faces away, so it's extremely quiet and private.

No regrets, not a one. We don't have a dog, but it'd be fine for a dog too.