Questions for Lily Homeowners

[jackz]

Would appreciate some feedback on what other Lily owners have done to design their Lily home.

We have purchased a lot in Sanibel that abuts the water with a lot large enough to put in a pool and are getting to the stage where we want to decide on how to design the home.

At this point we are considering:

- Extending the lanai 4.5 feet

- Having a Roman Bath in the masterbedroom

- Substituting a shower for the bath in the guest bathroom

- Tile floors in a diagonal pattern ( Considering whole house tile or just carpet in the bedrooms)

- Having a completely open kitchen without the extra cupboard and wall facing living room

- Granite Counters in kitchen and all bathrooms at time of construction vs. post construction installation by a private contractor


Would appreciate feedback re: your suggestions and experiences.

Also input on having pool installed at time of construction vs post construction by private contractor and suggestions for flooring for the lanai.

Thanks in advance.

[Oren L Miller]

We are building a Begonia right now closing 1-23-12

We extended the lanai 4 feet
We are having a Roman Shower in the masterbedroom
We substituted a walk-in shower for the bath in the guest bathroom - This required moving the wall 2 feet but was well well worth it. Both extra bedrooms gain from this and the vanity in that bath gets extened an extra foot and a half because they only needed 6 more inches to take the tub out and add the shower. It didn't cost that much to really increase the size of three rooms.
We tiled floors in a diagonal pattern through the whole house
We went with Zodiac - Granite Counters in kitchen and all bathrooms We elected to do it pre - construction due to worries of how much mess and possible damage they might do to bathroom walls in the process.
I would consider adding the golf cart garage. It was one of our main reasons for going with the begonia.

I agree with your thinking and wish you well in your thought process. I hope you get moved in soon. I'm looking forward to meeting you in paradise.

[SunCity]

maybe expand the garage.

[angiefox10]

Hi Jackz, What lot are you on? We are on #26 and I think you might be the next street over?

[Bonny]

The one big thing we did when we moved here was to expand the driveway. Normally it goes to the ends of the garage door. We took ours to the ends of the garage. What a big differnce that makes.

[jackz]

Hi Jackz, What lot are you on? We are on #26 and I think you might be the next street over?

Hi Angie, We are on Fenwick Loop, might be a different part of Sanibel than you are in, Unit 197, Lot 81, which translates to 799 Fenwick Loop.

[angiefox10]

For some reason I thought you bought when we did! You have LOTS of room to expand. I certainly would expand EVERY way you can. I think that's why people move so much in tV

[784caroline]

Would appreciate some feedback on what other Lily owners have done to design their Lily home.

We have purchased a lot in Sanibel that abuts the water with a lot large enough to put in a pool and are getting to the stage where we want to decide on how to design the home.

At this point we are considering:

- Extending the lanai 4.5 feet

- Having a Roman Bath in the masterbedroom

- Substituting a shower for the bath in the guest bathroom

- Tile floors in a diagonal pattern ( Considering whole house tile or just carpet in the bedrooms)

- Having a completely open kitchen without the extra cupboard and wall facing living room

- Granite Counters in kitchen and all bathrooms at time of construction vs. post construction installation by a private contractor


Would appreciate feedback re: your suggestions and experiences.

Also input on having pool installed at time of construction vs post construction by private contractor and suggestions for flooring for the lanai.

Thanks in advance.

************************************************** ******
Lanai...If you have the room- do it. One side issue is will the extension be under roof or a birdcage? If possible, you want to have the roof extended, for we get some mighty strong rains/wind here..and thats just with a normal summer "passing Tstorm. Plus depending upon the direction your lanai faces (N<S<E<W), you want the roof to provide as much protection as possible from an overhead or setting sun ...it can get hot and uncomfortatble.

Roman Bath in MBR - We Love our Roman Shower....No question about it , do it! We would not use on a Roman bath on a frequent basis!

Shower in lieu of bathtub in guest - Personal preference but some people may want to "soak" the not so young an tired muscles form all the TV activity. However definite advantages to putting in a shower like the extended vanity and added bedroom space.

Floors - We (and the dog) like the diagonal tiles throughout the house with the exceptions of the bedrooms. I suggest keeping carpeting at a minimun.

Open Kitchen - Be Careful here!! It may look good but from a practical perspective, one of the big issues you will have will be a lack of cabinet/cupboard space. You will need all you can get!! Is it possible to extend the kitchen side of your house 2 feet??? That would give you extra cabinet space, room for a center island and then if you wnat you can open up the kitchen.

Granite - Yes its more expensive for the builder to put it in but when your ready to move in its done. you will have enough of little (or not so little)other projects to keep you occupied,

Pool - Alot of recent threads on a pool and are they necessary. My feeling there are plently of pools in the various neighborhoods that in essence are social gathering points. However if you are Pool people and have previously experienced owning a pool, and want it, go for it. It creates a very pleasant, soothing atmosphere for any socials you may have If you are going to to it again like the Granite, its probably better for the builder to do it all at the same time...probably cost you easily $10-15K more but its a real mess to do afterwards (but it could be done)! You can wait a year before you drop the BIG bucks for the solar heating system!

Two things not on your list and some previous posts may have mentioned, 1)Get as big a garage as you can get, and 2) we also added (after construction) a hexagonal room off the master bedroom that also connects to an enclosed lanai that we use as a hobby room but it could easily be an excercise room, office, or sitting room.

[OCsun]

We purchased the Iris which has a similar layout. We did all of the following

Extended the lanai 4.5 feet

Roman Bath in the master bedroom

Substituted a shower for the bath in the guest bathroom

Tile floors in a diagonal pattern with carpet in just the bedrooms

Open kitchen facing living room

Granite Counters in kitchen and all bathrooms at time of construction

We also stretched the garage two feet forward and four feet sideways,

extended the golf cart driveway to the street and added a 6 by 8 ft cement

pad off of the lanai for grilling. We settle on Dec 16th and I can't wait!

[angiefox10]

A couple of you have written "Roman Bath". Are you talking about the "Roman Shower"? or are you having the shower removed and adding a "Roman Bath"?

[Happinow]

We haven't even specked our home out yet, just bought a lot. We will be down in March to do so. Here's what we have come up with so far...

- 4 foot stretch to lanai
- garage stretch 4 feet length, 2 feet wide (I think these are the measurements)
- Tile on the diagonal throughout the house
- Saltwater pool
- Golf cart garage
- Extending driveway to go to each side of garage, not just where garage floor stops.
- Extending golf cart driveway
- Stretching spare bedroom to add closet
- bumping out other bedroom with "bay" type window
- The guest bath will also be stretched by 2 feet
- Adding slab for grill
- Tile back splash in kitchen
- Some sort of protection on bar area where stools will be to avoid marking up the paint on the underside
- Additional floor outlets in kitchen (for a possible island) and living room
- Roman shower in guest bath
- Will the builder put in more recessed lights throughout????

There's more we will do after we build. But trying to think of everything builder will do. Still not 100% sure about the Gardenia...will re tour to make sure of the model. LOVE the huge sliders in the Gardenia that open to the pool. That is our selling point! Any other suggestions? :024:

[angiefox10]

We haven't even specked our home out yet, just bought a lot. We will be down in March to do so. Here's what we have come up with so far...

- 4 foot stretch to lanai
- garage stretch 4 feet length, 2 feet wide (I think these are the measurements)
- Tile on the diagonal throughout the house
- Saltwater pool
- Golf cart garage
- Extending driveway to go to each side of garage, not just where garage floor stops.
- Extending golf cart driveway
- Stretching spare bedroom to add closet
- bumping out other bedroom with "bay" type window
- The guest bath will also be stretched by 2 feet
- Adding slab for grill
- Tile back splash in kitchen
- Some sort of protection on bar area where stools will be to avoid marking up the paint on the underside
- Additional floor outlets in kitchen (for a possible island) and living room
- Roman shower in guest bath
- Will the builder put in more recessed lights throughout????

There's more we will do after we build. But trying to think of everything builder will do. Still not 100% sure about the Gardenia...will re tour to make sure of the model. LOVE the huge sliders in the Gardenia that open to the pool. That is our selling point! Any other suggestions? :024:


There is an option that's not shown in the floorplan of adding a sliding glass door from your bedroom to the lanai. I would think it would be so beautiful to look out your bedroom to your pool. We are building the Begonia and the sliding glass door from the bedroom is one of the reasons. It's not shown in the model but was a part of the old floorplan.

[LAshby50]

Hi Angie, We are on Fenwick Loop, might be a different part of Sanibel than you are in, Unit 197, Lot 81, which translates to 799 Fenwick Loop.
Hi neighbor.... We bought 197-82 on Fenwick Loop. I was just there last week and saw the house on lot 81 under construction. Is that yours? What model is it? We might be a year out. We live in Minnesota now and are getting the house ready to sell. Have not settled on model yet.

[jackz]

A couple of you have written "Roman Bath". Are you talking about the "Roman Shower"? or are you having the shower removed and adding a "Roman Bath"?

Angie,
The Roman Tub is a deep tub that can be in the bathroom in addition to the Roman Shower. They move the location of the 2 sinks to accomodate the addition of the tub. Cost: $3,040. for this modification.

Jack

[getdul981]

There is an option that's not shown in the floorplan of adding a sliding glass door from your bedroom to the lanai. I would think it would be so beautiful to look out your bedroom to your pool. We are building the Begonia and the sliding glass door from the bedroom is one of the reasons. It's not shown in the model but was a part of the old floorplan.

We had a Begonia with the sliders in the bedroom. If we had stayed, we were going to have it closed in and that way we could utilize that wall for a dresser or armior or something. To us that slider was a waste of space. It's not that hard to just walk around the wall to the living room if you want to look out on the lanai. Everybody's different though. Just food for thought.

[Happinow]

After much consideration, we've decided not to go with the sliders in our bedroom. We personally would like the wall space better and probably wouldn't have the blinds to our bedroom open in the evening, when we would be in our bedroom, to view the pool. I think the 12 foot sliders in the living room/dining room should be enough. A good thought though...

[jackz]

Hi neighbor.... We bought 197-82 on Fenwick Loop. I was just there last week and saw the house on lot 81 under construction. Is that yours? What model is it? We might be a year out. We live in Minnesota now and are getting the house ready to sell. Have not settled on model yet.

Good to meet you neighbor. I am afraid that you must have been looking at Lot 83 and not 81, as the owner of Lot 83 began construction the end of October. We will not start construction until Sept 2012. We plan to build a Lily and Lot 83 is building a Lily as well. What model do you plan to build?

Jack

[LAshby50]

You are probably right. I get confused looking at the maps. We are planning on building an Ivy. Not sure about the modifications until we sit down and understand the cost of all the things we want. Working hard at getting our house ready to sell now.

[jackz]

Many thanks to Oren Miller, Sun City, Angie Fox, Bonny, 784 Caroline, OC Sun, Happinow, LAshby50 and getdul981 for the comments and suggestions.

I have learned alot and welcome more input from others.

Thanks, Jack