Moving to The Villages means smaller lots for most of us.
 

Many if not most people moving here are downsizing the size of the yard they left behind. Do you find it a plus or a minus to have a smaller yard?

Then some are moving from places like Manhattan and they are having a yard to maintain now....wonder how that feels.

We rented in The Village of Harmeswood when we were building and there are big lots there, for the Villages.

We like not having so much yard to mess with. Do you miss your bigger plot?

I like the small lots as long as there is not a home behind ours. We are able to mow our lawn, fertilize it, etc. with ease, no need to have a lawn service. Down side is a little close to the neighbors on either side but we are fortunate to have very good neighbors.

I prefer space, but as I get older I have to admit it's harder to keep up with a garden. The neighbors are a little close here, but only one throws loud parties until 11 occasionally. So bearable.

What I found funny was that the real estate agent described our lot as “huge”, because it’s at the end of a cul-de-sac. It’s .25 acres.

That is funny.

Small lot is good for me. I am done done done with caring for a large lawn.

I miss jumping on the Deere and mowing a couple acres. Was a relaxing time. Cigar once in a while.

But now I have added ways to relax in TV.

Some how I will survive.

Same"O" here had 5 acres in NJ, lots of lawn and trees--2 tractors. mine & her's--used to mow in opposite directions meet in the middle for a cocktail--great way yo end a work day--equip was a pain, log splitter, trimmers, chipper, etc

My #1 crabby chore, clean the mower deck.

Crabby chore no more.

would jack up the tractors -drop the decks & pressure wash it, was really messy when our black walnut trees would drop nuts

For now we still have two homes, a log home on 10 acres in the Berkshires and less than a quarter acre in the Villages.

Up north we have a 50 horse power diesel Kubota tractor, a Gravely zero turn mower, a push mower, chain saws, leaf blowers, a weed wacker, two all terrain vehicles, a log splitter, a brush hog, a York rake, a snow blower, and of course a plow set up for the tractor. Maintaining the property is one of our primary activities and we still love it for now, but it gets harder every year as we age, especially the winter stuff. The payback is that we can spend a weekend at our home and never have a car go by our driveway or see anyone, except the occasional moose, deer, coyote etc...

In Florida there are sooooo many fun things to do, we don't want to wast any time doing yard work so we hire people to take care of it for us. Weeding the garden and pruning the hedges is our only yard work task and we enjoy the pruning, but not the weeding. Our biggest adjustment in Florida is the lack of privacy we are used to. We found a house with an overgrown preserve in the back yard. I imagine the view from our back yard was spectacular 20 years ago, but now it still provides privacy and we didn't have to pay a huge premium for a view. We love the sounds of the frogs, birds and other critters coming from the preserve. The houses on either side are much closer than we would prefer so we planted podocarpus privacy hedges on either side of our birdcage/pool as a buffer. The hedges provide nice visual privacy but don't block conversations or music. For now, it is not a problem as one of our neighbors is almost never in Florida and the other never goes outdoors, but things change.

A quarter acre is a nice sized lot in the suburbs, but in The Villages it is huge.

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Neighbors make a big difference. Wonderful neighbors and it does not matter how big your lot is. I personally do not miss the yard work and the upkeep on the pool. It is wonderful to just go to a pool that someone else cares for and to be able to garden to my hearts content but not have to do a lot of other yard work.

Our lot down here is smaller and I am continually telling my husband NO, he should not buy a mower, because that leads to a trimmer, then an edger, ... he sometimes just gets that itch, so once in awhile he’ll spread some weed and feed. :-)

I used to have 5 flower gardens and in the spring I would lay down new mulch (which always ended up in a sinus infection), and was down on my hands and knees a lot pulling weeds. No way could I do that anymore, but I sure miss it.

I’m sorry, I forgot the original question. ;-)

2 plus acres in RI, postage stamp lot in FL. In my younger days when I sat behind a desk for a living, I loved working in my yard. Now being retired and the kids grown and moved away, I’m beginning to dread working in the yard. It will be one of the reasons we sell RI and move to The Villages permanently.

Yes..............watch it grow and not worry about cutting it.

I like a lot that is big enough for privacy yet small enough for easy yard care. My father had 11 rental houses and I was the slave which I hated. As an adult homeowner as soon as I was financially able I hired yard workers.

My greatest fear of being on a small lot is having smoking neighbors upwind. My second greatest fear is having noisy neighbors.

We down-sized (house) by half and our yard by 3/4 at least and it's still too large. I remember when we felt we needed a large 2 story house with at least 4 bedrooms and 2 or 3 bathrooms...plus other criteria. As we age...we don't need as many "things" and having lots to take care of becomes more unmanageable, especially if we have physical issues. Having more "stuff" requires lots of maintenance and it's going to rust or burn eventually anyway.

The thing I missed the most was the birds. I had purple martins and lots of song birds. Had several pairs of bluebirds nesting on my property also along with Hollywood finches in hanging flower baskets. I had 10x the song birds than I see in my area down here. Not uncommon to see 15 different songbirds on my feeders everyday. Course the had plenty of hummingbirds also. Even had screech owls nesting in box I made for them. In one bluebird box had flying squirrel. He would fly from my 50 or so blackjack oaks. With all the blackjack oaks I had riding mower with cyclone rank attached. Sucked up acorns and twigs. Left my yard looking like east lawn at then White House. I also had several fruit trees. Loved my Rainer cherries! So, yes I miss it.

I always said that when I got too old to mow or wanted to anymore it was time to move. Still mowing for walking exercise and way slower.

I have a pretty typical lot for The Villages; a fifth of an acre. There is not much difference between a quarter of an acre and a fifth of an acre.

I don't miss keeping up a big yard. I didn't move here to do yard work, I came to play!
I just miss the lack of storage space.

I'm looking forward to taking care of our smaller lot in TV. In fact, we've decided that we are going to take care ours our self when we move in. We've been clearing out our lot in MI and I've been downsizing my huge perennial garden almost every weekend this summer to help with the sale of our home next spring. Every time we drag 15-20 lawn bags out to the curb I get more and more excited not to have this much land to take care of. Privacy can be an issue if you're used to having acreage around you and now have kissing lanais that are only screened. Fortunately for us that is not the case.

A fifth of an acre is about 8700 sq' (a large lot comparatively, good for you ). A quarter of an acre is about 2000 sq' larger. A pretty good sized difference.

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I haven't moved to The Villages--yet!!

But I live on an acre -"that has to be perfectly manicured or the HOA police get after us"--and I'm sick and tired of it.

I've been here for 25 years so I can vent! lol

It would be so nice to have a small lot but with water/preserve/golf behind it but not have to deal with the upkeep.

There are a million other fun things to do than picking weeds and cutting the grass.

The simple truth of the matter is, that most of The Villages was designed...to be a densely populated, single-family tract housing development.

The trade-off being golf cart accessibility to most everything needed on a day to day basis, with a plethora of activities...for diversion from how packed in we actually are.

Obviously, those of us who live here have accepted being in tract housing neighborhoods...with a 'faux gated community' feeling of security. :shrug:

If one really wants an acre or more and live in the Villages there are the occasional house with a big lot that comes up for sale. If you want 5 acres, there are those Chathem parcels that allow you to be a gentleman rancher here in the Villages. Villages like Harmswood have large lots, I’d guess some approaching an acre. In the premier neighborhoods even the interior lots are around 1/3 an acre.

I find it a plus. I spent a lot of time on my lawn up north and I don't want to do that any more.

I enjoy taking care of my lawn and these little lots are a breeze compared to what we had up north, to mow, trim, and edge takes less than 30 minutes. We started out using Dean's but there seemed to be a problem with them every week so got rid of them and we do it all ourselves now, my wife also likes to do yard work. My biggest problem is getting used to the maintenance that the southern plants require as they are somewhat different than what we are used to especially the palms but I'm getting there.

I'll say. We sit on the lanai and watch the bushes grow in front of our eyes. (just kidding) Well, maybe not.

I don't miss the city and having someone (included in the rent) taking care of the snow, yard, etc...

It is hardly a "huge" difference - only 20%. A fifth of an acre is hardly a large lot in The Villages, unless you have a CYV. It is very typical.

As we get older, we should look for easier ways to do things.

Less land equals lower maintenance.

I find it's much easier to write a check than do yard work.:D

Setting aside your fifth acre claim for a typical lot size, just a need to clarify.....a quarter of an acre is 25% larger than a fifth of an acre. Never said the difference was huge, just pretty sizable.

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Smaller lots for sure!! Too busy playing to mow the lawn!

First of all, a fifth of an acre is typical. Whether you agree doesn't matter to me in the least. Secondly, a fifth of an acre is 20% smaller than a quarter acre. How you define the ratio matters. Also, you did reference the word "huge" in your first post when referring to a quarter acre so your choice of words was out there. However, it it makes you feel better, then whatever you say.

I'd prefer larger lot sizes, a quarter of an acre to start. There's not much privacy regarding homesites, maybe that's standard for 55 plus communities. My opinion only.

There are plenty of quarter acre lots or more here if you are looking for them. I think that may be the minimum lot size for a premier.

Never understand why bigger is better. What you do with it is more important.

This to you and to all reading who have not driven through the Village of Harmeswood, located north of the Savannah center off of Buena Vista. It has large lots and some very interesting and beautiful homes on much larger lots than in the rest of The Villages.

GG, you're on a premier lot. What size is it in comparison to a Harmeswood site?

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