Lot Sizes South of 44
 

I have lived in the Villages for 12 years, 7 in Caroline and 5 in Pinellas. The “cottage” house in Caroline had enough room in the back to put in a small pool if desired (I didn’t) and the house in Pinellas has “kissing” Lanais.

The other day I took a ride to the Fenney, DeSoto and Marsh Bend areas and I could not believe how close the houses are to the street. It seems like the front yards are about 4 feet closer than in Caroline and Pinellas. We even drove through the premier section and it seems this big houses are on top of each other.

Has anyone else noticed this?

There have been no premier home built in CDD-12 (Fenney, DeSoto, McClure, Linden, Monarch Grove, Marsh Bend). Setbacks are still the same according to plans.

First, there are no premier sections south of 44 so I have no idea what you are referring to. The back yards are what counts, many of the homes have shorter front yards but great water view and golf front back yards. You have to go to some open houses to realize the serenity of many of these lots. We have a very good friend in the village of Caroline and he has no back yard at all, just another lanai right behind his.

Site map for MG shows most garage setbacks @ 10 or 12ft, and a few at 15 to 20ft.

Designer and cottage homes.

We continue to be surprised that there are no Premier homes south of 44 as you say. We also agree with what the plans say about lot sizes. Nonetheless, we have driven along streets in the community south of 44 where the roads themselves seem very narrow, the curbing had an entirely different design, and the houses do all feel closer to you as you drive through. We don't know if there actually are differences - say from the center line of the roads to the front of the houses - but it certainly seemed that way to us.

We are on a waterfront lot in Fenney and our driveway was long enough to park a 32' U-Pack truck trailer for unloading when we moved here. It did not stick out onto the road and as far as I can tell all of our neighbors have the same size driveway. I don't know where most driveways with a 10 or 12 ft. setback are located, maybe those are villas, come to think of it you couldn't parka a car in a 10 or 12 foot driveway. Maybe I don't understand what setback means.

We understand what the setback rules say but I can guarantee you that in most cases the lots are smaller. Went to many open houses down there and pulled into the driveway with my 4 door truck, you could barely fit in the driveway. My home in Pennecamp has room for truck and a car behind it. Backyard on water and golf course has room for a pool. Tell me how setbacks are all the same again!

Could look at county records to verify or dismiss.

///

from my observation in 11/19/2017 post # 10 -> https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...nities-249746/


The houses as pictured on both sides of Spider Lily ST in Fenney have driveway lengths of about 25 FT. which is at least 6 feet shorter than mine and others on our street in Lake Deaton.
Dropbox - fenney3.jpg

The new builds on Heston PL, Leggett LN and other roads in this picture have driveway lengths of around 23 to 25 feet. So again, the widths between houses facing each other across the street are much less that I am accustomed to in Lake Deaton. The one green circle driveway has a length of about 28 feet.

Dropbox - fenney2.jpg

While I like a larger separation, it will not be a deal breaker for many.

The area looks more and more like townhomes as compared to detached houses. On the other hand, the less non house area you have the less you have to take care of. If you were living in a condo the house walls would be touching. I think these homes are built to be more affordable than the previously built ones.

One good thing is you can save a few hundred if you end up getting pavers put down.

There are homes in every price range down here. Lots going from $15,000 to well into the $200,000 + range and not on a golf course, McClure has an Ivy model on the golf course, no pool, $726,000.00, there have been a few re-sales in Fenney that sold for well over $600,000 with and without pools and no golf course views. That being said there are also a lot of nice homes under $200,000. Another thing I have noticed is there are a lot of Vilas going up in the 3 newest villages.

There was a section we drove through that had pavers on the streets and streetlight that were like those in the premier neighborhoods. They sure looked like premier homes. Maybe there have been none sold but I believe they are under construction and they are very close to each other. This post was not made to be critical, just to post an observation which apparently had been made before.

True abou no Premier homes south of State Rt. 44. The driveways, however, are at least 4’ To 5’ shorter than the driveways north of 44 for the designer type homes. I live in LaBelle and I can put one car behind another in the driveway (4 cars if necessary) and so can other residents. That is not the case south of State Rt 44 in Fenney, DeSota, Marsh Bend and other Villages.

Those particular lots are not premiers and they are all sold and were priced between $200,00 and $300,000, there are several homes on that street already occupied and they are all designers. It's a very nice street.

We have a lot in Monarch Grove that is on a curve .. so the lot is somewhat pie shaped.. The setbacks are "minimum" so the house will be pushed back to accomplish two things: driveway length and widening of house / garage. We'll see in a couple weeks how that will look. Still have loads of room in back. South of 44 isn't the only area of shortened driveways: I've noticed plenty below 466A

Wasn't aware the setback was minimum so good news there - thanks!

I'm on lot 96, adjacent to the clump of trees at the Regan Rd intersection.

If you actually built your house on a plot of land in Fenney, you may be able to stretch your house front to back and side to side to make it a premier house if you have the land to do it.

You would have to stretch the roof up too. Premieres have 12-foot ceilings. Designers have 10-foot ceilings.

A stretched out designer is still a designer not a premier.

lot size
 

I always thought that our home in Gilchrist had a long long driveway but we were real close to the neighbors behind us. I would have liked to have our home pushed forward and left more space behind the house.

Technically, yes. Our house was greatly increased in square footage so according to a realtor in The Villages, could sell in the future in the Premiere range. It doesn't even look like the original design and is very unique. However, we are not looking to sell anytime soon.

Age old real estate advice: Buy low in a high neighborhood, not the other way around.

I don't think the appropriate way to judge the size of a lot is by how long its driveway is. Our driveway is not all that long, it might accommodate 4 cars but our lot size is almost 9000 sq ft.

Do you know the name of the street and/or village you are talking about? Thanks.

One thing that may be impacting your perception is that spec homes are typically now built to maximize the available space on the lots. So, if a golf cart garage can be expanded to a 3rd car garage and/or the house can be stretched a couple of feet, they do it. My Veranda lot is several feet deeper than some others, and all Verandas are spec built, so my garage is extended forward a couple of feet and my lanai was expanded back a couple of feet, because there was extra room to do it. Doing this house after house, in some cases, will make them appear closer together. Why? Because expanding them makes them closer together. It's not the size of the lots, it's the size of the homes on the lots.

We just moved to the New Hampton Verandas in McClure and we love it. We had a pool at 2 different homes in Tampa for 40 years. Our Villages critera" no pool, minimal maintenance,fenced back yard for privacy, 3 car garage. All of our criteria were met in our new home. All 83 Verandas in McClure have been sold, but there are a few in in Marsh Bend and Linden - and they are going fast. Using the system of tunnels, we can use our golf cart to go to Riverbend Recreation Center, the new Everglades Regional Rec Center and Magnolia Plaza when it is completed. Eventually, we will be able to go to Brownwood, too. We are done with having a lot of property and a pool. We just want to have fun.

boudreau circle
 

EnglishJW, I believe it is in the village of marsh bend and named Boudreau circle

Pool
 

Everyone has a different perspective. I would not live here without a pool. The birdcage keeps it very clean and T&D comes every week to test the water and add chemicals, vacuum, clean the filter and scrub the tiles. Only 115 a month and I have a private oasis.

JSR22 - Only $15 a month for T&D??

I really like the new cottages that are backed up to the Florida Turnpike. Very nice view. Do you think they will be noisy? Ugh!

NO
 

It isupdated my post. They come weekly and do an excellent job.

I walked the area several times, with the berms along the Turnpike, it is very quiet so no worries there.

For me that area will a very natural and peaceful quality with the groves of trees, connected lakes and trails in the common area's once complete.

Agree about a pool with a birdcage. Add a pool bath, summer kitchen, and a large screen TV and you may rarely go inside. [emoji6]

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

We are selling our IVY Model home in Hillsborough WITH a 30' salt water pool on a 3rd of an acre for 729,000. Pool is heat generator as well as solar. When you are in Sumter your taxes are also lower. I am surprised that below 44A the lots are so much smaller and folks are holding onto their homes for 1 year and turning a quick profit in the midst of all that building. To each their own... in the end EVERYTHING sells lol

There are many homes south of 44 with large lots, some having 4 car garages along with large pools and bird cages to the rear. There was a new Ivy model sold in Desoto on a huge cul-de-sac lot that would easily handle a 30 ft. pool although it did not have a pool and sold for $479,000.