A Designer Home or Courtyard Villa?
 

I need your help. What made you decide to buy a Courtyard Villa or your Designer Home? I love the low maintenance, and the courtyard of the Villa, but love the extra garage space and driveway space of a Designer. I love them both, but can't seem to decide on which one to pursue. HELP!:loco:

The two car garage and golf cart garage were very important to us. The hubby needs space to fix and fiddle with things. It's his man cave!

Had the designer for a year and acquired a dog. Thus, we love our villa (been here since November) and large corner lot all private and fenced. We don't have lots of "stuff" so storage isn't an issue. Even if we didn't have the dog, we'd go w/a villa!

We looked at lots of beautiful designer homes but found a new villa with a great view on two sides, only one wall on one side, tons of space for a large birdcage and then lots of space after that for grass for the two dogs. I love all the homes, I think whatever you choose, it will be wonderful!

We faced the same question - but decided on a courtyard villa in the new Mission Hills. We were fortunate and found one with a 2 car garage and over-sized yard. Just had all the grass taken up and replaced with rock and bark so that it will be as close to maintenance free as possible. Although we'll be here full-time (other than 1-2 week trips every once in awhile) I didn't want to spend my time and/or money doing yard work.

Hard decision because everyone has different things that are important to them - but before you decide, I'd check-out Mission Hills - may be just what you want. We've had several friends that own designer homes say if they had seen these when they were buying, they would have bought the courtyard villa rather than the designer home.

Good luck!!

I love my designer. I have lots of stuff and need the room. But if I had a dog I would have bought a CYV for the dog's sake.

I second Mission Hills! We bought there too, fell in love on first sight, just like when I met my husband!

When my wife and I bought in The Villages our main requirement was a view. I did not want to look into someone's lanai. We looked at some nice CYVs and several Lantana designer homes. One Lantana was in Caroline overlooking the marsh area, one was in Glenbrook overlooking a preserve, and one was in Glenbrook on a golf course. We did a lot of searching possibilities and ended up on the golf course. The house is situated from the tee boxes so it is almost impossible to hit the house from the tees.

Most dog owners, I believe, choose CYVs.

I love our house and love The Villages.

We too had the say dilemma as I’m sure most who have and will be buying have. We opted for the villa for the reduced yard maintenance. The storage question is legitimate and one needs to decide how “much stuff” do they really need. I have sold almost all of my tools and other stuff that one accumulates over 30-40 years. Started fresh here and have not missed an item yet. If we need to have work done there are many well qualified craftsmen at reasonable costs. The one thing we did was get the largest lot possible with a CYV. This way there is a larger back yard for entertaining and we do not see our neighbors as most do in Designer homes with what I call “kissing lanais". Most are just too close and yes, on occasion, we hear our neighbors, we do not see them. Also, there is great interaction in the villa communities that one may not expect considering the walls. Finally, I do agree that the vast majority of the CYV owners and especially in our area do have dogs and the secure area works out great for them.
The real test is to spend time in both and that way you can have a better indication as to what will fit your needs today and do not forget about tomorrow!

Lots of great responses to consider. Thank you all. I do have a dilema that maybe you can help me with. I have two vehicles and was concerned if there was a problem in the CYV areas with parking one of my vehicles in front of my house on the street. I don't want to play musical cars everytime I need to use the one that is parked in the garage. All your thoughts and comments are appreciated! :wave:

Before we bought, we decided that for us, a lot with privacy was way more important than having a large home. We have two dogs and started out in a modest Courtyard Villa. I was concerned about feeling closed in, so we bought on a golf course with a low back wall. Three years later, yikes, we had a SUV and a golf cart and and bicycles and a motorcycle and roller blades, Christmas decorations, lawn care stuff, covers for the shrubs in case it freezes, etc.

Fireboy talked me into a house with an extended garage. And this was a good thing because he retired in January, and now the garage is full of E-flyer planes. I still care more about a view than the size of the house. We opted for a small designer house on a golf course lot.

I miss the CYV, and our great neighbours, but we're very happy to have a large driveway that can park four cars. And Fireboy is a garage guy. We have Invisible Fencing for the dogs and it works like a charm. Plus we dog park them every day. Almost everyone on our street has a dog. So it's all good.

The only suggestion I have is to figure out your priorities ahead of time, because moving is expensive. Make a list of your top wants and be true to it. Don't listen to me, don't listen to anyone else. Just be true to your heart.

Yes, I do see a problem
 

Unless you buy a CYV with a 2 car garage, or one that is on the "dead-end" corner, then yes, there is a problem parking a 2nd car in the street - there is no room in front of a typical CYV - you would be causing a problem for your neighbors. I'm not even sure it's allowed on a regular basis.

Owners are not allowed to park in the guest parking areas - those are for guests only. I'm sure that rule often gets overlooked but I think there would be complaints if someone parked there on a regular basis.

This said, are you sure you need 2 vehicles (cars)? Most here, whether in a designer or a CYV, have one car and one golf cart. Many others opt for a 2nd golf cart. Most don't find 2 cars necessary, but if you do, you would likely need to park the 2nd car in the driveway and do a lot of car/cart juggling. You probably could back the golf cart out without moving the driveway car depending on the size of the car and whether or not you are a good backer. Some aren't.

Kevin and Josie

An option to consider is a designer home that backs up to a villa wall, best of both worlds for some. Just a thought.

We chose a CYV on a corner lot, Avondale model has a yard and windows on boths sides and it's great. I understand the garage is smaller, but CYV neighborhoods have extra parking too, so you don't need to park on the street. It's a matter of priorities. We wanted some privacy and perhaps a pet in the future, so we wanted the wall.

Either way, you'll adapt and love what you get.

CYV or House
 

Originally our plan was to buy a designer on a culdesac. We absolutely did not want kissing lanais. We realized the designer was not going to work because of our dogs and the lack of privacy. On our LSV last year we stayed in a CYV but did not the 1.5 garage and the size of the villa. The haciendas in Mission Hills have larger models and many with 2 car garages. They fit our needs. We will have 2 cars and one golf cart. Keeping a car in the driveway is not a problem for us since we have no problem driving either car. My suspicion is after a year we will be down to one car like a lot of people.