[CarolSells]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I love to see the unusual homes being built here, either in stucture or in setting. I posted a year or so ago about the big Grandview being built on the point of Lake Miona in Pennecamp. I found the different interior, the huge lanai and pool and the view just breath taking.

There is a home being built now at Bridgeport at Laurel Valley and it will have six bedrooms and five baths. The Birdcage houses a pool that will have a huge planter in the middle and the Birdcage itself is one of the biggest I have seen here, encompassing almost the whole lot. You can see the pillars for the birdcage because it is close to 466.

It is fun to walk through in the evening after the building crews have left.

IMO. And please keep in mind that these are just my thoughts. The Villages has become too well known now. The number of residents and/or households has exploded in the last few years. The ages of the residents is seemingly creeping downward. Forty-somethings want to move in because of the wonderful lifestyle TV offers. You will soon see many changes on the historic side which I happen to love for its charm. Granted, some of the mobile homes are aging but they will be replaced with cookie cutter type suburban houses. Ho-hum. And houses being built will continue to get larger and larger. Why do we do that? I've seen this trend for years in my market in greater Atlanta. Beautiful older neighborhoods are torn down to make way for yet another McMansionhood.

While I'm on my soapbox... I also often cringe when I read posts from people complaining that Kohl's, for example, (which is a whole three miles from their door) is just too far away; we need another. More, more, more. Bigger, bigger, more expensive. Why not just stay in the big city or move to Miami or Lauderdale?

I'm done. Thank you.

[thekeithfan]

Originally Posted by DDoug

Gracie your trespassing

forgive us our trespasses as we forgive yours... I'm going tonight thanks Gracie.

[lanabanana73]

[QUOTE=

love the pool idea - but not a fan of six bedrooms - would never want that much company all at once! nor would i care to tackle cleaning that many bathrooms! wish we would be here to see it completed - will just hafta wait for next winter - gives us something else to look forward to![/QUOTE]

Likely, if they can afford to build a house of such magnitude, they will NOT be cleaning their own bathrooms!!!

[NotGolfer]

Was watching HGTV/Househunters the other night. A young couple---the woman from Europe the man from here looking for a house. He wanted new and large and she didn't at all. Her comment was "why does one want such a large home with unused rooms? In Europe the homes are small with little rooms---it feels more 'homey'!" She then went on to say she couldn't see the practicality of large homes like they have here in the U.S. Just another perspective, is all.

I for one like my smaller home---and yes we do have guests occassionally. BUT that being said what's good for me....might not be good for you! I've observed the house talked about here and it's going to be quite the 'showpiece' and God bless them if that's what they can afford and want.

[jsw14]

Gracie, I'll bet U feel like a "Kid in a candy store" walkin through that House!!!!!

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

........ I really never thought of it as trespassing or anything wrong, We have done it our whole life long in new neighborhoods in which we have built; looked through homes in our area under construction. The house we just moved into was the seventh house we have built and the nineth new home we bought in our life time. And the best experience, so far.............We met people going through our new house here all of the time when it was being built. I always thought they just liked to see how it was done. No harm. ......

We've always done the same thing as well - and do it quite a bit when we're in TV. Ran into a problem once here in OH a couple of years back, though:

We were looking through some in-process new builds that were being done by the builder we were going to use. One evening, we walked into one house that was still in the framing stage and there was a fellow inside. We said hi and asked if it was his new house - he said it was. I introduced us, offered to shake hands, and asked if he had a problem if we looked around a bit. Without shaking hands, he said, "Yes, actually I DO mind." Pretty much caught me totally off guard! I apologized and quickly told him we were going to be using the same builder, we were just looking for ideas for our upcoming home, etc. - tried to chat him up just a bit to let him at least know we weren't there to ransack the place. He loosened up a bit and said it was fine if we wanted to look around - offered no explanation for his initial reaction.

Next time I talked with the builder, I told him about what had taken place and he started laughing. He said the fellow has a generally suspicious nature...........since he works for the Secret Service! Holy Guacamole! That explained a lot - - - -

Bill

[cappyjon431]

We've always had really large homes until we moved to Central America and bought a business there. Where we lived it was common practice to have an apartment over the business. We had a tiny apartment over our business (600square feet with a 400 square foot deck overlooking the Caribbean Sea) and when we first moved in, we thought we would never be able to survive such a small home. We got used to it, and absolutely loved the stunning views of the ocean (every morning I got to see the sun rise over the ocean before heading downstairs to work!).

When we decided to buy in TV we had learned a very important lesson--we really no longer needed or desired a 2500 sq. ft. four bedroom home. We bought a smaller home and so far it has been wonderful. If we have a lot of guests we put them up at the Marriott, which gives us and our guests more privacy.

[angiefox10]

Originally Posted by Bill-n-Brillo

We've always done the same thing as well - and do it quite a bit when we're in TV. Ran into a problem once here in OH a couple of years back, though:

We were looking through some in-process new builds that were being done by the builder we were going to use. One evening, we walked into one house that was still in the framing stage and there was a fellow inside. We said hi and asked if it was his new house - he said it was. I introduced us, offered to shake hands, and asked if he had a problem if we looked around a bit. Without shaking hands, he said, "Yes, actually I DO mind." Pretty much caught me totally off guard! I apologized and quickly told him we were going to be using the same builder, we were just looking for ideas for our upcoming home, etc. - tried to chat him up just a bit to let him at least know we weren't there to ransack the place. He loosened up a bit and said it was fine if we wanted to look around - offered no explanation for his initial reaction.

Next time I talked with the builder, I told him about what had taken place and he started laughing. He said the fellow has a generally suspicious nature...........since he works for the Secret Service! Holy Guacamole! That explained a lot - - - -

Bill

It must have been that shifty look of yours.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Originally Posted by angiefox10

It must have been that shifty look of yours.

Yeah, you've got me pegged. He knew right off that we were there casing the place......gonna steal his copper plumbing and all......

Bill

[njbchbum]

Originally Posted by Bill-n-Brillo

We've always done the same thing as well - and do it quite a bit when we're in TV. Ran into a problem once here in OH a couple of years back, though:

We were looking through some in-process new builds that were being done by the builder we were going to use. One evening, we walked into one house that was still in the framing stage and there was a fellow inside. We said hi and asked if it was his new house - he said it was. I introduced us, offered to shake hands, and asked if he had a problem if we looked around a bit. Without shaking hands, he said, "Yes, actually I DO mind." Pretty much caught me totally off guard! I apologized and quickly told him we were going to be using the same builder, we were just looking for ideas for our upcoming home, etc. - tried to chat him up just a bit to let him at least know we weren't there to ransack the place. He loosened up a bit and said it was fine if we wanted to look around - offered no explanation for his initial reaction.

Next time I talked with the builder, I told him about what had taken place and he started laughing. He said the fellow has a generally suspicious nature...........since he works for the Secret Service! Holy Guacamole! That explained a lot - - - -

Bill

i wonder if the guy had background checks done on all the neighbors! once had a potential neighbor run dun & brads on area residents to confirm whether they wanted to move into OUR neighborhood! they did!

[Pturner]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Oh Thank you Capt. John! When we were building our house we would meet all kinds of folks walking through it and would always say..."This is a nice house, is it yours?" Some would say yes and some no. I see no harm in it, unless you fall in the pool hole or something.

Some would say yes? Oh my, that's a riot.

... or should I say, "Some would say, 'yes'?"

[uujudy]

Originally Posted by Pturner

Some would say yes? Oh my, that's a riot.

... or should I say, "Some would say, 'yes'?"

English Major!

[Golfer in Sanibel]

Originally Posted by Bill-n-Brillo

We've always done the same thing as well - and do it quite a bit when we're in TV. Ran into a problem once here in OH a couple of years back, though:

We were looking through some in-process new builds that were being done by the builder we were going to use. One evening, we walked into one house that was still in the framing stage and there was a fellow inside. We said hi and asked if it was his new house - he said it was. I introduced us, offered to shake hands, and asked if he had a problem if we looked around a bit. Without shaking hands, he said, "Yes, actually I DO mind." Pretty much caught me totally off guard! I apologized and quickly told him we were going to be using the same builder, we were just looking for ideas for our upcoming home, etc. - tried to chat him up just a bit to let him at least know we weren't there to ransack the place. He loosened up a bit and said it was fine if we wanted to look around - offered no explanation for his initial reaction.

Next time I talked with the builder, I told him about what had taken place and he started laughing. He said the fellow has a generally suspicious nature...........since he works for the Secret Service! Holy Guacamole! That explained a lot - - - -

Bill

Bill. That is really funny but you might have gotten shot.

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Originally Posted by njbchbum

i wonder if the guy had background checks done on all the neighbors! .........

Ooooh - good question! Fortunately, our place is in a different area!

Originally Posted by Golfer in Sanibel

Bill. That is really funny but you might have gotten shot.

Then he'd have been on his own to deal with the wrath that Sandy would've brought down on him!

Bill

[duffysmom]

We drove by on the golf cart path and there were two carts and an SUV outside with several people touring the house.