[Spepper]

Originally Posted by pdnesbitt

My wife and I are seriously considering moving the The Villages. We have looked at dozens and dozens of listed homes but none of them seem to have anything like workshops. With way over 100k residents and lots of clubs, like RC and woodworking, that require some place to work what does everyone do for a workshop?

For background, I am an avid RC modeler and build and fly planes as big as 10’ or more. In addition I love to occasionally do some woodworking. That said, I need a space big enough for work benches, power tools, painting, etc… It doesn’t have to be a huge space but it needs to be a couple hundred square feet or so.

I know I could probably convert one bay of a garage, but I would still need two bays for cars and one for a golf cart. That would mean a 4-car garage. It that what others do?

Thank you

Paul

There are rental units with electricity and some with a/c. There are some near my hobby shop just 8 minutes from Morse and 44 in Leesburg. Call Boyd Rentals to inquire.

[beckylou152]

You have a nice price range to look at! I think you could accomplish this easily by extending the golf cart garage or third car garage. You may need to build your own home to get it just right with insulation and climate control. You seem like a really friendly person and I would bet you would love it here. If you haven’t been for a visit come down and make sure to visit the model homes. Some of those have extra rooms that could give you some ideas.

[riga618]

Originally Posted by pdnesbitt

Thank you for the quick response. My price range is probably $750k or so. I do see that some the premier homes listed have 4-car garages but I don’t see workshop spaces.

I just have to wonder, with the bulk of the TV population being in non-Premier homes, what do they all do for space. Do they just give up hobbies that require workshops when they retire?

You just have to use your imagination and make your own workshop in a oversized garage, use a lot of good built ins and get some professional help with that.

[arlenewinters]

Originally Posted by pdnesbitt

My wife and I are seriously considering moving the The Villages. We have looked at dozens and dozens of listed homes but none of them seem to have anything like workshops. With way over
100k residents and lots of clubs, like RC and woodworking, that require some place to work what does everyone do for a workshop?

For background, I am an avid RC modeler and build and fly planes as big as 10’ or more. In addition I love to occasionally do some woodworking. That said, I need a space big enough for work benches, power tools, painting, etc… It doesn’t have to be a huge space but it needs to be a couple hundred square feet or so.

I know I could probably convert one bay of a garage, but I would still need two bays for cars and one for a golf cart. That would mean a 4-car garage. It that what others do?

Thank you

Paul

I have such a house (with a workshop) that just went on the market (yesterday). Please email me at twinters50@me.com.

Tom

[HORNET]

Buy outside of The Villages or remain seated. It’s not fair to neighbors to hear saws running. I know that I wouldn’t

[72lions]

Originally Posted by John Mayes

There’s a house, (Premier), near me. The owner designed a beautiful workshop into the plan. It’s 24x60. I drooled the first time I saw it. From the front, you’d never know it was a workshop. It looks like a 4 car garage from the street. The workshop is separated from the other two car garage with an interior wall and a man door. Awesome setup.

And it’s value is now likely $7K

[edd.wade]

In the new construction some have a couple of 2 car garages. One for sale had three 2 car garages.

[KRMACK55]

Originally Posted by pdnesbitt

I hadn’t really thought about renting a space somewhere. I will look into that, thanks. Insofar as noise, I don’t usually make a lot of noise, and even when I do make a little, it is during the day.

It is interesting that you mention people moving to TV for the peace and quiet. We live on a lake now and we have nothing but peace and quiet. Too quiet, we need more activities.

Thanks again

You’re so young to move here and become part of group think. You will miss that lake. Why not look at real estate outside the bubble ? Get a realtor to find a place, actually work for a client? Building in TV is taking forever

[rsmurano]

It will take 6 months or longer to get into the woodshops here, we are on the list and it’s going to be at least that long. Why can’t you use part of the garage? I have many tools and I use 1 bay. I’ve seen houses with 5 car garages here

[bobeaston]

Yes! Set up a workshop in a bay of your garage. Don't worry about the grump who doesn't want to hear a saw running. You'll likely make less noise than the people who mow his lawn.

There are a lot of 4 car garages being built these days. Watch for one with deep bays.

We lucked into a house with a 3 car garage that had deeper bays; all were 24', and one of those is now my woodworking workshop. Of course, my woodworking is mostly with hand tools, no table saw or other power tools. I've found plenty of room in that bay for the workshop, a pair of 16' kayaks and a pair of recumbent trikes (which actually take more space than the golf cart we neither have nor want).

Another possibility that I haven't seen mentioned is one I saw in a previously owned home. The owner had glassed in their large lanai and turned it into a substantial crafts work room. (A quilter in that instance.) ...and if you still want outside space after enclosing a lanai, and your lot is large enough, you could add a patio with a birdcage.

There's always a way to find enough space. Best wishes in finding the home that works for you.

[GregG7]

Originally Posted by pdnesbitt

My wife and I are seriously considering moving the The Villages. We have looked at dozens and dozens of listed homes but none of them seem to have anything like workshops. With way over 100k residents and lots of clubs, like RC and woodworking, that require some place to work what does everyone do for a workshop?

For background, I am an avid RC modeler and build and fly planes as big as 10’ or more. In addition I love to occasionally do some woodworking. That said, I need a space big enough for work benches, power tools, painting, etc… It doesn’t have to be a huge space but it needs to be a couple hundred square feet or so.

I know I could probably convert one bay of a garage, but I would still need two bays for cars and one for a golf cart. That would mean a 4-car garage. It that what others do?

Thank you

Paul

I also like building and flying large RC planes, as well as doing wood working. When we had our house built, we extended the garage. So I use the golf cart garage as my workshop. I never had a huge workshop back up north, so I got used to working in a slightly confined space. It sounds as if you like to have a LOT of room to work, so maybe a golf cart garage wouldn't be large enough for you.
The biggest problem I ran into was where to store the large RC planes. Up north I had 10' ceilings in the garage, and I used a rope/pulley system to hoist the planes up near the ceiling in the garage. My house in TV only has an 8' ceiling in the garage, so I can't store planes by hanging them from the ceiling in the garage.
If I do woodworking, I like to move out to the driveway to keep the sawdust out of the garage, so that reduces the amount of space required in the garage.

[pdnesbitt]

Originally Posted by Spepper

There are rental units with electricity and some with a/c. There are some near my hobby shop just 8 minutes from Morse and 44 in Leesburg. Call Boyd Rentals to inquire.

Cool, thanks! You have a hobby shop?

[Petersweeney]

Purchased a beginner RC plane years ago - put it all together - and brought it to the RC club field - one of the “members” offered to help with my first flight - 30 seconds after liftoff he flew it into a thorny brush area and it couldn’t be retrieved. Moral of the story - none.

[ThirdOfFive]

Originally Posted by pdnesbitt

My wife and I are seriously considering moving the The Villages. We have looked at dozens and dozens of listed homes but none of them seem to have anything like workshops. With way over 100k residents and lots of clubs, like RC and woodworking, that require some place to work what does everyone do for a workshop?

For background, I am an avid RC modeler and build and fly planes as big as 10’ or more. In addition I love to occasionally do some woodworking. That said, I need a space big enough for work benches, power tools, painting, etc… It doesn’t have to be a huge space but it needs to be a couple hundred square feet or so.

I know I could probably convert one bay of a garage, but I would still need two bays for cars and one for a golf cart. That would mean a 4-car garage. It that what others do?

Thank you

Paul

I was in the same boat when we moved here some time back. I had been an avid woodworker back in Minnesota and had accumulated some really good equipment over the years; stuff that it was painful to have to sell. But, realistically, what was perfectly OK in a Minnesota garage would be a real issue in a lot of the neighborhoods here: a 12 1/2" plane makes quite a racket, as does a full-sized table saw, etc., to say nothing of the noise your dust-collection system would be making also.

But there is woodworking, and then there is woodworking. Refinishing a table is not as noisy as building one and can be profitable at the same time. One of those mini-lathes to build fancy fountain pens is something I am considering as well: There is a Rockler store in Altamonte Springs and if it anything like the Rockler store that I used to haunt back in Minnesota they sell exotic wood blanks specifically for that purpose. Decorative hand-carving is another thing one could get into. Lots of stuff you can do at home that won't rouse the ire of your neighbors.

Then there are The Villages woodworking shops (two now, I think) where you can indulge your hobby with their equipment; all it costs is one day of volunteer time every so often serving as a monitor or something like that. I'm thinking about doing that: my wife wants a standalone pantry and it would be a lot cheaper to build than to buy.

[Luggage]

Solution is to buy two homes . One for the workshop the other to live in.