Boca Raton

When you enter the Long Lake neighborhood of Boca Raton, big trees and lush landscaping greet you, says Realtor Ryan Jabbour with KW Innovations. “The feeling is majestic.” Athletes, celebrities and people of high net worth live here, and it’s not difficult to see why. Luxury homes on multi-acre estates grace this area and look like they come straight out of the pages of House Beautiful.<br><br>The neighborhood is made up of Horseshoe Acres and Long Lake Estates, two communities on opposite sides of Clint Moore Road. With large lots, equestrian facilities and riding trails, Horseshoe Acres gives homebuyers the space and tranquility to enjoy their prized steed in a country-like setting. Private tennis courts, gardens, gorgeous swimming pools, four-car garages, theater rooms and high-end appliances are the norm in Long Lake Estates. Both areas offer a mixture of newly constructed and renovated homes that sell for between $5 million and $8 million.<br><br>Schools that serve Long Lake are all A-rated according to Niche. For example, an outstanding teacher at Whispering Pines Elementary made the news recently by winning the Rotary Club of Boca Raton-Sunrise Teacher of the Year for the individualized attention she gives her students. At Omni Middle, students in the Biomedical Health Informatics Academy receive an academic foundation in information technology, business, electronic records, data management and design, and health information. Olympic Heights Community High also offers several career-focused programs, such as early childhood teacher education, finance, and engineering and technology. Long Lake families can also choose from two excellent private schools, PK-7 Divine Savior Academy Delray Beach and PK-12 St. Andrew’s School, both with A-plus ratings from Niche.<br><br>Long Lake horse enthusiasts make good use of the Staffordshire Equestrian Center, a full-service hunting/jumping farm in Horseshoe Acres, offering riding lessons, clinics, summer youth camps and boarding. About 6 miles to the southwest, the Burt Aaronson South County Regional Park is the go-to spot for recreation in western Boca. This nearly 850-acre green space features a gamut of outdoor facilities, such as sports fields and courts, lakes for fishing and water activities, a dog park, walking/biking paths, and the Coconut Grove Water Park, where you can enjoy a 986-foot river ride and 4-story high water slides. Nearby, the Sunset Cove Amphitheater fills with concertgoers and festival attendees on holidays and the weekends. And Daggerwood Nature Center, also part of the complex, offers an exhibit hall with live animals, a butterfly garden, and an elevated boardwalk and observation tower overlooking a swamp. At the southern end of the park, you’ll find one of the top public golf courses in Florida — Osprey Point, which features 27 holes spread out over three 9-hole courses.<br><br>For everyday needs, the closest Publix is in the Reserve at Boca Raton, where you’ll find several other stores and restaurants, such as Press Creamery, which sells smoothies, ice cream and assorted Thai and milk teas. Farther north, you may want to stop in at Warren, an American whiskey kitchen with an impressive selection of spirits and a menu to satisfy any palette, with appetizers such as Gloria’s KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) and mains such as wagyu Carrara ribeye from Australia. If you enjoy shopping, Town Center at Boca Raton, Delray Marketplace and Mizner Park are less than 10 miles away. The newest, Uptown Boca, is a fitness, beauty, food, fashion and entertainment hotspot less than 5 miles south, off Lyons Road. Here, you can explore dozens of retail stores, meet friends for happy hour, or enjoy date night with dinner and a movie.<br><br>Whether you’re interested in rural splendor, impeccable luxury, a bounty of recreation or closeness to shopping and attractions, Long Lake has it all — even famous neighbors you’d kill to get a selfie with when you see them at the grocery store.

While you may often find a neighborhood described as “peaceful” or “quiet,” no name quite embodies that ideal like Whisper Walk on the western side of Boca Raton. The neighborhood caters to homebuyers of all stages in life, offering everything from great schools for young families to exclusive living for retirees. The larger neighborhood gets its name from a specific subdivision called Whisper Walk, a 55-plus community offering attached villas, town houses and condos from the mid-$300,000s to lower $400,000s, with private gated streets and community amenities like tennis courts and pools. Other developments like Boca Gardens and Town Villas offer similar multifamily options, while only the former is a 55-plus community. Areas outside these gated communities offer a more traditional suburban experience, with cul-de-sacs and a mix of freestanding ranch-style homes and Spanish designs. Three-bedroom homes in these subdivisions range from the mid-$400,000s to the upper $500,000s. Students in Whisper Walk can attend Palm Beach County public schools, with top-rated schools in the neighborhood or nearby. Whispering Pines Elementary School has an overall grade of A-minus from Niche and an 8/10 score in student progress from GreatSchools, creating a solid foundation for students on their educational journey. Their next stop is Omni Middle School, which has also earned an overall A-minus grade from Niche and offers a Biomedical Health Informatics academy, where students take courses in medical sciences, information technology and data management to build a comprehensive knowledge of health informatics and gain key industry certifications. Olympic Heights Community High School features an overall A grade from Niche, an 8/10 in college readiness from GreatSchools and offers six choice programs in fields like finance and culinary arts. For even more learning opportunities or to find your next great read, check out the nearby West Boca Branch Library. Discuss your favorite novels at the monthly book club or join the Tod Squad with your toddler for group stories, lessons and crafts. To enjoy a day outdoors in Whisper Walk, look no further than Pinewoods Park, a nearby public green space that offers three baseball diamonds and a playground within walking distance of the neighborhood. If you’re looking for somewhere to play a quick round, head just south of the neighborhood for easy access to Southwinds Golf Course, a public course offering 18 holes of play with prolific water features and plenty of opportunity to spot local wildlife. The course offers one-on-one coaching, junior camps for the kids and even community events like ladies’ night or a 9-hole scramble. After a day on the course, grab a quick bite at Ben’s Kosher Deli, a family-owned and operated restaurant chain with four locations in New York and one in Boca Raton or get a different taste of the Big Apple at Way Beyond Bagels, serving authentic New York-style bagels in more than 20 flavors and an impressive variety of sandwiches, salads, coffee and more. For all your home cooking needs, check out Doris Italian Market & Bakery, a specialty supermarket selling local seafood, fresh produce and all the Italian American staples required for the perfect sauce or sandwich. Any other snacks or household necessities can be found at Publix in The Reserve shopping center. The neighborhood is located along nearby US Highway 441, offering easy access north toward West Palm Beach or south toward Fort Lauderdale. For a destination a little closer to home, Whisper Walk is less than 10 miles from Boca Raton’s best beaches.

Complete with cascading waterfalls, lush tropical landscaping, a five-star country club and championship golf courses, Boca West might appear to be a neighborhood only for the high-end homebuyer. But with “prices in the $100,000s to the millions,” says Realtor Ken Reichele with Lang Realty/Boca Raton, the neighborhood attracts a spectrum of buyers. “In Boca West, you’ll find garden apartments, town houses, patio homes and custom-built houses,” he says. “Homeowners use them as primary and secondary residences, and there are more than 3,600 to choose from.”<br><br>No matter where you travel in Boca West, homes and their environs are stunning and impeccably maintained. Most were built in the 1970s and 1980s with Mediterranean features, such as barrel-tile roofs, stucco siding and arched doorways and windows. Here, you’ll find single-family homes with luxury pools, paved courtyards and spectacular golf course views starting at $1 million and selling for as much as $5 million. Villas, many with two-car garages and a large square footage, list from $700,000 to $900,000, and town houses, some with single-car garages and screened-in patios, start at $350,000. And condos priced as low as $175,000 are also available, many with breathtaking water views.<br><br>Each of the schools that serve Boca West received an A from Niche. For her student-centered approach and individualized instruction, a teacher at Whispering Pines Elementary was named Rotary Club of Boca Raton Sunrise’s teacher of the year. At Omni Middle, students can participate in the school’s biomedical health informatics academy, a three-year program during which students receive a foundation in medical and biomedical sciences, honors credit, industry certification and first-hand looks at clinical facilities. Spanish River Community High’s choice academy programs are just as ambitious, providing students with educational pathways in biotechnology, law, entrepreneurship and early childhood teacher education.<br><br>Golf is the lifeblood of this neighborhood and is integral to its design. Fifty-five unique residential villages are built around four 18-hole championship golf courses, which also feature a 4-acre short game area, a driving range with 50 tees and a golf pro shop. The Boca West Country Club is a hub for community activities and recently received a multimillion-dollar expansion, Reichele says. It offers a tennis center with more than two dozen Har-Tru tennis courts, a US Open cushion court and pickleball courts. You’ll also find a state-of-the-art fitness center, a large aquatic center and several restaurants on site. In addition, residents enjoy an active social calendar of lectures, art and painting classes, card games, theater outings, day trips and sporting events.<br><br>For everyday needs, you don’t have to go far. The Publix at Woodfield Plaza and another at Lakeside Centre are very close. Casa Tequila, a local Mexican restaurant, is also located at Lakeside. It features a live Mariachi band every Saturday night and piping fajitas, hot chips and salsa, and goblet-sized margueritas any day of the week. Along Glades Road, you can catch a Palm Tran bus to most destinations throughout Boca Raton. You’ll also see Bagelworks, known for its legendary tuna and fresh-made bagels, and Saito’s Japanese Steakhouse, where hibachi chefs slice, dice and toss meals right before you. If you head up Lyons Road, you’ll find Boca Hamptons Plaza, featuring an array of stores and more marketing options, such as Sinbad’s Grocery, a Mediterranean market, and Vicky Bakery, which specializes in Cuban pastries. For special pampering, the Boca West Country Club offers a European-styled spa, with skilled massage therapists and other personal care professionals. The area’s premier shopping destination, Town Center at Boca Raton, is less than 3 miles away, and popular destinations throughout South Florida are more easily accessible with Florida’s Turnpike right next door.<br><br>Whether looking for a golfer’s paradise to spend the winter months or a thriving neighborhood in which to shop, play tennis and enjoy an active social life, Boca West may have the right home and amenities for the way you want to live.

Despite being on the western edge of Palm Beach County, the neighborhood of Sandalfoot Cove still embraces the beachfront lifestyle, with a wide variety of housing styles, highly rated local schools and a friendly, laid-back vibe. So, slide on your sandals and explore this sunny suburban community. Potential homebuyers can find almost any housing type and style here in Sandalfoot Cove, and the neighborhood’s location in western Boca Raton means prices are more affordable compared to many other areas closer to the waterfront. Single-family homes here are generally ranch-style houses or Spanish-inspired multi-story designs, with a three-bedroom listing anywhere from the mid-$400,000s to low $700,000s. Town houses and attached villas average around $400,000 while condo units range from the mid-$100,000s to upper $200,000s. Students in Sandalfoot Cove can attend Palm Beach County public schools like Hammock Pointe Elementary, located directly within the neighborhood and sporting an overall grade of B-plus from Niche, or nearby Sandpiper Shores Elementary, with an A-minus overall grade from Niche. Eagles Landing Middle School also features an A-minus overall grade from Niche and an 8/10 score from GreatSchools. Students can enroll in three choice programs to kickstart a career in culinary arts, information technology or engineering. Olympic Heights Community High School features an overall A grade from Niche, an 8/10 in college readiness from GreatSchools and offers six choice programs in fields like information technology and education. Nearby private options include North Broward Preparatory School, a top-rated co-ed boarding school for pre-kindergarten through high school students. Residents looking to enjoy the tropical weather can head to neighborhood greenspaces like Sandalfoot Cove Park, which offers public sports fields and a playground, or Veterans Memorial Park, a 25-acre park with basketball courts, tennis courts, a playground and a memorial plaza for service members. If golf is your game of choice, the neighborhood is home to two golf courses; Boca Dunes Golf & Country Club offers both memberships and public play, while Boca Rio Golf Club is an invitation-only private membership. For a more wild time in the great outdoors, head to some of the nearby options surroundings Sandalfoot Cove, like Kristin Jacobs Natural Area in the next-door neighborhood of Hillsboro Pineland. Visitors can discover a variety of native plant life, like cypress, saw palmettos and staggerbush, as they wander the nature trails throughout this 56-are preserve. The natural area even connects to Long Pine North Greenway, a short paved trail perfect for walking or biking. For even more outdoor exploration, Sandalfoot Cove is less than 10 miles from the edge of the Everglades Wildlife Management Area, nearly 670,000 acres of natural wilderness used for hunting, camping and wildlife conservation. Find local produce and household necessities at the nearby Walmart Supercenter or head to Sandalfoot Square shopping center and West Boca Plaza for grocery store chains Publix and Western Beef Supermarket. While you’re there, don’t forget to try out some neighborhood dining options, with local favorites like O’Connor’s Pub or Thick & Thin, an old-school pizzeria. Both sides of Sandalfoot Cove are defined by major north-south roadways, with Florida’s Turnpike to the east and US Highway 441 to the west. These twin thoroughfares make commuting throughout western Palm Beach County simple and convenient, while other nearby avenues like Palmetto Park Road make it easy to reach the beach, less than 10 miles away.