Englewood

Anchored by a semi-private 55-plus golf community, Boca Royale offers amenities-filled living a short drive away from the beaches of south Sarasota. The neighborhood is largely made up of the 1,000-acre gated Boca Royale Golf & Country Club, which features single-family and paired villa-style homes in a manicured landscape highlighted by lakes, canopies of oaks and palm trees and, of course, a golf course. “The community is quiet with an Old Florida feel,” says Debbie Sugden, a global real estate advisor with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty and a Boca Royale Golf & Country Club community resident. In addition, several other smaller active-adult communities are dotted around the Boca Royale neighborhood. Designed by the builder Neal Communities, the Boca Royale Golf & Country Club community has streets with names familiar to golfers, such as Norman, Faldo and Trevino. Custom homes come in various sizes and models; some are recently built while others are newly under construction. Homeowners can choose from around 14 different floor plans and customize them with recessed ceilings and outdoor kitchens. Some designs have a Mediterranean feel, with stucco facades and terracotta roofs, while others, like the Kiawah model, have a tropical vibe, with wood shutters and a lanai with outdoor pool. They range from two to five bedrooms, have two- or three-car garages, and measure from around 1,600 square feet for single-story villas to over 3,600 square feet for a five-bedroom house. “You have everything from villas in the mid-$400,000s to $1.5 million homes,” says Sugden. For those not interested in the country club lifestyle, there are also several smaller communities around Boca Royale. The private Whispering Pines subdivision features spacious single-family homes dating from the mid-2000s that typically list between $600,000 and $800,000. Tangerine Woods is a private, gated 55-plus community with a large clubhouse, pool with hot tub, tennis and pickleball courts, and established homes starting at around $180,000. Alameda Isles, which offers residents five lakes, a private park and a 59-slip marina, is the largest of several 55-plus manufactured home communities in the area. Homes here typically list between $170,000 and $270,000. Brook to Bay and Oak Grove are smaller manufactured home communities with prices between $80,000 and $200,000. The Boca Royale Golf & Country Club's recently renovated golf course comprises an 18-hole, par-72 layout that spans almost 6,400 yards with a slope of 130 and a rating of 71.1. Five tee box locations allow for golfers of all skill levels to play the lush fairways and Champion Ultradwarf greens. Members enjoy year-round golf, personal carts, walking privileges and are eligible to play in club-sponsored leagues and tournaments. Nearby practice facilities include driving nets and a sand bunker. Private lessons and group clinics are open to members and the general public. Golf membership also includes access to tennis and pickleball facilities and a state-of-the-art fitness center. The Georgian-inspired clubhouse is home to The Fairway Dining Room, where members and the public can enjoy classic American fare in an elegant space with pet-friendly outdoor seating, and The 19th Hole, where post-round drinks and conversation flow. “There are also seminars at the clubhouse all the time," says Sugden. Lemon Bay can be accessed by boat via an inlet at the neighborhood's northwest corner, while a drive to the Lemon Bay waterfront in Englewood is only 5 miles away. From there, it’s just a short trip over the Tom Adams Bridge to the Gulf beaches of Manasota Key. Boca Royale residents also experience nature closer to home at Kiwanis Park, a small green space with nature trails and a playground. Retail options in Boca Royale include Big Lots and The UPS Store, while a full-service Publix is 3 miles south, in Englewood's Olde Village shopping center. The highly rated Rumours Wine Bar and Libee’s Sports Bar & Grill, known for its wood-fired pizza, are popular eateries nearby, while all the restaurants and shopping along Englewood's West Dearborn Street are just a few miles away. In the neighborhood's southwest corner, Buchan Airport, a small airport with no terminal and a turf runway, is largely used for single-engine pleasure aircraft.

Sprinkled with hints of Old Florida and mixed with a variety of housing options, Manasota provides the perfect recipe for a laidback coastal lifestyle. Conveniently tucked between Venice and Greater Englewood on the doorstep of southern Sarasota County’s rapid expansion, Manasota remains a slow-paced residential neighborhood that is home to a nature preserve and is located just minutes from the popular beach on Manasota Key. Residents also have access to a trio of high-performing schools in the state’s top-rated district. Much of Manasota’s established single-family housing is concentrated on spacious lots between Manasota Beach Road and the Intracoastal Waterway. On narrow streets lined with palm trees, pines and other native vegetation are a variety of traditional ranch-style homes as well as contemporary custom homes. Key West-style cottage homes and the occasional modern-style home also can be found. Prices typically range from $600,000 to $900,000. Similar housing is found inland at Gulf View Estates, a deed-restricted community where prices range from $400,000 to $600,000. Pennington Place, another self-contained subdivision, offers single-family homes and townhouses in the $350,000 to $550,000 range. “Being able to get something relatively inexpensive is attractive,” says Debi Harman, a Realtor with RE/MAX Alliance Group who lives in nearby Sarasota National. Additional values can be found at BeachWalk by Manasota Key, a new development of attached villas for under $400,000 and single-family homes between $425,000 and $725,000. Manasota also includes a pair of themed manufactured home communities. Japanese Gardens and Polynesian Village offer homes between $140,000 and $240,000 and amenities that include a clubhouse, pool and courts for shuffleboard and pickleball. Students in Manasota attend the Sarasota County public school system and have access to high-performing schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. Taylor Ranch Elementary and Venice Middle are A-minus-rated schools by Niche, while Venice High is an A-rated school that features its own performing arts center. The neighborhood is small enough that the waterfront is always within walking distance. For those who prefer a short drive, Manasota Beach Road connects directly to the barrier island of Manasota Key, though a wait may be in order as a drawbridge raises for a ship to pass through on its way to the Gulf of Mexico. “The beach is beautiful, very authentic,” says Harman. “People go there to watch the sunsets.” While you are waiting for the sun to set, you can swim, fish, launch watercraft and nature-watch on the nearby trails. Native flora and fauna are the focal point of the Manasota Scrub Preserve, 180 acres of protected habitat centrally located in the neighborhood. In the center of the preserve is a flatwoods pond that attracts many of the birds and other animals that call the area home, and a 1.-5-mile natural-surface trail provides additional opportunities to explore. Residents have a plethora of retail and dining options available to them less than 3 miles north at the Venice Village shopping center along the Tamiami Trail. The sprawling commercial complex is anchored by a full-service Publix, features big-box retailers Walmart and Target and is home to a variety of eateries that includes highly rated options Snowbirds Grille and The Sand Trap Sports Bar. Not far from Venice Village is Wellen Park, a massive master-planned development anchored by a buzzy downtown that is about 7 miles from the neighborhood. Downtown Wellen Park is built around an 80-acre lake and features additional recreational amenities that include a 3-mile lakefront trail, a children’s splash pad and green spaces where visitors can relax in strategically placed hammocks. Visitors also have access to an array of boutique shops and eateries, and a popular farmer’s market is held there every Sunday morning. Wellen Park’s most noticeable attraction is CoolToday Park, the new spring training home of the Atlanta Braves. Exhibition games are played there from late February through late March, but the park hosts events year-round, including concerts in the stadium and weekly trivia nights at the in-house tiki bar. Getting to Wellen Park and other nearby areas of interest is made convenient by State Road 776, also known as Englewood Road. It bisects the community and provides access to the Tamiami Trail, the Gulf Coast’s primary retail and dining corridor, less than 3 miles north. Tamiami Trail leads directly north into Sarasota, while 776 leads directly south to Englewood and the barrier islands off its coast.

To tee or not to tee? That is the question in Sarasota National, a unique blended community built for golfers and nature lovers. Occupying prime real estate between Venice and North Port on Florida’s Gulf Coast, the community is divided into a pair of distinct subdivisions that provide a luxurious lifestyle for all its residents. “The thing that really sets us apart is our land,” says Debi Harman, a Realtor with RE/MAX Alliance Group and a resident of Sarasota National. “A lot of homes are on the water, but we also have a preserve, so we have all kinds of animals. When you drive in here, it’s like living in a wildlife park.” Sarasota National was built with input from the National Audubon Society to lessen the community’s environmental impact. As a result, the homes are set amid 1,300 acres of protected land. The centerpiece of Lake Village is the natural environment, as the subdivision features lakes, natural habitats and the nature-watching they afford. The community’s resort-style amenities begin with the Sarasota National Golf Course. The opening and closing holes include water on the right side from tee to green, and water comes into play on almost every hole. Dining, drinking and card rooms are available at the course’s clubhouse, which is part of a three-building community complex that is surrounded by additional amenities like a pool with beach entry, courts for tennis and pickleball and an 8,000-square-foot event lawn. Golf Village was developed around the 18-hole course at the Sarasota National Golf Club, which began operations in 2008, a full five years before home construction began in earnest. On approximately 800 lots, there are carriage-style townhouses, villas and estate homes with Spanish Mediterranean styles. Residents must be members of the golf club, and HOA assessments are billed quarterly. Housing in Lake Village is similar and incorporates the same Mediterranean motif, although the townhouses are typically smaller. Townhouses typically go for between $350,000 and $450,000, while single-family homes range from roughly $600,000 to more than $1.2 million for the largest waterfront properties. The Wellen Park Welcome Center at the Publix-anchored West Villages Marketplace is less than 3 miles away and includes eateries such as Villani & Co., an upscale steak and seafood restaurant, and Irma’s Tacos, a contemporary eatery that features a tequila bar. Wellen Park’s development is projected to continue for years, but it’s already a destination for residents of surrounding communities. “One thing I like about living in Sarasota National is that you can go to Wellen Park and enjoy the amenities, but you come back home and don’t have to deal with the construction,” says Harman. Sarasota County Schools serves the neighborhood with a collection of top-rated schools. Kids may start at Taylor Ranch Elementary, which gets an A-minus from Niche, before transitioning to Venice Middle, which also has an A-minus. Students may then attend Venice High, earning an A and offering career and technical education programs for engineering and healthcare. Venice is located between two major coastal cities, with St. Petersburg to the north and Fort Myers to the south. Because of the area’s large nature preserves and suburban layout, the area is mostly car-dependent. Sarasota National sits along Highway 41, offering easy access to the rest of Florida’s western coast.

Between the beaches on Manasota Key and the Myakka State Forest is East Englewood, a neighborhood where new housing developments are accented by lush palms, palmettos and pines. Here, residents make use of the dependably warm southwest Florida weather, heading to one of the beaches on Manasota Key or spotting spiny-tailed iguanas while exploring the wetlands. “You can see kids riding their bikes up and down the streets,” says Leslie Brown, a Realtor with Sand Dollar Home Team and Englewood local since 1989, adding, “It’s a very family-oriented neighborhood.” That being said, the neighborhood is also home to 55-plus communities like Foxwood and Park Forest where residents enjoy outdoor pools and rec centers. Less than 2 miles west of East Englewood is Old Englewood Village and Dearborn Street, a retail district dating back to the days of the Florida land boom. A century later, residents can still shop along the historic street, dining outside at brightly painted cafes and picking up beachy trinkets in tiny boutiques. Of course, more options can always be found in Venice 12 miles north or in the larger city of Sarasota, 20 miles beyond that.