The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Lutz since 1964 and Pasco since 1981.
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Arthur Rutenberg

Bexley Offers Homebuyers Luxury Custom Options

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Building a home is part of the American dream. It’s exciting to select a lot and choose a floor plan that fits your needs. You watch expectantly as builders construct your home. And since you’re the very first person to live in a newly constructed home, many builders allow you to put your very own stamp on it by selecting the finishes, cabinets and flooring that you want.

Bexley by Newland Communities, one of Pasco County’s newest and most popular master-planned communities, is adding more luxury options with new floor plans from Cardel Homes and the introduction of Arthur Rutenberg to the community.  Both offer new homebuyers ample ways to turn their house into a dream home.

Bexley Cardel Homes, Savannah Living Room

Cardel Homes
With two new floor plans featuring four bedrooms and three baths to choose from, Cardel Homes places a premium on design. Homebuyers have access to the Cardel Design Center where they can build their home according to their lifestyle, as well as select upgrades such as a Whirlpool appliance package, more than 20 different styles and colors of tile, travertine windowsills and much more.

“As a family-owned builder, we pride ourselves in offering quality workmanship and outstanding customer service,” said Brian Phillips, Cardel Homes’ vice president of sales and marketing. “Our design team works with homebuyers so that we can customize floor plans and offer a variety of structural options with those floor plans. This way, families are able to build their home according to their lifestyle.”

Cardel Homes’ two new model homes at Bexley – The Henley and The Savannah – are now open for prospective homebuyers to explore the 3,308 – 3,939-square-foot floor plans. Cardel Homes has a variety of floorplans within the community which range from approximately $400,000 – $600,000.

Arthur Rutenberg Homes/Custom Craft Homes
It’s one thing to select the finishes and colors that you want in your home. It’s another to create the exact floor plan you want with an architect. That’s what custom builder Arthur Rutenberg Homes offers its customers.

“Being in Bexley was just the natural thing to do,” said Ernie Lashlee, building company president for Arthur Rutenberg Homes/Custom Craft Homes. “We have been building custom homes in Newland’s FishHawk Ranch community for more than a decade. Being in Bexley gives us the presence we wanted in the northern part of Pasco County.”

Arthur Rutenberg/Custom Craft Homes, Avalon Model

Arthur Rutenberg has just 14 custom home sites on their exclusive cul de sac.

Lashlee, a certified architect, notes that he can assist homebuyers by making changes to existing floor plans. That may mean increasing the size of a master bedroom, or changing the elevation of a home so that it stands out from others in the neighborhood.

“Most of our buyers are looking for something different from the person next door,” Lashlee added. “They want something unique and we’re able to offer them the expertise and flexibility to bring their vision to life.”

A model home for Arthur Rutenberg Homes/Custom Craft Homes is expected to open in Spring of 2019 and pre-sales will begin soon. Homes will start in the high $500,000 – $800,000.

Whatever your home style or budget, Bexley has something for you including single family and luxury homes and townhomes priced from the low $200s to over $600,000.   Located north of State Road 54, Bexley’s 1,825-acre community offers a wide range of activities and amenities just minutes from your doorstep, including resort style pools, a state-of-the-art fitness center, miles of dual-surface trails and a BMX pump track, plus the Twisted Sprocket Café, and Suncoast Trailside Bicycles which are both open to the public.

For more information, visit www.bexleyflorida.com or call (813) 425-7555.

Everything Is Alive and Blooming In Connerton

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Spring brings new life, and everything is coming alive in the beautiful, award-winning community of Connerton in Land O’ Lakes.

Flowers are blooming, trees are budding and wildlife is nesting. New families are also nesting, with 60 new buyers choosing Connerton as their home since the beginning of the year.

Connerton was honored to be one of the 2018 Showcase Communities for the annual Parade of Homes sponsored by the Tampa Bay Builders Association, held March 3 to March 11. More than 200 visitors came to Connerton during the Parade, with many looking to find their dream home in this premiere Central Pasco community.

Love of Nature
With the advent of spring, Connerton comes alive not only with new homes, but also with Florida wildlife that is abundant in its conservation areas, wetlands and ponds that make up this eco-friendly community.

New homebuyers choose Connerton because they want to enjoy nature at their backdoor and get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Drive through Connerton and you may encounter a gopher tortoise crossing the road, sandhill cranes teaching their chicks the ways of the world, or perhaps a new fawn prancing through the woods with its mother. So be sure to be careful on Connerton’s roads, especially this time of the year.

Connerton residents are very protective of their wildlife. It is not uncommon to see cars stop to pick up a turtle and move it to a safe place, or become crossing guards for families of sandhill cranes and deer that want to cross the road.

New this year at Connerton is a Butterfly Garden Club organized by residents. The butterfly gardens, located at Rose Cottage, are being designed to help sustain the declining honeybee population, and provide a rest area for migrating monarch butterflies.

Monarchs are the only two-way migrating butterflies in North America, and Connerton is in a prime location to help the monarchs in their 3,000-mile journey from Mexico to as far north as Canada. Connerton plans to allow local schools to use its garden to study the monarchs and for other educational purposes.

Commitment to Preservation
When Connerton was developed almost 20 years ago, 3,000 acres were donated to the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD). The Conner Preserve, as it is known today, is located on the north end of Connerton, but is open to the public with access from State Road 52.

This area offers a stunning landscape of steep sand-hill ridges, expansive marshes, dense cypress sloughs and lush pine flatwoods. The preserve is a vital part of a wildlife habitat corridor envisioned by Pasco County, and is a living laboratory of natural Florida.

With approximately 15 miles of multi-use trails and 17 miles of hiking-only trails, nature lovers enjoy Connerton’s recreational and educational activities where possum, armadillo, raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, gopher tortoises, white-tailed deer and many other species make their home. The SWFWMD offers downloadable field guides on its website that identify the animals, birds, butterflies, trees and wildflowers located on the premises. Visit: swfwmd.state.fl.us/recreation/species/.

Fresh Ideas
Spring also brings thoughts of spring-cleaning, and that often leads to thoughts of moving to a new home. Connerton offers a variety of new homes by five of the area’s quality builders — Homes by WestBay, M/I Homes, Inland Homes, Arthur Rutenberg Homes and Lennar.

Floor plans ranging from 1,500 to over 4,000 square feet, and priced from the low $200s to over $700,000. Homes are available with 3-6 bedrooms, 2-4 car garages, and many exciting new design and energy-saving features.

Stop and visit Club Connerton, and take a tour of this beautiful community that was awarded the Gold Award for Best Lifestyle Program in the Nation by the National Association of Home Builders. Visit the model homes, take a walk or bike ride on the trails, or fly a kite and enjoy one of the beautiful parks. You will be happy that you did, and you may even decide to live here!

For more information, visit Connerton.com.

Published March 28, 2018

Don’t Let The Parade Pass You By!

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Spring is in the air, and once again Connerton is blooming with new homes, new families and plenty of fun activities for its residents.

Your family can discover Connerton over the next two weekends, during the 2018 Parade of Homes presented by the Tampa Bay Builders Association. For the second year in a row, Connerton is featured as a Parade Showcase Community, and its builders are showing off with four beautifully furnished model homes.

The 2018 Parade of Homes dates are March 2 to March 4, and March 9 to 11. Models are open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The Parade is free and open to the public.

Tour Club Connerton

Winner of Best National Lifestyle Award

Make Club Connerton your first stop during the Parade of Homes. This expansive, family focused activity hub is the epicenter for Connerton residents, and captures the community’s unique vibrant lifestyle.

Begin your tour at the Visitor Center inside Club Connerton, and learn about Connerton’s 13-year history and New Town designation by the Florida Legislature. You’ll see an overview of the 4,800-acre master-planned community and its many neighborhoods, parks, connecting trail system, and the adjoining Connerton Preserve sanctuary.

Next, tour the 10,000-square-foot clubhouse, with fitness center, kids activity room, multipurpose area, café and resort-style pool with outdoor kitchen and ping pong/pool tables. Common areas surrounding Club Connerton include basketball, tennis and pickleball courts, as well as an outdoor amphitheater, gardens and walkways.

In January, Connerton was proud to receive the 2018 Gold Award for Best Lifestyle Program for a Community during the National Association of Home Builders National Sales and Marketing Awards gala in Orlando. Entries were submitted from around the nation, and Connerton walked away with the prestigious Gold Award, edging out communities from California, Texas and South Florida.

Unique Floor Plans and Decorating Ideas

Close-by Club Connerton are the four Parade models built by Homes by WestBay, Inland Homes, Lennar and M/I Homes. A representative from Arthur Rutenberg Homes will be at the clubhouse to provide custom home plans for its 90’ homesites in the gated area of Rose Pointe.

Whether you enjoy touring new homes because you’re in the market for a lifestyle change, or you’re just looking for design and decorating ideas, you’ll be delighted with the variety of floor plans and beautiful home sites available in Connerton.

Party In The Park

During the Parade of Homes, walk across the street from Connerton’s model center to a quaint neighborhood park for free hot dogs and refreshments on Saturday and Sunday. This peaceful retreat is one of several neighborhood parks where Connerton residents enjoy picnicking, playing games or enjoying a quiet place to read and relax. There’s even a community dog park for residents’ furry friends.

As you drive through the community, you will appreciate Connerton’s green space and conservation areas, its miles of trails and oversized sidewalks for biking and walking, and a scenic two-mile trail and boardwalk that winds through natural wilderness, lakes and wetlands.

 Enjoy Your Visit

There’s no doubt that Connerton lives up to its tagline — “The Community of More…”

Just ask residents, who are out and about all day long. With the community’s award-winning activities, top-rated schools, exceptional builders, beautiful clubhouse, natural conservation areas, and miles of trails, residents of all ages and interests have many reasons for choosing Connerton.

As a “New Town” designated community, its master plan has the potential for up to 5,000 homes, millions of square feet of retail and office space, a government center and more than 1,000 acres of natural protected spaces.

Construction has recently begun on the community’s next phase, located at the east end of Pleasant Plains Parkway. The developer will soon break ground on 259 single-family lots, many with water or conservation views.

Connerton is located in Land O’ Lakes, about six miles north of the intersection of State Road 54 and U.S. 41. For more information, visit Connerton.com.

 

Published February 28, 2018