Master-Planned Community: Verandah

Verandah, along nearly two miles of the scenic Orange River in Fort Myers, Florida, is the first community in the state to be certified by the Florida Green Building Coalition as a Green Development. Verandah offers estate, custom and traditional single-family homes, villas and coach homes with home and home-site packages. A select group of preferred builders offered quality homes incorporating “green building” principles to maximize energy efficiency and enhance indoor air quality. Every home in the community offers state-of-the-art structured wiring for on-demand cable, video and Internet service. In the heart of Verandah, under expansive stands of live oak canopies, is River Village, the focal point of the community’s relaxed lifestyle. Anchored by a sprawling park that includes a community treehouse and a large area for community events, River Village features individual amenity structures among the oak trees that house a golf pro shop, riverfront restaurant, and tennis and fitness area. Along the riverbank at River Village, Blossom’s boathouse serves as a canoe and kayak livery and houses a small snack bar. The site design for Verandah incorporates pedestrian walkways along the riverfront and winding throughout the community. Nearly 70 percent of the property was originally designated to be open space with natural preserve areas, parks, wetlands, lakes, 36 holes of championship golf – Old Orange designed by Bob Cupp and Whispering Oak by Jack Nicklaus and Jack Nicklaus II, and an expansive buffer along the river to help maintain the unique character of the riverfront.

The final phase of the Verandah community, including the club was sold to a builder/developer in 2012.