Motocross superstar James Stewart is considered to be the “Tiger Woods” of his sport. Some call him “Bubba” and he’s earned a record 11 American Motorcyclist Association Amateur National titles as kid growing up in nearby Haines City. In his rookie year as a pro in 2002, he earned Rookie of the Year honors. Two years later, he won both the AMA 125 East Supercross Championship and the AMA 125 Motocross Nationals.

His most significant accomplishment was winning 24 out of the 24 races he participated in 2008… a perfect season.

Recently, he’s made Dr. Phillips his home and the Butler Chain his backyard. His new home in the guard gated community, Isle of Osprey, was featured in this episode of his reality show “Bubba’s World” on Fuel TV.

The home features 6 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, 3 half baths, 8,758 square feet, theater room, gym, billiard room, numerous fine luxury finishings, and views of Lake Blanche.

Bubba’s home search highlighted in the first video is a little atypical of the home buying experience, but it looks like he found just the right home.

Local timeshare mogul, David Siegel, has put his unfinished mansion on 10 acres along Lake Butler named “Versailles” in the guard gated community of Reserve at Lake Butler Sound in the Town of Windermere for sale at $75 million “As Is”.

It’s actually listed at $100 million in the MLS which is the price if you want it finished to your specs.

I’m sure most buyers will be buying this property with cash, but if you were to buy this home at $100 million and get a 30 year mortgage at 4.51% with 20% down, the monthly payments would be $405,824 plus taxes and insurance.

I realize we’re talking about $75 million, but the “As Is” price is a better deal. Whether or not $75 million is a good price is another debate altogether.

Depending on what stage of construction this home is in, I can find contractors all day long that’ll complete this home for less than $25 million. From the photos, it appears this home is at drywall stage which means it’s only a matter of putting on the finishing touches.

It has 66,800 square feet (not 90,000 sq ft as reported in the news), 13 bedrooms, 23 bathrooms, 20 Car Garage, and the architecture is based on the residence of Louis the XIV.

It’s being hailed as the most expensive home in America by WSJ but it’s no where near the house Zillow zestimates at $270,408,000. The home that previously held this title was the oceanfront Portabello in Corona Del Mar, California.

A site has been set up for the mansion at http://www.lakebutlermansion.com with all the photos and videos available on this property.

It’s been on the market for nearly 2 months but somehow the press has gotten news of it recently.

Folks around these parts all know that David Siegel made his fortune through Westgate Resorts, the premier timeshare in Central Florida.

He’s also known for his former home on Lake Butler Palazzo del Lago which his former wife, Betty Whitaker, currently resides in.

Here’s a link to the Virtual Tour of “Versailles”. Here’s also a Vitrual Tour of Lake Butler which is the lake this property is located on created via helicopter by Ed Fink of Big Eye in the Sky

I’ll gladly set up a private viewing of this estate with the right credentials so Contact Me.

There was a post on this blog back in 2008, Disney Planning New Luxury Home Community, and now it’s finally coming to reality. I had my doubts as well, but it looks like Disney is finally getting this community underway.

According to this article in the Wall Street Journal, Disney unveiled it’s plans for it’s ultra luxury community called Golden Oak this week. Prices will range from $1.5 to $8 million and will encompass 4,900 acres with 450 homes in 3 distinct villages.

I believe this community is located on Osprey Ridge which Disney closed down a few years back. It’s arguably the most scenic of all the courses at the resort.

Owners will be allowed to bring in their own custom builder to create the home of their dreams within the set of guidelines provided by Disney. I feel sorry for the builder of these homes. If the guidelines are anything like the ones in Celebration, it’s probably the size of a small phone book but it did end up looking beautiful.

I don’t know if they’ve heard, but the real estate market here in Orlando and every where else in the world isn’t all that good.

Now they want to build something no one can afford?

Perhaps Disney knows something that I don’t know.

Having followed the market in SW Orlando for quite some time, I’ll be curious to see how all this pans out. I guess you don’t have to worry about the company going bankrupt before they finish, but how long will it take?

They quote 10 years, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it took a little while longer.

Anyway, here’s a SLIDESHOW of the community if you’re interested.

Please contact me for more information on this new community.

Well, the drywall coming out of China has some problems like a lot of Chinese products and now I’m required to provide a Chinese Drywall Disclosure to home buyers. Recent reports say drywall from China churns out sulfur based gases that eat away air conditioning coils, pipes, and wiring. Worst of all, it stinks…  literally. When building materials became hard to come by during the housing boom around 2004, builders started importing goods from China. Man, they make everything over there.

One of the major builders to do this in Florida according to the Wall Street Journal is Lennar. I gotta tell ya, they’ve built quite a few homes here in SW Orlando since 2004 including Stoneybrook West, Windsor Landing, and Brookestone to mention a few. I’m sure there’s other major builders that used this product and I’m sure they’ll get pulled out of the rank and file once the lawsuits start piling up.

I can’t believe there’s another toxic import from China. It seems like it was not too long ago, the news was about lead in kid’s toys made in China. One thing that’s for sure is that Chinese products are cheap, but at some point quality will have to come into play.

Here’s a pdf of the new disclosure: Chinese Drywall Disclosure

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’ve worked with lots of buyers in the Dr. Phillips area and also encountered lots of confusion on which areas are considered to be the Dr. Phillips area and which are not, so I created this map so people can figure it out. The zip codes that make up the area are 32819, 32836, and parts of 32835.

I’ll begin with the finest and priciest communities in Dr. Phillips and then cover other price ranges in the coming weeks so stay tuned.

To begin with, Cypress Point is probably the finest community here in my opinion and the prices reflect that as well. Homes can be found just under a million dollars here but will most likely require some updating since the majority of the homes were built in the early 90′s. It’s a small price to pay for such a neat community. Some of the most well known residents in Cypress Point include pro golfers Scott Hoch and Lee Jansen who reside in some magnificent estates overlooking Lake Sheen. Neither one of them live on the best lots here which are on the peninsula at Point Cypress where you have views of Lake Sheen in front of the house and views of Lake Tibet to the rear. The developers have preserved much of the towering oaks that made up this property so you get that grand old south feel throughout the community. There’s also a magnificent clubhouse on Lake Sheen and the guard at the gate is fastidious.

Phillips Landing and Turtle Creek are next on the ladder but to some may be comparable to Cypress Point. The lots are smaller here with less trees, but the homes were mostly built in the late 90′s so the homes are a lot newer and require little if any updating. Both communities are divided into three sections so not all the homes are up to par with the estate homes.

ABD Development developed the Bay Harbour section of Phillips Landing and the homes start at about $500,000. The Heritage Bay section was developed by Park Square Homes and offers the most affordable option in Phillips Landing with homes starting around $400,000. The estate section along the shores of Big Sand Lake is composed of works by some of the area’s finest custom home builders and prices start around $800,000. The most desirable homes have frontage on Big Sand Lake and the priciest with all the homes priced over $1 million. Some of the most well known former homeowners here include AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys and Scott Stapp of Creed.

Turtle Creek is laid out pretty similarly to Phillips Landing. The most affordable option here is the Avalon section which offers maintenance free villa style homes starting in the mid to high $300′s featuring flat tile roofs, great room style layouts, brick pavers, and courtyards. Boca Pointe offers the mid range option with homes starting in the high $500′s. I prefer this section over Bay Harbour at Phillips Landing because the homes were built by different custom builders and provides for a more diverse set of homes. The estate section called Water’s Edge offers the finest homes with some of them having frontage on the Butler Chain of Lakes at Fish Lake. It’s one of the smallest lakes on the chain and you have to navigate a long and sometimes very shallow canal to make it out to the rest of the lakes on the chain, but still anything with access to the Butler Chain is tops in my book. Just like in the Estates at Phillips Landing, the finest custom builders in Central Florida shaped the landscape here so you can imagine it’s quite nice to say the least.

Then there’s the beautiful grand old lady of the area, Bay Hill. Home to Arnold Palmer’s PGA golf tournament and some of the finest residences in the area. There’s quite a diverse mix of homes that have been built here since its inception in the 70′s, but the most desirable homes back up to the golf course and Lake Tibet or Lake Blanche on the Butler Chain. It’s been pretty common lately for homes to be completely rebuilt on the golf course and the lakes. Tear down properties on the golf course currently start at about $750,000 and the homes on the lake start at just over a million dollars.

The streets that provide the best views of the golf course include: Tarawood, Brookline, Classic, Bay Hill, and Masters. There’s a few others, but the majority of the best views are here.

There’s also a marina and the Bay Hill Club makes it a popular choice for boaters and golfers alike. The Bay Hill Condos offers units overlooking the marina and easy access to the Butler Chain with prices starting around $400,000. They were built in the 70′s and the 8 foot ceilings with popcorn is just too much to get over for some, but it’s a small price to pay for easy access to the Butler Chain

Bay Point, Bentley Park, Tibet Pointe, Isle of Osprey, and Emerson Pointe are small gated sections along the Butler Chain at Bay Hill which command prices far above a million dollars and conversely have the finest homes. My favorite out of the bunch is Isle of Osprey

The newest high end community in Dr. Phillips is Vizcaya. The homes here are the newest, but also have the smallest lots. Many of the homes are three story to accommodate such a large home on a small lot designed by ABD Development. Vizcaya is divided into several sections which include high end condos, townhomes, single family, and luxury homes. My favorite section is the area developed by Reiche Silliman called Mirabella along the shores of Little Sand Lake. ABD built the homes on Big Sand Lake with the best views, but I still prefer Mirabella. One of the neatest features of Vizcaya is that it offers a bit of an urban lifestyle with it being walking distance to “Restaurant Row“.

For those who prefer not to be in a subdivision at all like myself, there’s Kilgore and Charles E. Limpus Road along the shores of Lake Pocket and Lake Sheen of the Butler Chain of Lakes. Not too many trees, but grand estates abound on this small stretch of road. Joey Fatone of the Backstreet Boys, Payne Stewart, Tracy McGrady, and Frank Viola, former Cy Young pitcher of the Minnesota Twins, have called it home here.

In any case, all these areas are the finest options in Dr. Phillips. There should be something here to accommodate most tastes and lifestyles. The ever growing “Restaurant Row” just adds more appeal to the area.

related post: Best of SW Orlando, Vizcaya Lakefront Home Plans, About Windermere and the Butler Chain, Golf Communities in Dr. Phillips

227 Acadia Terrace
Kissimmee, FL 34747

Offered at $1,599,999

Impeccable quality and phenomenal craftsmanship defines this French Provincial estate built by Goehring and Morgan located on one of the largest lots available in Celebration adjoining a wooded preserve that provides privacy and views of the green on the 15th hole at the Celebration Golf Club designed by Robert Trent Jones. Only the finest materials such as the exotic granite and marble imported from Italy, intricate woodwork and trim details, and artistic faux finishes were included in the construction of this fine estate. There’s all the upgrades you’d expect and some surprises like the wine cellar that doubles as a tornado room, solid core doors, and the insulated garage with carpeting. The property is totally separate from the rest of the community with the wooded preserve on a half acre setting providing the backdrop. Come discover your oasis.

• 5 Bedrooms
• 5.5 Bathrooms
• 5,962 Square Feet
• Half Acre Lot
• Conservation Views
• Study
• Bonus Room
• Courtyard
• Formal Dining
• Formal Living
• Wet Bar
• Wine Cellar
• Coffered Ceilings
• 2 Fireplaces
• French Doors
• Central Vac
• Lagoon Style Heated Pool with Rock Waterfall & Spa

The Windermere home on Lake Down belonging to star Yankee left fielder Johnny Damon that was featured on MTV Cribs just went under contract to be sold. It’s located in the Sunset Bay subdivision located just west of Apopka-Vineland Rd. on Conroy-Windermere Rd..

If you’ve seen the episode, you’ll know it’s quite a property with 6 bedrooms, 6 baths, 7,471 square feet, 9,206 total square feet, 2 bonus rooms, sauna, library, steam room, well lavished exercise room with wet bar, multiple kitchens, multiple master suites, and a resort style pool. You get all that on 1.5 acres and a dock on the second largest lake on the Butler Chain, Lake Down. The home was built by Prestige Home Builders in the year 2000.

The section of the lake that this property sits on is one of the shallowest sections of the lake and for a long time considered less desirable until lakefront properties on the chain became a more precious commodity.

The asking price of the property when it went under contract was $2,999,000, but the original asking price when the property went on the market in February of this year was $3,350,000.

take virtual tour: Johnny Damon’s Home Featured on MTV Cribs

It certainly sounds like a neat development, but the prices are definitely on the pricey side and I’m sure you’ve heard that the real estate market is not that good at the moment. They’re priced pretty similarly to The Sanctuary at Lake Butler Sound so it’s not ridiculous. I think I prefer Lake Butler Sound just because of the fact that there’s a lot more homes completed and less construction messes to deal with. If I were paying $3-$5 million for a home (not that I could even afford the property taxes for that matter), I wouldn’t want to deal with all the debris and noise from construction for too long.

The prices for lots on Lake Cypress are a lot more affordable, but let’s not fool ourselves, it’s no Lake Butler. Prices for lots on Lake Cypress range from $950,000 to $1,300,000.

Two of the lots on Lake Butler are already under contract and if you decide it’s worth it to buy one of these lots, then you have to use one of the following builders: C.J. Unerstall, Derrick Builders, J. Richard Watson Company, Jones-Clayton Construction, N.W. Harris Construction Company, Stonebridge Homes, and Williams P. Campbell Custom Homes. My favorites on this list have to be J. Richard Watson and Jones-Clayton.

Their website claims that the developer for Waterstone also played a part in the development of Keene’s Pointe. For some reason, I always thought Castle and Cooke developed Keene’s Pointe. If anyone has any info about this, please make a comment.

I’ll be curious to see how long this development takes to build out and how it will look in the end. I’m sure it’s gonna look nice, I’m just wondering how long it’s gonna take.

download pdf:

Pricelist as of May 22, 2008 for Waterstone

All All Lakefront Properties For Sale on the Butler Chain as of June 7, 2008

The first property is said to be the home of David Siegel but it’s actually owned by his former wife, Bettie Whitaker. It’s called the Palazzo del Lago and boasts 17,913 square feet, 12 bedrooms, and 14.5 bathrooms along the shores of Lake Butler.

The next property is one of the many homes owned by Shaquille O’Neal. It’s 28,937 square foot 8 bedroom and 12.5 bathroom mansion with a blue tile roof and basketball court on Lake Butler next to the canal to Lake Louise.

The Windermere home of Tiger Woods in Isleworth is featured as well which features 8 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, and 6,692.

related posts: Palazzo del Lago on Lake Butler, Shaq’s House, Tiger Wood’s Home in Isleworth

Click here to view the embedded video.