IS IT CENTRAL FLORIDA OR CENTRAL ITALY?
BELLA COLLINA IS WHERE OLD WORLD MEETS OLD FLORIDA FOR A ROUND OF GOLF
Nestled along the shores of lakes Apopka and Siena is Bella Collina, a luxurious Tuscan-style community that'll make you think you're in Central Italy instead of Central Florida.
Even the rolling hills are unusual in an area renowned for its billiard-table flatness.
Located just south of Montverde, Bella Collina's privileged perch in the Sugarloaf Mountain uplands of Lake County provides dramatic topography and sweeping valley views.
And so the illusion is complete. And yet, it's not an illusion. This is a real place tucked away in a small Lake County town best known for Montverde Academy, an exclusive residential prep school that always boasts a nationally ranked basketball team.
Now, Montverde is also known for luxury real estate. Indeed, it's easy to see why Bella Collina won the Grand Award for Best Community in the 2017 Parade of Homes, sponsored by the Greater Orlando Builders Association.
Bella Collina's individual builders won parade kudos as well. Vogel Building Group won a Merit Award for Best Custom Home ($1 million to $1.25 million); Dave Brewer Homes won a Merit Award for Best Custom Home ($1.25 to $1.5 million); and Phoenix Companies won First Place for Best Custom Home ($3.5 to $3.75 million).
No wonder so many buyers who might otherwise have been looking in Windermere or Winter Park are deciding that this magical corner of Lake County isn't such an inconvenient commute after all.
Bella Collina's 944 homesites are linked by 20 miles of roads winding around two lakes and past the manicured fairways and undulating dunes of its golf course, designed by Nick Faldo.
In fact, you might see Faldo when you're playing a round, since he's building a home in the community.
Of course, it's difficult to write about Bella Collina without raving about its 75,000-square-foot clubhouse, a cluster of six stone-and-stucco buildings with clay tile roofs that mimics an Italian hilltop village with theme-park precision. Its cost: $75 million.
Designed by architect Michael Marsh and his firm, Marsh & Associates, the facility was named Best Private Clubhouse by Golf Inc. magazine in 2008.
Encircled by a stone wall, the buildings are connected by underground tunnels for employees and staffers. The facades boast imported stone, painted stucco, wood accents and iron metalwork. Purposely weathered detailing makes the complex appear appropriately venerable.
Interior appointments are also Tuscan in style, with custom-made lighting fixtures, windows and doors. The walls are of Venetian plaster and imported stone, which was cut on-site by Italian craftsmen skilled in using traditional materials and techniques.
The clubhouse hosts monthly membership events, daily fitness classes and tennis clinics as well as weddings. Lots and lots of weddings. There are nine locations on site from which couples may choose —from the grand lawn to the atrium.
Just steps away, the 2,500-square-foot Sportivo Centro fitness center was recently completed. The facility offers weekly workout classes, including family and senior fitness, as well as "boot camp" and nutrition workshops.
Or maybe you prefer pampering. If so, there's the Spa and Salon, which offers members and their guests an extensive selection of services in five treatment rooms, as well as relaxation lounges and private locker rooms.
But we mustn't forget golf. In a region where there are many golf communities, this course manages to stand out. The challenging, 18-hole layout features elevation changes, rolling hills and sweeping fairways requiring golfers to navigate uphill, sidehill and downhill lies.
And, of course, there are the homes. Bella Collina is an uber-luxurious community, but because it's a little remote — about 35 minutes from downtown Orlando — you can get more home for your money. Not that money is any object to most buyers here.
Customizable golf villas are priced starting from the $470s, while single-family estate homes are built to order by an approved builder, with prices usually topping $1.5 million. There are some spec homes in the estate section.
Expect Bella Collina to get more attention — national attention — next year when it's the site of the New American Home, a showhome built in conjunction with the International Builders' Show.
IBS draws some 80,000 industry professionals annually, and ranks as Orlando's largest convention. Legacy Custom Built Homes is spearheading the project, which spotlights leading edge new-home materials and technologies.
Coming next spring at Bella Collina is a new 100-unit Condo Lodge, which will offer low-maintenance living and sweeping views of the lakes to the east and the clubhouse to the west. These two- and three-bedroom homes will feature full-time concierge service. Prices had not been released at presstime.
Bella Collina is owned and operated by DCS Investment Holdings, a West Palm Beach-based private equity group owned byˇDwight C. Schar, co-owner of the Washington Redskins and founding chairman of NVR Inc., one of America?s largest homebuilders.