CULTURE, HERITAGE AND HOMES

By Mike Lochridge

Back in the 1970s, as a teenager growing up in Winter Park, Michael O’Shaughnessy remembers riding his bike along iconic Park Avenue. Consequently, the longtime real estate broker — whose firm bears his name — has witnessed plenty of changes. But one thing has remained the same, he says: “Quality of life.” 

A Winter Park resident for 46 years, O’Shaughnessy, 60, loved the city too much to leave it. He and wife Leslie have two teenagers, Shane, 15, and Lucky, 14. They wouldn’t have wanted to raise their kids anyplace else.

“No other place in Central Florida has the quality of life and the small-town urban setting that Winter Park has,” O’Shaughnessy says. “It’s by far Central Florida’s most desirable community.” 

From that professional vantage point, he understands why homebuyers want to move into the city — and why homebuilders are just as enamored of the aptly named “City of Culture and Heritage,” which was founded in 1888 as a resort community for well-to-do Northerners.

There’s little argument that Winter Park is one of the most sought-after addresses in Central Florida. It’s small, yet urban. There’s fine dining and down-home barbecue. There are museums, theaters, art festivals and Rollins College, one of the top liberal-arts colleges in the U.S.

And there are plenty of parks, gardens and lots of lakes, including the Winter Park Chain of Lakes.

With a population of 31,171, the city’s residential growth is steady but not overwhelming, primarily because it is virtually 100 percent built out, and has been for decades. Most of the new-home building occurs in small pockets, often with new construction replacing older homes in existing subdivisions.

“We’ve maintained 100 new single-family housing starts over the last five years,” says Clarissa Howard, the city’s communications director. “The number of teardowns and rebuilds has been steady.” 

Therefore, Howard notes, there are still opportunities for those who want to live in Winter Park and prefer new construction.

“The market is hot here,” Howard said. “We offer an eclectic mix of architecture that draws people who like different styles and designs. The price point is also higher in our area.” 

Known for its contemporary architecture and its penchant for winning national awards, Phil Kean Design Group (philkeandesigns.com) is offering buyers something new with its Morse & Virginia Brownstones on Morse Boulevard and Virginia Drive.

Inspired by New York City’s brownstones, the three-story homes feature three bedrooms with two-and-a-half bathrooms, and four bedrooms with four-and-a-half bathrooms. They range in size from 3,000 to 4,500 square feet, and are priced from $1.25 million to $1.65 million. 

Coledev Investments is Kean’s development partner for the eight-home project, which began in 2015.

Inside, a private interior elevator travels to all floors, including the rooftop. The main living areas — with the kitchen, dining and great room — are on the second floor. The master suite and third bedroom are on the third floor, while a second bedroom and office are on the first floor. French doors open onto rear balconies on the first and second floors.

“Each design detail is well thought out,” says Phil Kean, president of the Winter Park firm. “PKDG homes are built using ‘green’ building standards and sustainable products.”

He adds that brownstone buyers typically are retirees and empty nesters with a strong affinity for the location, just blocks from the city’s renowned shopping and dining district.

“Winter Park has a special charm, with outdoor cafés, bistros, specialty shops and boutiques,” Kean adds. “It’s pedestrian friendly and promotes a sense of community.” He notes that Central Park — which runs most of the length of the downtown shopping district — and Winter Park’s popular farmer’s market are an easy stroll away.

Two other upscale projects, both on Interlachen Avenue, will offer residents easy walking distance to Park Avenue in addition to first-class amenities.

South Interlachen Place townhomes, developed by Winter Park Real Estate Advisors, offers six homes, each with a private elevator, an underground two-car garage and a rooftop terrace. Only two of the six homes remain on the market, with prices ranging from $2 million to $3 million. 

Michael Gonick, a broker associate for Premier Sotheby’s International Real Estate (premiersothebysrealty.com), is the exclusive sales agent for South Interlachen Place. 

“Buyers say that Winter Park has the best of everything,” says Gonick. “It’s a truly unique city in Florida. Great restaurants, and shops you’d find in more expensive areas, such as Palm Beach and Sarasota. It rivals some of the most cosmopolitan destinations in the world.”

In addition, Gonick says, more people are looking for townhomes that aren’t oceanfront — which isn’t surprising, considering this season’s hurricanes and the greater battering that coastal communities generally endure.

A few blocks north is the Interlachen North Condominium, which Gonick also represents. That project encompasses eight homes, with prices ranging from $1.5 million to $2.6 million.

Developed by Interlachen North Partners, the posh units are single-story and feature large, open floorplans, underground parking, “aging in place” design and plenty of private outdoor-living spaces.

Interlachen North, Gonick says, is the only new single-story condo complex in Winter Park. “There’s nothing like it this close to Park Avenue,” he adds. “Everything else being built is multilevel.”

There has also been plenty of buzz about Park Hill, developed by Hill Gray Seven (hillgrayseven.com), which features 10 three-story townhomes right on Park Avenue, at the southwest corner of North Park Avenue and Whipple Avenue, just across the street from the Winter Park Golf Course and Casa Feliz.

The homes range in size from 3,300 to 4,300 square feet, with private elevators, first-floor courtyards and covered rooftop terraces (with summer kitchens, naturally). Prices for the five homes that remain range from $2.65 million to $3.35 million.

There are no longer any residential building sites along Park Avenue in the city’s historic shopping and dining district. Hill found the last one two years ago, where a couple of small apartment complexes incongruously sat. He immediately seized the opportunity, buying the property and razing the circa-1960s buildings.

“Park Hill is our legacy project,” says Drew Hill, a partner in the family owned company that is developing it. “No one has attempted anything like this in Central Florida. And the only place it could really work is Park Avenue. That’s why this is something no one else can replicate. There’s really no competition.”

Some builders, such as David Weekley Homes (davidweekleyhomes.com), are offering new single-family homes in established neighborhoods. The company currently has 24 Winter Park homes currently underway, with prices ranging from the $400s to $1 million-plus. 

“Part of the beauty and charm of Winter Park is the diversity in home styles and sizes,” says David Jacobs, community manager for David Weekley Homes. That’s why the company offers traditional, transitional and modern homes ranging from three to five bedrooms. Most also have studies and bonus rooms.

“Our floorplans are carefully designed to live as good as they look,” Jacobs adds. “This is accomplished through studying sight lines, traffic patterns and circulation — which gives our homes a better flow and more usable space.” 

As with other homebuilders, Weekley finds Winter Park to be an ideal location to do business.

“There’s no place quite like Winter Park in Central Florida,” says Jacobs. “The city boasts historically rich architecture near its downtown and along the neighboring lakes.”

Also, with home and homesite prices on the rise, Winter Park has been an area where buyers are willing to spend more for convenience. The city is right in the middle of everything, despite seeming at times to exist in a bubble of cultured tranquility. 

With all the lakes dotting Winter Park, it’s no surprise that builders are always scouting out opportunities to build on the water. 

Icon Residential started construction last year on The Mondrian Winter Park (themondrianwinterpark.com), a community of 30 townhomes just off Lee Road on the north side of Lake Killarney. It will offer six floorplans ranging in size from 2,100 to 2,500 square feet, and priced from the mid-$500s to the $900s.

Homeowners at The Mondrian will have access to two private docks with 10 slips, a boardwalk and a covered gathering pavilion. All homes will include three bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms and two-car garages. Some will feature private rooftop living areas, while others will feature private balconies, according to Ryan Studzinski, principal with Icon.

He adds that the townhomes feature innovative architecture and design and quality concrete block construction on all levels. 

“The style is unique and modern architecturally, and draws heavily from the influential works of its namesake artist, emphasizing vertical lines and rectangular blocks with asymmetrical balance,” says Studzinski.

Mondrian (1872-1944) was a Dutch artist who pioneered an art form that he termed “neoplasticism,” which consisted of lines and geometrical shapes painted on white canvases.

Adds Studzinski: “The community is an urban utopia, with a unique pedestrian-friendly location that puts residents a short walk from upscale shopping, dining, entertainment, healthcare and education options.” 

The same could be said of Winter Park generally. 

“Our buyers select Winter Park for many different reasons,” says Jacobs. “There’s a vibrant downtown that provides a large selection of restaurants, shopping and nightlife opportunities while still maintaining a small-town charm.”

Or as resident and real estate broker O’Shaughnessy says: “Winter Park offers the highest concentration of quality of life that Central Florida can offer.”