Horizon West is an area of Central Florida that is not only a marvel of city planning, but also a prime example of a community that refuses to stagnate. The growth of the Horizon West Villages will not let anything stop it from reaching it’s full potential. The newest Horizon West area that has shown great expansion has been Village F, along Seidel Road. Village F has the biggest opportunity for growth out of all of Horizon West’s villages. This area has numerous communities still being built and has major plans for the future.

​

Village F is arguably the closest village to Walt Disney World. From when your car leaves your driveway until your tires hit Disney property, it usually takes most Village F homeowners less than 10 minutes. Walking around many Village F communities, you can often see people congregating on sidewalks to watch Magic Kingdom’s nightly fireworks. The nightly fireworks often add a little extra magic to holiday gatherings for those in Village F.

​

Lakeview Pointe is a community that has completed construction and bodes well for the rest of the growing communities within Village F. This community features attached townhome floor plans as well as detached single family floor plans. The amenities within this community include a pool with a splash pad for little ones, an outdoor seating area perfect for summer gatherings. Next to the pool is a playground within one area for little ones and another for bigger kids. There is a gym featured in the community with an outdoor seating area, perfect for cooling down after a long workout.

​

Lakeview Pointe is appropriately named as it is surrounded by two lakes, offering lovely sunset views for residents. One lake even has a gazebo overlooking it, making picnics a fun option. The neighborhood also features wide sidewalks and several seating areas surrounded by trees and flowers, making your nightly walks especially picturesque. The neighborhood offers frequent and fun events including an outdoor movie night and food truck nights.

​

Another neighborhood located within Village F is Lake Hancock Preserve. This neighborhood is another that has finished construction, with the last home being built in 2016. Lake Hancock Preserve also offers attached condos as well as detached single family units, with the average home price being $375,000. This neighborhood offers unique amenities like a putting green for those who love to practice their golf game. Golfers will also rejoice in Lake Hancock Preserve’s proximity of the Orange County National Golf Center and Lodge, which is roughly a mile away from the neighborhood. Lake Hancock Preserve also includes a playground for little ones, a park with a gazebo that overlooks a nearby lake.

​

An extremely popular community Watermark sits, surrounded by numerous picturesque lakes, just five miles away from Magic Kingdom. This proximity affords easy viewing of the nighttime fireworks, which is a treat for many residents. The neighborhood’s location also offers the opportunity for lake access for many homes. 

The Watermark community clubhouse offers exceptionally luxurious surroundings with a resort style pool with a splash pad comparable to one you would see in a Disney hotel. The clubhouse also includes outdoor seating adjacent to the pool, a fitness center, a playground, a tennis court, and an outdoor amphitheater. There are also outdoor parks and a tree conservation area.

​

Watermark has several floorplans available within their neighborhood, to offer choices from first time buyers to full families. Watermark features townhomes and bungalows starting at $300,000 and go to $2.5 million. The floorplans for the townhomes typically start at 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, while some of the larger floorplans feature 6 or even 7 bedroom homes.

​

The Watermark Development is known as a leader in the development community, as the community has been the recipient of countless national and regional awards. For example, the builder and parent company, Meritage, has won the Energy Star’s Partner of the Year for Sustained Excellence Award and the Energy Star’s Leadership in Housing Award for 6 years in a row, respectively. They have also been the recipient of the Avid Benchmark and Gold awards, the Department of Energy Housing Innovation Award, and the National Association of Home Builder’s Energy Value Housing Award. 

 

It’s clear from the multitudes of awards that Meritage is one of the most energy efficient home building companies on the market. So how is Watermark able to provide such energy efficient homes? And what does that mean for your monthly utility bill?

​

Every Meritage home is built from the ground up with energy efficient features that are guaranteed to save you money every month. Some of the features include water efficient faucets, an HVAC system proven to reduce allergens, Energy Star certified appliances, spray foam insulation, sealed ducts to improve the effectiveness of the HVAC system, high performance toilets, heat deflecting windows, an advanced thermostat to automatically maintain better temperatures and save 10% energy, and home materials made with little to no harmful volatile organic compounds.

​

All these features have earned Meritage, not only an abundance of energy saving awards but also national acclaim for their low energy rating. According to the Home Energy Rating System which was set up by Residential Energy Services Network, on a scale of 0 to 150 with 0 being the best score, the average Meritage home has a score of 60. This means Meritage homes are forty points lower than the national average.

​

Because of this amazing energy efficiency, Meritage homes are able to save homeowners an average of $539 a year on energy bills. This means that over the lifetime of a 30 year mortgage, homeowners have the possibility to save over $16,000 on utility bills.

​

While the community of Watermark offers numerous benefits to its residents, this neighborhood is also the site of an upcoming retail area that will be known as “The Mark”. This new retail center, at the corner of Seidel Road and Seton Creek Boulevard, was bought from the Walt Disney Company in order to provide the Horizon West Village more options for convenience stores. The Mark includes plans for Starbucks, 7-Eleven, Papa’s John’s, a wine and liquor store and a number of other restaurants.

​

One restaurant in particular has sparked interest in the Horizon West Village F community. The New York Beer Project is a brewery based in New York and this will be their first location outside of New York State. So why Horizon West? According to an article in BizJournals, the owners of New York Beer Project are big Disney World fans and come down to Central Florida at least three times a year. The deciding factor, the owner claims, was being able to see the Disney fireworks as he was driving to The Mark for a meeting. The New York Beer Project will be two stories with a gastropub and its own taproom featuring beer that the New York brewery creates himself.

​

Village F’s numerous lakeside communities continue with the neighborhood of Lakeshore. The floor plans within the Lakeshore community range from 1900 to 4600 square feet and typically start at about $500,000. All of the homes in Lakeshore are single family units, perfect for second- or third-time homebuyers with large families.  Each home is luxuriously designed, with beautifully crafted cabinets, designer light features, and high-quality tile choices.

​

The pride and joy of the Lakeshore community is the “Lakehouse”, a 4,132 square foot clubhouse that features a resort style pool, a fitness center with numerous high-tech machines, and a yoga room. The Lakehouse is uniquely situated to provide a lake view through each room’s incredible floor to ceiling windows. The lake features a beach volleyball court, a fire pit and a kayak launch. Who wouldn't want to live in Horizon West?!