Collier County's neighborhoods: Bonita to Marco

ISLES OF CAPRI

Off Isle of Capri Road and Capri Boulevard-the last right before the bridge to Marco Island-in the southeastern portion of Collier County.

A traffic signal on Collier Boulevard (S.R. 951) marks two-lane Capri Road, which leads to Isles of Capri, a chain of four islands carved out of 600 acres of mangroves. First-time visitors may think they've made a wrong turn as the first mile of Capri Road leads deeper into the nothingness of tangled mangroves, no doubt part of the appeal that prompted Tennessean Leland L. "Doc" Loach to establish this special place in the mid-1950s. Connected by land bridges, three of the islands are residential; the fourth is reserved for restaurants, full-service marinas, a yacht club, vacation and annual rentals, and a general store offering grouper sandwiches and sundries. Colorful street names like Pago Pago, Kon Tiki and Jamaica remind travelers they're island hopping-even if they can't always see the water.

Nestled between the Marco River and Tarpon and McIlvane bays, Isles of Capri features newer multimillion-dollar mansions sprinkled among the mostly older homes. "Every piece of waterfront property here is direct access," says Jeri Neuhaus, owner of Christopher Realty. "There are no bridges and you don't have the traffic of Naples and Marco." Prices push the half-million-dollar mark, with some houses priced in the $3 million range. Isles of Capri also boasts 300 condominium units in five complexes (none over seven stories), including the newer Twin Dolphins, priced from $800,000 to over $2 million. Older units at Marco Towers seem like a steal, priced from the mid $200,000s. Living in Isles of Capri, however, is subject to availability. In late 2004, there were just two listings: a $989,000 two-bedroom, three-bath single-family home of just over 1,000 square feet and a two-bedroom, two-bath condo, offered at $695,000.

MARCO ISLAND

The northernmost and largest of the Ten Thousand Islands, bounded by the Gulf of Mexico and the Marco River.

Located in the prestigious Caxambas section of the island overlooking Roberts Bay, the 14,000-square-foot Villa Venezia, a $17.9 million model home, contrasts sharply with the fishing village of Goodland, a short distance away, where tourists and locals gather every Sunday for Key West-style outdoor revelry. Marco Island offers a hodgepodge of personalities throughout its 24 square miles. There is the come-as-you-are-we-don't-give-a-damn side seen every Sunday afternoon at Stan's Idle Hour in Goodland; the turn-of-the-century charm of Old Marco; and a more cosmopolitan presence along Collier Boulevard, where high-rise condominiums with names like Royal Seafarer and Eagle's Nest ascend from the beachfront alongside hotels like the Marco Ocean Beach Resort and its taste-of-Italy four-diamond restaurant (some of the best Italian anywhere), Sale e Pepe.

Although seasonal residents make up most of its wintertime population, Marco is a neighborly place no matter the time of year, says ReMax's Alan Sandlin, a full-time resident since 1982. "It's a Midwestern community in the tropics," he says. "It's a wonderful small-town community, with Naples as one of our amenities."

Sixty percent of Marco's homes are on the water-the Marco River, the Gulf, canals and surrounding bays and estuaries-and water is the main attraction. "Marco Island has more miles of waterways than roads," says George Percel, executive vice president of the Marco Island Area Association of Realtors. This waterfront property is classified into two categories-direct access (with no bridge), and indirect access.

Water is what brought Marco's earliest settlers-homesteader Capt. W.D. "Bill" Collier, who arrived in the 1870s, and the Calusa Indians thousands of years before, who left their mark in the form of towering shell mounds, some of which-at 50 feet above sea level-are the county's tallest landforms. The 50-acre Indian Hills site is now part of Marco's Estates section, the area of town south of Winterberry with half-acre and larger lots and direct Gulf access, ideal for owners of big boats that won't fit under the Jolly Bridge. The largest concentration of $1 million-plus homes is in the Estates and Caxambas.

Bill Collier (no relationship to county patriarch Barron Collier) established his residence in what is now referred to as Old Marco on the northern tip of the island, now the north end of Bald Eagle Drive. Several Collier-era structures still stand, including the 1890s-vintage Olde Marco Inn (now a restaurant) that became a prominent resort for affluent Americans like the Rockefellers. Old Marco is mainly a neighborhood of shops and restaurants, but condos have recently been added to the mix.

Marco Island was truly discovered in the 1960s during the height of Florida's land rush. Brothers Elliott, Robert and Frank Mackle bought much of the island in the early 1960s, formed the Deltona Corporation and devised an island city of more than 12,000 homesites, 125 miles of paved roads, 90 miles of navigable canals, retail and hotel sites, schools, churches and medical facilities, even a Gulf beach. They marketed Marco as the "Hawaii of the East," selling waterfront homes for anywhere from $19,800 to $41,500 to Northerners, who for just $75 were treated to airfare and a three-day vacation at the Deltona-run hotel on the island. Many of those first homes still stand, located on the eastern shore just over the main bridge, and list at more than 10 times their original cost.

Although the homebuyer can occasionally find an efficiency condo (well off the water, of course) priced in the low $100,000s, Marco property offerings can be few and far between. Late 2004 available single-family homes started in the high $600,000s, averaged about $1 million and topped out at $6.25 million for a renovated five-bedroom, five-bath Caxambas Court home with views of the Gulf and Caxambas Pass. Condos, all three of them available in the late fall, started at $1.1 million. "Right now, there are more realtors on Marco than there are properties for sale," says Gallus.

The supply of available lots is also dwindling, with prices quickly appreciating above some condos and single-family homes. Speculators have invested wisely, it would seem, and are holding onto these homesites, waiting to cash in when prices-and supply-top out. With fewer than 1,000 of those original Mackle-plotted homesites left and an average of 175 to 200 new homes permitted each year, Marco is expected to reach build-out within a matter of years.

Head east on San Marco Road, and you'll end up in Goodland, an Old-Florida blip on the map. Locals still reach Stan's and nearby Chuckles via boat, and weekend afternoons are often spent under the bay-facing chickees comparing the catch of the day and soaking up the atmosphere-live music, cheap pitchers of beer and, at Chuckles, the occasional squawks of a pet parrot.

Goodland, once reached via boat or the only bridge onto Marco-a still-visible swing bridge-was sparsely inhabited until 1949, when the Barron Collier Company moved squatters and their homes from Marco proper to Goodland. The town retains its Old-Florida commercial-fishing atmosphere, with smaller homes occasionally for sale and commanding prices of $500,000 and promises of fishing via direct access.