Collier County Neighborhoods

Florida's real estate market is red-hot, and Collier County-Naples, in particular-continues its reign as one of the top choices for vacation retreats and second-family residences, hence the spike in prices of once-affordable homes. From bungalows in quiet fishing towns on the fringes of the Everglades to cosmopolitan high-rises overlooking the Gulf of Mexico to mansion-like estates in gated communities, Collier County no longer resembles the subtropical frontier of the late 1800s, when farmers, fishermen and squatters arrived via ox cart and sailboat. Memphis millionaire Barron Gift Collier can take much of the credit for the metamorphosis. Fueled by his determination to help other wealthy Northerners and sportsmen discover the area, Collier built the Tamiami Trail, the Tampa-to-Miami road that, upon its completion in 1928, linked Collier County to the rest of the world. Air-conditioning, I-75 and an international airport have furthered Collier County's rise in recent decades.

BONITA SPRINGS

Bonita Shores

Bounded by Bonita Beach Road to the north, West Avenue to the west, Vanderbilt Drive to the east and Audubon Country Club to the south.

On the Market

Properties for sale, summer 2005

Three single-family homes.

Price range $430,000-$675,000.

What you get for $430,000 Two-bedroom, two-bath 1970s-era home with 1,250 square feet and private pool.

What you get for $675,000 A 2,200-square-foot home built in 1975, with four bedrooms, three baths, den and lake view.

Retired Midwesterners defined 1950s Bonita Shores, which still boasts that decade's small two-bedroom homes, often with just one bath and no garage. But families with children have slowly taken over this working-class community west of U.S. 41 and an easy bike ride from the beach. Today mid-20th-century homes mix with newer Mediterranean architecture. With its homeowners association, Neighborhood Watch program and community clubhouse, Bonita Shores is one of those rare Florida communities-a place where you're likely to know your neighbors. West of West Avenue, Hickory Shores offers waterfront homes along Hickory Bay and finger streets jutting into the water. Buyers, of course, pay for the proximity to the bay.

Barefoot Beach

Bounded by Bonita Beach Road to the north, the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Barefoot Beach Preserve to the south and Little Hickory Bay to the east.

On the Market

Properties for sale, summer 2005

20 single-family homes and villas, three condos.

Price range, single-family

$1,395,000-$6,795,000.

What you get for $1,395,000 Four-bedroom, three-bath lakefront home built in 1999, with 4,420 square feet and a private pool; located in the Southport on the Bay community.

What you get for $6,795,000 Four-bedroom, three-bath Gulf-front home with beach garden, beachfront decks and boat garage.

Price range, condo $899,000-$1,635,000.

What you get for $899,000 Two-bedroom, two-bath 1,600-square-foot mid-rise in a gated boating and tennis community.

What you get for $1,635,000 Mid-rise Gulf-view condo with three bedrooms, three baths and 2,000 square feet in a gated boating and tennis community.

The modest cottages that once personified the sleepy Barefoot Beach area have given way to towering three- and four-story Mediterranean- and Florida-style homes and a string of upscale villa and condo buildings with community associations, pools and gardens. Offering bay- and beachfront properties, Barefoot Beach is also home to a 342-acre state preserve where the public can enjoy the beach and view gopher tortoises, bottle-nosed dolphins and endangered sea turtles. Barefoot Beach becomes a gated community when the park closes at dusk.

EVERGLADES CITY

State Road 29 south from U.S. 41, within Everglades National Park.

On the Market

Properties for sale, summer 2005

More than a dozen lots, single-family homes and resort condos.

Price range, single-family

$339,000-$999,000.

What you get for $339,000 Two-bedroom, one-bath stilt home on Copeland Avenue with an open deck.

What you get for $999,000 Three-bedroom, two-bath stilt home with tin roof, two boat docks, direct Gulf access and a walk-around screened porch overlooking Panther Creek. Price range, condo $169,000-$498,500.

What you get for $169,000 Fully furnished two-bedroom, two-bath unit in Captain's Table condominiums.

What you get for $498,500 Fully furnished third-floor waterfront condo in Lake Placid Waterways, with two bedrooms, two baths, vaulted ceilings and a large screened lanai overlooking a private dock with lift.

The former county seat, Everglades City has managed to escape most of the urban trappings of its neighbors to the north. Residents-mainly commercial fishermen, stone crabbers and relocated urbanites who at some point opted for a slower lifestyle-pride themselves on what you won't find there: traffic lights, shopping malls, golf courses or high-rises. Measuring just four blocks wide and less than two miles long, Everglades City maintains a rural small-town flavor. Building restrictions keep homes to just three stories, and a smattering of original buildings date back to the days of Barron Collier. There's even a quaint day spa. Everglades City is also home to one of Florida's few remaining K-12 schools. And thanks to its location within the Ten Thousand Islands, it's a magnet for serious boaters and anglers. You'll find sportsmen's condos and cabins, along with developments in even more secluded locations on Plantation Island and the 150-acre Chokoloskee Island, home to the historic Smallwood Store.

GOLDEN GATE CITY

Bounded by Green Boulevard to the north, Santa Barbara Boulevard to the west, State Road 951 to the east and the main Golden Gate Canal to the south.

On the Market

Properties for sale, summer 2005

39 single-family homes.

Price range $239,000-$450,000.

What you get for $239,000 A 1,075-square-foot home built in 1968, with two bedrooms, one bathroom and a den.

What you get for $450,000 Four-bedroom, three-bath home built in 2003, with a den, upgrades and 2,700 square feet.

Like its more affordable Lee County cousin, Lehigh Acres, Golden Gate City is experiencing an influx of buyers from Miami and other South Florida cities, all content to swap big-city comforts for a more affordable, less-taxing lifestyle. Although not an official city, Golden Gate has all the conveniences of a full-fledged municipality-library, fire and police services, and a satellite office for the Collier County Tax Collector-sprinkled among national chain and local mom-and-pop grocery stores and restaurants. You'll also find some canal-front homes.

GOLDEN GATE ESTATES

Stretching from just west of I-75 at Pine Ridge Road north to Immokalee Road, east to Desoto Boulevard and south past I-75 as it becomes Alligator Alley.

On the Market

Properties for sale, summer 2005

More than 250 single-family homes.

Price range $249,000-$2,800,000.

What you get for $249,000 Three-bedroom, two-bath 1,040-square-foot home built in 1997 on 1.14 acres.

What you get for $2,800,000 A 4,900-square-foot home built in 2000, with five bedrooms, four baths and a den; sits on a wooded, landscaped lot with pond and waterscape.

Golden Gate Estates' 43,000-plus acres make it Collier's largest neighborhood, incorporating gated communities like Vineyards, Wyndemere Country Club and the newer town-and-coach-home community Mariposa. The Estates, as it's known by locals, has a history similar to many of its neighbors: swampland tamed into canal-front lots. Many of the area's original five-acre lots have been subdivided multiple times, resulting in 1.25-acre tracts. New restrictions prevent existing five-acre lots from being divided more than once. These large tracts attract equestrians, families with young children and those who want a little elbow room. As a general rule, property farther from Naples proper is less expensive.

IMMOKALEE

Toward the northeast corner of Collier County.

On the Market

Properties for sale, summer 2005

Two single-family homes.

Price range $85,000 and $199,990.

What you get for $85,000 A five-bedroom, two-bath wood-framed house with manufactured addition and 1,350 square feet.

What you get for $199,990 Two-bedroom, one-bath 1,100-square-foot stilt home built in 2000, with a wraparound porch that surveys its two acres; just minutes from Lake Trafford.

Immokalee celebrated last fall when the city's high school football team won the AA state championship. Home to an Indian reservation, a casino and an airport, Immokalee was settled in 1873 by hunters, trappers, cattlemen and traders. Today, it's a can't-get-there-from-here town of 20,000 year-round residents. The mostly Hispanic and Haitian population works in nearby fields and lives in trailer parks and tenant housing. But a new future for Immokalee is about to emerge, aided by Ave Maria University, the first new Catholic university to be built in the United States in 40 years. Scheduled to open its doors just 10 miles away from the town in 2006, the 5,025-acre site will include a full-fledged town with 11,000 homes.

IMMOKALEE ROAD RESIDENTIAL

From U.S. 41 east to Immokalee.

On the Market

Properties for sale, summer 2005

More than 250 single-family homes, villas and condos.

Price range, single-family

$349,000-$5,950,000.

What you get for $349,000 Two-bedroom, two-bath home in ungated Willoughby Acres, built in 1985 on a large lot.

What you get for $5,950,000 Five-bedroom, eight-bath estate in Quail West with golf and lake views, heart-pine beamed ceilings, French terracotta tile, antique pine floors, master suite exercise room and fireplaces.

Price range, condo $210,000-$579,000.

What you get for $210,000 A 1,000-square-foot home located in a low-rise building within Key Royal Condominiums east of I-75, with two bedrooms, one bathroom and a lake view.

What you get for $579,000 Low-rise 2,685-square-foot condo in the gated Strand golf course community, with three bedrooms, three baths, a den, vaulted ceilings and skylight.

Old meets new in this emerging growth corridor. Pockets of '70s-era nongated residential neighborhoods with large lots and tree-lined streets are sprinkled among both ultra-upscale (Collier's Reserve, Quail West and TwinEagles) and more family-oriented and affordable (Indigo Lakes, Ibis Cove, Saturnia Lakes and Pebblebrooke) gated communities. A road-widening project has been a harbinger for the eastern stretch of the road, bringing with it a renewed interest in living well east of I-75-one that's now accommodated by new shopping centers and grocery chains.

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.

On the Market

Properties for sale, summer 2005

13 single-family homes, 11 condos.

Price range, single-family

$865,000-$3,700,000.

What you get for $865,000 A three-bedroom, two-bath fixer-upper offering a 2,000-square-foot living area and 1,200 square feet of office and work space below.

What you get for $3,700,000 One of the largest lots on the island, featuring a two-bedroom, two-bath home with nearly 2,300 square feet, dining and living rooms, a wet bar, and a screened lanai on both levels.

Price range, condo $609,500-$999,000.

What you get for $609,500 An end-unit home in La Peninsula with two bedrooms, three baths and 1,860 square feet.

What you get for $999,000 A 2,250-square-foot three-bedroom, three-bath La Peninsula condo with granite countertops, an expanded lanai, hardwood floors and a wet bar.

If you wanted to, you could Rollerblade from one end of Isles of Capri to the other-just follow the two-lane Capri Road, which links this charming chain of four islands. Some advice: Just don't do it at night. Who knows what lurks amid the 600 acres of surrounding mangroves and ink-black stretches of that main drag. Connected by land bridges, the islands were created in the mid-1950s by Tennessean Leland L. "Doc" Loach. Three have been set aside for residential; the fourth has restaurants, full-service marinas, a yacht club, vacation and annual rentals, and a general store offering everything from just-made grouper sandwiches to 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.

MARCO ISLAND

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

On the Market

Properties for sale, summer 2005

232 single-family homes, 115 condos and timeshares.

Price range, single family

$445,000-$16,900,000.

What you get for $445,000 A severely water-damaged home with three bedrooms, two baths and 1,635 square feet.

What you get for $16,900,000 A five-bedroom, eight-bath greystone manor located on four lots overlooking Roberts Bay and inspired by Europe's finest mansions; features 14,445 square feet of living space, a tennis court, gazebo and boat dock.

Price range, condo $238,900-$12,900,000.

What you get for $238,900 A charming 405-square-foot one-bedroom, one-bath furnished condo in Marco's Seabreeze Apartments.

What you get for $12,900,000 A grand penthouse in the new Belize high-rise, with five bedrooms and eight baths.

It's really no secret that Marco Islanders like to keep to themselves. If anything, they consider nearby Naples merely an amenity of their 24-square-mile island. But there's not much need to travel to the mainland. Marco Island has its own shops, medical facilities and weekend entertainment, a portion of it courtesy of Stan's Idle Hour in Goodland, where entrepreneurs and businessmen mingle with fishing folk each Sunday afternoon. The city council has also made living on Marco a little more appealing, reducing last year's millage rate in response to a 38-percent increase in property values. Marco has its many personalities: turn-of-the-century charm in Old Marco, where late-1800s structures built by homesteader Capt. W.D. "Bill" Collier still stand; a more cosmopolitan presence along Collier Boulevard with its high-rise towers mingling with beachfront resort hotels; and grand estates built on the remnants of towering shell mounds built by the Calusa Indians, which place these homes 50 feet above sea level. Sixty percent of Marco's homes are on the water-the Marco River, the Gulf, canals, and the surrounding bays and estuaries-and water is the main attraction. Water brought brothers Elliott, Robert and Frank Mackle here in the 1960s. Their Deltona Corp. devised an island city of more than 12,000 home sites, 125 miles of paved roads, 90 miles of navigable canals, retail and hotel sites, schools, churches and medical facilities, even a Gulf beach.