Thousand Oaks Davenport Florida 

It had always been our dream to have our own holiday villa, and many a time we said, perhaps jokingly, that we should buy our own place. We were regular rental customers of Florida Villas, who specialize in the rental and sale of villas in the Orlando area  All the villas are privately owned and are well looked after. 

Prior to our holiday in February 1999 I had in fact contacted Florida Villas  and asked Sue Ward to let me have a brochure on Property Investment in Florida, At this stage, it was still just an idea, but after 2 weeks staying in Sue's 5 bedroom villa at Sunridge Woods, the idea of owning our own place became inevitable.

It was the morning of the last day of our holiday, the van was loaded with our luggage ready for the trip to the airport when we decided to have a look at some of the villas for sale. After a phone call to Ian Ward, who runs the Florida end of the Florida Villas operation, we met him at the show homes on Thousand Oaks, which was just a couple of miles from Sunridge Woods. We immediately fell in love with the Sanibel Courtyard Home and we ended up having a whip round to put $500 down as a holding deposit on a plot. Sue always said if you buy you need to make the place special to attract bookings, so we chose a premium plot next to the wooded preserve. The house style allowed us to have the pool sited with a southerly aspect  and facing the preserve. Lydia and I both like gardening, as does our friend Bob who has joined us in this venture We felt the Preserve site had potential and added to the value of the plot.

I returned to Florida in May taking with me, my daughters, Penny and Joe, when we (or should I say they) chose the furnishings, fittings (kitchen and bathroom cabinets) and colour schemes. 

Our next holiday was in October, this time we stayed on Thousand Oaks, hoping to see how construction was progressing, but we were a little disappointed that our house was still an empty plot.

The slab was finally poured in the week commencing November 8th 1999 after our return to the UK.

 The progress speeded up at this stage, and the house was at roof level by the time Ian e-mailed me with this picture on 6 December.

The roof was on in early February and this photo was taken on our next visit in early March 2000. On this visit we decided to enlarge the pool. We had already had arranged a 3 ft deck extension, but thought we would not be able to have a larger pool as the length is restricted by the building shape. However, when we were told it was possible for us to add to the width, we decided to add another 5 feet to the width making it 20 feet square less the cut offs in each  corner.

Our main holiday was booked for 3rd June 2000 and it was at this stage that we started to worry whether it would  be finished in time.

I popped over for a week on 29 April, and whilst the house was complete with the cabinets and  carpets fitted, it still looked far from complete and a little panic was setting in.

The pool was still just a hole with concrete sides, the decking round the pool was poured during the week I was there, which helped making it look nearer to completion. We still had no garden (or irrigation system). The Floor tiling inside the villa had not been laid and the screening for the courtyard had not been erected. We had also purchased solar heating for the pool and was hoping to have this installed between the closing date and our arrival in June. It turned out that we closed on 30 May, so we delayed the solar installation to 5 June when we would be there.

So there it is, the house is complete, furnished and ready for bookings. 

On our June "holiday" we laid a paved area around the pool equipment  and added a garden border in front of the pool extension which we planted with Hibiscus, to provide a screen for the bathing area. We also planted 3 small palms in the front garden and some more Hibiscus along the rear pool extension.  We added a fir tree to the preserve and planted out a border of small plants in front of the preserve. We will probably add plants  each time we visit, though no doubt the plants in the preserve will take over the sandy area left by the builders by the time we return in the autumn of 2000.

Click on the photo page to see the end results of our labour.  

October 2000 visit- Just a short visit for a week. Bought a 2nd TV for the Master Bedroom, though we may put it into the 2nd Bedroom when we get another cable point added. Also bought 3 rocking, or more accurately, glider chairs, 2 for the Great Room and 1 for the 2nd Bedroom. Outside we added a few Vinca (small annuals) and a Banana Tree for the Preserve side of the garden. No time for much else so that will have to wait to the Spring. Though we did order an electric pool heater to supplement the solar in the depths of winter. We are not entirely convinced one is necessary as the solar will work when it is sunny, but people are asking for guaranteed pool heat so now we have both.  

Update January 2002

We just spent our 1st Xmas in Florida, Got sunburnt putting the xmas lights up outside. Yes it's December 15th and the temperature is 83 degrees and has been over 80 for the past month. Unfortunately it is due to drop during the week but looking at the temperatures shown in the UK papers, I know where I would prefer to be. Made an enquiry on the 23rd about installing an automatic opener for the garage door. Had it installed on Boxing Day. That door really is heavy, and was a pain to open, now it shoots open in about 5 seconds, 

Here we go Again - May 2002 update

Having popped over for a maintenance visit, we looked at the show homes that were now being sold off following the completion of the development on Thousand Oaks. The two we liked were both on the lake, they were both described as model homes (show houses), however, one was not so much a show house, but was used by the CEO of the builders during the final  construction stage on Thousand Oaks. It had lots of upgrades in the decorations and fittings plus a huge pool, some 33' x 14' with a Jacuzzi attached. the patio area was also spacious with a nice shaded area under the lanai. Being a 3 bedded home we thought this would supplement our existing home allowing us to cater for smaller parties. It is a dearer property owing to it's lakeside location and the additional fittings but we  hope people would appreciate the luxury.

Our only regret is that our friend Bob Efemey who joined us in our first venture sadly passed away. Like many of us he really enjoyed holidaying in Florida and helping us set up our first home, so while he is not there to help we hope he is there in spirit.

We hope you enjoy looking at our two properties and which ever one you pick you should have a superb holiday.

Update 2005

We continue to improve the properties on each of our visits.

In Spring 2004 we made 2 visits and added a games room to each property and had Eastern Billiards install a slate based AMF Pool table in each of the games rooms

We also had a decking installed at the side of our 3 bed to catch sun as it rises

Back at the 4 bed this year we upgraded the Master Bedroom. We installed an Italian Bedroom suite together with a King size bed. So as to provide 10 beds for larger groups we put the existing Queen Bed into the twin bedded room, replacing one of the beds which we put into the Master bedroom. This gives a greater flexibility to the sleeping arrangements as whilst the sofabed is available I feel having a proper bed for everyone is much better.

We also added a LCD TV in the Master bedroom and had TV's installed in the remaining bedrooms.

December 2007 Update

We started the year  with a family holiday at our 4 bed in March. We decided then that we wanted to upgrade the carpeting, which was showing signs of wear and thought the best solution would be to tile the floors. I really wanted to be on hand while this was done so I arranged to go back for 4 weeks in April/May. I had a 3 days before a booking went into the villa during which time I picked the tiling. I moved down to our 3 bed for the 10 days and once it was empty I moved back and the tilers descended. I thought it would be easy to live there whilst it was being tiled but they  had a large team and seemed to be working in every room and I ended up camping in the middle of the great room until they finished. We chose a porcelain tile, which whilst more expensive, should be hard wearing.

I also had the porch tiled and the front doors replaced, but the doors did not arrive before I left, so I had to arrange another visit in June.

On my last visit of the year in November, we decided to appoint a new Management Company as I wanted to lift the standard of cleanliness and maintenance in the villas. Jon, who had built my games rooms had found a company that could provide this and as as he had been appointed the Maintenance Manager, I knew the standard would be high. In the 2 weeks I was there I saw a complete transformation of the properties and gardens. It has been a costly affair upgrading linen and making sure everything is up to standard, but I believe customers will appreciate this.

Chris & Lydia Stringer