Treviso Bay Naples FL

Luxury home market moves into Moorings

While Port Royal reigns as the most upscale address in Naples, other communities such as the Moorings and Parkshore are catching up as the newest mega luxury places in Naples.

Smaller homes are being demolished and replaced with top of the line luxury houses created by a large variety of local builders.

Don Stevenson, of Don Stevenson Design, compared a new home he designed in the Moorings to many he’s done in Port Royal.

“Those homes in the Moorings over the last few years have increased in value,” he began. “A lot of my particular clients have moved from gated communities to the Moorings neighborhood to be closer to downtown and the beaches. It has been extremely hot and popular for the last three years.”

Stevenson said the reason the homes are getting so pricey there is because the land is now so valuable.

“The value of the land real estate has gone up so dramatically,” he explained. “You cannot find a lot to build a house on for under a million dollars. The land value really drives the quality and cost of the new home you are going to put on it.”

Stevenson compared the Moorings to other upscale communities to show how the value has skyrocketed.

“As early as a year ago you could buy a lot in Mediterra for $300,000 or $500,000,” he described.

With lots at more than $1 million, Stevenson knew he had to design a home to reflect that value.

“The whole house has imported French oak flooring,” he said as he described a home he designed at 875 Wedge Drive. “It is the same type of flooring that we use in $10-$20 million dollar homes in Port Royal.”

The stone used along the outside walls, and columns and inside was imported from South America.

“I know that we looked all over to find a substitute that was less expensive and we couldn’t,” Stevenson said. “There is one supplier in town that has it. We could not find it anywhere else. It wraps in and outside that brings the texture of the home flowing nicely from outside to inside. That is a pretty nice wow factor.”

AlliKristé Fine Cabinetry is used throughout the home, which Stevenson said is another wow factor.

“The cabinetry is another extremely high end that we usually use in the Port Royal area,” he said. “That home has the same cabinetry that you find in a $10-$20 million dollar home. All the finishes throughout are seen only in homes five times the price.”

This home in the Moorings has a golf course view, but was designed with lush landscaping to keep in private.

“So many of the houses in the Moorings back up to other houses,” said Heather Hobrock, a sales associate with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty. “This one you get the location, but you also don’t get the neighbors behind you.”

When Stevenson began to design the home he noticed a huge oak tree in the backyard.

“We designed it around that tree,” he said. “You can’t replace an old growth oak tree. It has a lot of character in it. A lot of people were trying to convince us to get rid of it, but it is just gorgeous back there.”

The house is 4,517 square feet under air and 6,803 total square footage. It has four bedrooms and a den, four full baths and two half baths and a three car garage. The three upstairs suites all have outside balconies. The second level also has a loft and a living room with a balcony. The downstairs den features double glass doors that lead to a garden behind the wall of bougainvillea. The furnished house cost $3.295 million..

“Everything has been over the top for that type of home in that neighborhood,” Stevenson said. “It’s a jewel in the middle of the desert over there.”

Gordon Jenkins, president of Gordon Luxury Homes, is the builder of the house. He likes the environmental aspects of the new home that include sprayed insulation, LED lighting, insulated impact windows and a gas tankless water heater.

“They are intelligent smart water heaters,” Jenkin said. “It monitors your water usage. If you take a shower at 7 o’ clock in the morning, it will start up at 6:45 and gets the hot water through the house. You are not keeping the water hot at all times. That is really a neat system. They are very efficient and user friendly.”