Lanai Usage

[Yoda]

My wife an I were at TV on a lifestyle in Aug. We were there again last week. I have 2 questions. There is not very much privacy in most places. We are looking at Designer homes. It gives new meaning to the saying "Reach out and touch someone." How do you handle this.

During our visits, it appeared like people never use their lanais. I think that I saw 1 or 2 people in a lanai total for both trips. Is their a reason or was I looking at the homes of Snow birds?

I am sure that I have other questions but these will do for now.

Thanks

Yoda

[Mallory]

We use the screened lanai on our Lantana all the time - breakfast (not today since it was a little brisk), read in the afternoon, and entertain. You may not have seen us since we 've put in some landscaping to screen us from a rather busy street behind.

Many will enclose the lanai to make it more of an inside room but since we're new to Florida we like the fresh air.

[ijusluvit]

Lanais were invented as a place where you could escape the heat and bugs. But who chooses the lanai when you can sit in air conditioned comfort in your bvds rather than being on display in a designer home fishbowl. And, the lanai is the third or fourth priority area for the new tv - after the living room, den and bedroom. Of all of our friends in designer homes, the only ones who use their lanais are those who have created privacy with landscaping.

So, you like privacy too. Try out the more generous sized courtyard villas, especially on a corner lot. Now there's living! We love our lanai and the entire yard. The only humans who can see us are on the flight path to Orlando.

[beady]

The only time I do not use my lanai is in the heat of the summer months. Otherwise it is my favorite place. Lots of plants , a comfy couch and a cool drink make for a pleasurable place to read, eat meals or entertain.

[Becky]

I also love and use my lanai! It backs up to a CYV wall and the neighbors on both sides have their lanais situated on the opposite ends of their homes so it is quite private. Love it!

Becky

[starflyte1]

Some homes back up to a villa wall that gives privacy and others back to a golf course. Some back to, I think they call it, a preserve.

We just bought last week, and by shopping TVs resales web site, were able to find exactly what we wanted, before we drove up to see it.

As others have said, lylesellsfla.com has excellent listings with pictures, as does lindamabryinthevillages.com many with 360' video. Many listing pictures have a picture of the view from the lanai.

[johnfarr]

We back on a golf course. Our lanai is a favorite place to be. We opted not to enclose, so it is still screened in. A quiet and private place to read, eat or entertain. We have an designer model Oleander which is set back a bit from our neighbors' lanais for more privacy.

If I were close to neighbors or on a street I would plant something like bottlebrush for some privacy.

[Cassie325]

I think you can also have screens put in that people can not see into....but you can still people watch! We have a CYV though....so much privacy!!!

You can still hang around in your "bvd's" as ijustluvit stated....but you can be in your lanai!! Know one would ever know!!! :faint:

[rekop]

I think how much you use your lanai depends on how private your lanai is, what the temperture is, and what sort of neighbors you have. We have friends whose lanai backed up to someone else's lanai, and those people lived on the lanai. Our friends couldn't use their lanai, without listening to their neighbors all the time. We have the same setup with our lanai. Our neighbors were so noisy, yapping dogs, loud television, parties etc., we haven't been able to use ours as much as we like. They are supposed to be moving, so I hope the situation gets better. Some people back up to lanai's that are glassed in. I think that is a better situation, because you're less likely to hear noise. Or you may get lucky and have snowbirds behind you that are only there a few months/year. Or You may get lucky and have someone like ijustluvit who prefers to stay inside in the ac. I think for most people, the layout works out, but there are some exceptions. If you're wary of it, I'd buy something where the lanai is facing the side of someone's house, instead of directly facing their lanai. I have heard (don't know because we dont' live behind a villa wall) that sound can bounce back and forth against a villa wall and you end up hearing a lot, such as barking dogs. Friends have a house against a villa wall, and the next door neighbor smokes (cigarettes) and they smell the smoke all the time. Obviously, having no neighbors behind is the best, but very expensive. The patio villas, with the lanai on the front are nice for privacy, once you get some landscaping in front.

[MSNPA]

Except when it is extremely hot we spend a lot of time on our enclosed lanai. This is where we usually have our evening meal and I love the lanai to read and nap! We have a designer and our lanai faces our neighbors wall which is not a pretty view, but at least it is not their lanai. We do have landscaping on the back and side of the lanai. Funny, when we moved in we always closed the blinds (the ones on the sliding glass door). Now they are always open. I guess it is like a fishbowl, but it doesn't seem to matter.

[thegreenerside]

Landscaping around the lanai is an option if you feel that you do not have enough privacy. The landscaping can also assist in blocking the direct sunlight in the mornings, afternoons, or at sunset depending on the direction your lanai will face. We have bottlebrush on the sides of our lanai that provides a since of privacy although we can still see them as they can see us.

[chuckinca]

Our Lanai is great! We back onto a golf course and the closest neighbors in the back are about a hundred yards away. Our side neighbors' lanais are not visible from ours, a bird cage on a same side house three houses away is the closest screen area that we can barely see into and vise a versa. As far as we are concerned, paying the higher lot price for the golf frontage is worth twice the one third more we paid.



.

[Yoda]

Thank you all for some great input. It doesn't completly resolve my apprehension but it does make me feel a lot better.

Thanks again,

Yoda

[carol51]

I also think it is an adjustment in lifestyle that happens to us. A lot of us came from a rural setting up North with large yards or acreage and here we are nestled cheek to jowl. I thought I would have a lot of difficulties with this but we didn't. We are seasonal residents (6 months) and our Northern home sits on 2 acres which is not huge by any means but we cannot see our neighbors. Maybe we are lucky that we have such good, caring neighbors in TV that we think are almost extended family. We live lakeside so we spend every moment we can looking at the lake and watching the birds from the lanai when the weather permits. It's a beautiful life in TV. Can you tell that I'm homesick for TV? We leave a week from today. Big Sigh...........
Carol

[MMC24]

We generally have coffee/breakfast in the morning in our Lanai or in the birdcage when the weather cooperates. This past May, put a summer kitchen in our Lanai so we cook out there on a regular basis. I would say that we use the Lanai daily in some way or another. Can't imagine living in Florida without one.

[Barefoot]

Our Lanai is great! We back onto a golf course and the closest neighbors in the back are about a hundred yards away. As far as we are concerned, paying the higher lot price for the golf frontage is worth twice the one third more we paid. .

We also back on a golf course and I agree with Chuck. We opted for a smaller Villa on a view lot, rather than a larger home with no privacy.

IMHO, Paying a lot premium is SO worth it.

[graciegirl]

Last night returning home from golf at dusk, we were coming down Morse (I think) and saw a party going on, spilling out unto the lanai and there was a HUGE flat screen TV on the lanai house wall and the guys were gathered round it. I hadn't thought to put one there. It was a screened lanai.

[rshoffer]

We also back on a golf course and I agree with Chuck. We opted for a smaller Villa on a view lot, rather than a larger home with no privacy.

IMHO, Paying a lot premium is SO worth it. Be careful.... not all golf course fronts are private. I play a lot of golf and am amazed how close some of the cart paths run to the rear lanais. At times i feel like I'm in the persons living room when the sliding doors to the lanai is opened. I have spoken to people who sold their golf front homes (that they paid a 100K premium for) because the sunrise greens crew woke them every am and because golfers could stand there peering right thru their home. A Grantham corner couryard villa is a great alternative.

[graciegirl]

We back unto the Odell center and have a low, really beautiful wall that defines the space. THEIR wall, our pretty view, because the landscaping is gorgeous, and the grasses give privacy too. It is not a premium lot but it is a wonderful one. We can half see people playing shuffleboard and bocce and the pool is right there. It is the family pool so sometimes little children screaming or crying causes a little stress, (we are programmed not to be able to ignore those sounds) but their laughter is pleasant. The west facing view is not as hot as I thought and we get pretty sunsets. I have hung an IKEA outdoor drapery (very reasonable in price and quite long, so it goes from floor to ceiling) on the end which is next to neighbors because we like to have coffee in our sleeping clothes and they may not like to see it.

[rekop]

Be careful.... not all golf course fronts are private. I play a lot of golf and am amazed how close some of the cart paths run to the rear lanais. At times i feel like I'm in the persons living room when the sliding doors to the lanai is opened. I have spoken to people who sold their golf front homes (that they paid a 100K premium for) because the sunrise greens crew woke them every am and because golfers could stand there peering right thru their home. A Grantham corner couryard villa is a great alternative.

Very observant post!!

[bobolink46]

We were in TV this past week on a lifestyle. Stayed in a courtyard with the lanai encloed and made into another room. sliding glass doors moved to outside if new room. Loved the privacy and sitting outside. then looked at the wisterias. many upgrades, loved the floor plan. NO PRIVACY. The real estate agent said to plant bottle brush trees to form a screen. No hedges above 4 feet. We don't seem to be able to make up our minds.

[rekop]

You are allowed to plant small trees or shrubs that are higher than 4 feet, as long as they are separate plants, not a group together that form a hedge.

[Russ_Boston]

Trees, shrubs - doesn't matter to me. The problem that I see with back to back lanais is the sound and no landscaping is going to solve that issue. I rented a designer in Largo whose lanai was no more than 30 feet from the one behind. I felt like I had to whisper to my wife.

But on the other hand we are very glad that we rented that type since we now know that we want some form of backyard privacy. Golf course or preserve or maybe even side street. I know it's not silent but at least it is not other people hearing your every word and you hearing theirs.

I have a question for CYV owners who have a wall behind with another villa on the other side - Can you still hear them over the wall? Is it just as annoying?

Russ

[islandgal]

Russ -

I live in a CYV with a 6 ft. wall in back and high privacy fences on each side so it is totally private. I rarely hear my neighbors
unless they are having a large party on their lanai's.
For everyday or evening, it is very quiet and I can roam around anytime in my nighties without closing any blinds. :coolsmiley:

[Barefoot]

Be careful.... not all golf course fronts are private. I play a lot of golf and am amazed how close some of the cart paths run to the rear lanais. At times i feel like I'm in the persons living room when the sliding doors to the lanai is opened. I have spoken to people who sold their golf front homes (that they paid a 100K premium for) because the sunrise greens crew woke them every am and because golfers could stand there peering right thru their home. A Grantham corner couryard villa is a great alternative.

Good point. It pays to be careful when selecting a golf course lot. It is very true that not all golf course lots are private. We looked for a Villa that had the cart path on the far side away from our birdcage. We also looked for one that didn't have a tee right behind the Villa. So we occasionally see golfers driving by, and it is pleasant to see them while I'm having my morning coffee in my PJs.

We sometimes hear noise in the early morning from maintenance people. But we just close our sliding doors and return to bed. The Villa is practically soundproof.

And at night we can sit in our birdcage with a candle burning and watch the jack rabbits play.

Ahhhh .. life in TV .. priceless.

[SteveZ]

Trees, shrubs - doesn't matter to me. The problem that I see with back to back lanais is the sound and no landscaping is going to solve that issue. I rented a designer in Largo whose lanai was no more than 30 feet from the one behind. I felt like I had to whisper to my wife.

But on the other hand we are very glad that we rented that type since we now know that we want some form of backyard privacy. Golf course or preserve or maybe even side street. I know it's not silent but at least it is not other people hearing your every word and you hearing theirs.

I have a question for CYV owners who have a wall behind with another villa on the other side - Can you still hear them over the wall? Is it just as annoying?

Russ

We have a couple of small palm trees to act as visual blockage to some degree. Seems to work well enough.

Have not heard my neighbors yet. We have "acrylic'd" our lania and that probably has made a difference in the noise level. when Snowbird season is in full swing, that may change. Time will tell.

Everyone has their own opinion about being directly on a golf course. My mother lives in an Orlando development where she is against a fairway. She is forever finding golf balls in her yard, just replaced another window from an errant drive, has to have heavy metal screens around her back windows to keep from being constantly ventilated, and the number of dings into the siding are too many to count. Her experience definitely kept me from being any closer to the duffers than necessary.

[Russ_Boston]

I hear you Steve, definitely a concern. I've hit a few homes myself especially in the early days of my hobby!

[NJblue]

This is the reason why we specifically picked a lot behind a Tee box. Unless a golfer figures out how to hit it backwards, we should be OK. However, I wouldn't mind finding some free Titleists in my back yard. Plus, we plan to have scorecards like they used to use in the Olympics for gymnastic events and rate the drives from the Tee.

[rsetterlund]

We just purchased a designer that backs to a CYV wall. The reason we chose this house was because we had talked to others that their neighbors had complained about their noise in the early evening and all they were doing is talking or watching TV.

For those who are looking for privacy in their home, an option could be to have their windows treated so no one could look in, but you can still see out. That way it does not matter what the nightie looks like or if you have one.

As for the size of lots. We have always had to maintain a 1/2 acre of grass and really like the smaller yards here in TV.