There was a celebration that featured the demolition of the old buildings as the highlight. A nice lunch was provided along with guest speakers that included our own Steve Lattmann. Lattmann is one of the Developers/Architect for St. Andrews East, he was also the first General Manager of The Plantation and was honored to speak about the history of The Plantation at the luncheon.

In 1980 the vision for this sprawling club complex was Grand, through the dedication of its members The Plantation has maintained this vision of Grandeur.

The project, located in what was then a remote area of Sarasota County, encompassed almost two (2) square miles of pine flatwood, bordered on the south by Tamiami Trail and on the north by a two-lane country road called Center Road. A company by the name Green Tree Communities envisioned a grand-scale development on this property, and after obtaining approval, began building a model center in the area that is now the intersection of Wexford Blvd. and Wexford Drive. The oil embargo of the 70′s and subsequent downturn of the real estate market at that time brought construction to a halt, and the unfinished model center, along with the land, was foreclosed upon by the lender, United First Federal, which was a Sarasota-based savings and loan. The project then lay dormant for six (6) years.

In the late 1970′s, Robert Morris, a major local developer, along with his financial partner, Jaime Carrion, entered into negotiations to purchase the land from UFF. Upon acquiring the property, Bob had his in-house planning team go to work on modifying the master plan to conform to his vision of The Plantation Golf & Country Club becoming a destination resort. With over 4,300 approved units, the project was originally planned with mostly multi-family buildings, two (2) golf courses and the commercial centers. The golf course architect, Ron Garl, was selected, and the Bobcat course was put to paper. It was to be a Links style course, and second to none in the area. The theme of Bermuda-styled resort and a sprawling club complex, was established, and by 1980, everything was set to begin development.

Steve Lattmann, Executive VP of the Ramar Group and First General Manager of The Plantation at that time, set up shop in a trailer in the vicinity of what is now Clubside. Along with two assistants, Mary Thomas and Mimi Evans, they were the first to make their daily home on the property and oversee the initial development activity. Their access to their base of operations was a dirt road leading from Center Road through what is now The Windsor, Fairway Glen, and The Villas of Somerset.

A Major land development project ensued with clearing of about one-fourth of the land area of the project that included the Bobcat course and an area for both water and sewage treatment plants. There were no public utilities down in that part of the  County in those days, thus The Plantation had to be self-sufficient. Soon after the start of clearing, which included the demolition of the Green Tree Communities Model Center, a sales office was constructed on U.S. 41 and a major sales effort was begun.

Marketing to the couple thousand previous buyers of other Ramar Communities, Bob Morris launched a campaign that brought almost 200 sales within the first couple weeks of the doors being opened. Over 100 more followed within the next several months. The project was off to an unprecedented start.

Estate Homes have also been popular this year, we are now down to 17 available homesites. The Estate Homes range from 2,200 to 3,000+ square feet under air-conditioned space. These homes can be highly customized to meet your needs. All of our homes include a high level of finishes as standard build. You will find the quality of our homes to be outstanding. Estate Homes include lawn care and HOA only.

St. Andrews East is down to only 7 Paired Villas left to build. These villas are 1,650 square feet under air-conditioned space. They are 2 bedroom, 2 bath with a den. The home feels much larger because of the cathedral ceiling in the Great Room and the open floor plan. Stop in to see the New Model of this Maintenance Free Villa.

Don’t miss out on this last opportunity to build your NEW home at The Plantation Golf & Country Club in Venice, Florida. Stop by our Sales Center to take a personal tour of our Model Homes and find out how you can be part of this fantastic neighborhood.

If the Golf Coarse view is not what your looking for, we also have beautiful lake views and homes that back up to a private mature preserve! We have exactly what your looking for!

At first glance the picture below does not look like much, but if you look closer you will see two homes under construction and two additional lots at the beginning stage of development. It is so exciting to report that we have over a dozen homes under construction and several more slated to come out of the ground before the end of the year.

Don’t wait until they are all gone, stop by and pick out where you want us to build your Dream Home today!

This is a picture of our Paired Villa called the “Cambridge.”   This Maintenance-Free attached home offer 1645 sq. ft. of well planned space, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths and a den.  We have less than 10 of these dynamic villas left to go, so don’t miss out!

We just sold the last Water View Patio Home! But don’t worry; the high demand of this stand-alone Maintenance-Free Villa has forced Venice Communities Development Group to start the process of opening the next section of St. Andrews East. This means that Patio Homes will be available with the stunning views of Panther’s 14^th Fairway. Expect to hear more about this incredible
opportunity in weeks to come. Patio Homes range from 2000 to 2154 sq.ft. and feature 2 bedrooms, 2 ½ baths with a large den.

Check out the spectacular view of this Estate Home that is
under construction. All of our homes can be customized to meet your needs and
desires, but our Estate Homes offer the most creative freedom in their floor plans.
Stop in to view our models and see firsthand how impressive our Estate Home
Collection really is!