Yes, it’s true. I live in Valencia at Abacoa. But even if I didn’t, I’d want to. Abacoa is a pretty remarkable planned community by anyone’s standards. And Valencia is by far its crown jewel. Sure, green parks, little bridges, a delightful lake, community clubhouse and pool add to its charm. But what I love about this particular little enclave is it’s gated community feel and value without the yoke of an equity membership!

Valencia is the architectural product of four top builders…Frankel-Paone, Issa, The Spear Group and Delcrest.  Each brings different floor plans, perspectives and personal touches to its Mediterranean style. It’s a neighborhood designed with winding streets, rear-entry garages, Corinthian columns, charming front porches and lush landscaping. No cookie cutter community…it warrants those higher (high $600’s to $2 million) price tags.  And Valencia residents make sure those values are well maintained!

So if you’re in the market for something that offers just the right measure of exclusivity, take a close look at Valencia at Abacoa…where every house, every street will surprise and impress you.

You come across the house at 320 Murcia Drive. This 6-bedroom, 4.5 bath, 3600 square foot home sits on a surprisingly oversized lot across the street from the clubhouse and a park.

Inside it’s not just a fabulous, cream-colored dream of a house. It’s pristine … mint-condition … immaculate …perfection.  From the crown moldings to the recessed double tray ceiling in the formal dining room to the wrought iron spindles up the staircase to the Chicago pavers that deck out the most completely private pool out back … this house has style.

And the kind of extras you rarely come across. Well equipped with plenty of extras. Deep walk-in/storage. White wood plantation shutters in the huge family room and kitchen. French doors that lead from the living and family rooms onto the pool deck and covered lanai. A separate guest suite downstairs…a Jack and Jill two-bedroom/1 bath connecting suite upstairs. A two-car garage with one side so deep, it’s a tandem space … for two cars or one plus loads of storage. Then there’s the master suite with a walk-in closet nearly large enough to qualify as a room all its own. 

Yes, just when you thought you’d seen it all, you come across a perfect jewel. A small estate home perfectly located, ideally situated and waiting, just waiting for someone like you.

In a neighborhood known for remarkable homes, 120 Santiago Drive just naturally stands out. Built in 2004, this 3-bedroom plus den, 3000-plus square foot home is an artist’s palette of natural textures and tones. 

That’s because the owner personally flew to Indonesia to hand-select every piece of carved wood trim, every solid wood door, every wood inlay. Different shades of mahogany and teak are juxtaposed against marble, tile, granite, and river rock throughout. Why, the his-and-hers master bath alone is a visual marvel … complete with Jacuzzi tub and walk-in shower.

Now, factor in a huge master suite and an office/den on the first floor, a vast kitchen (complete with butler’s pantry and gas stove) that opens onto a truly great room, which opens onto a very private pool and a maintenance-free yard… and you begin to understand.

No detail here has been overlooked. The pool even has a swim current for laps. And the two bedrooms and bath upstairs are delightfully designed to feel more like an airy loft than a second story.

The unique personality of this home …  its mixture of seductive textures, space and light … makes it one-of-a-kind and not to be missed.  At $695,000 it’s sure to disappear quickly. So make it a point to see it before it’s sold!

Every once in a great while you walk into a house that feels, well, quite perfect. You could move in without changing nary a thing. Even the wallpaper is charming, delightful, completely unexpected.  That’s 148 Santiago Drive, in Valencia at Abacoa.

It sits unobtrusively on a very quiet street.  The playground and community pool are near by … but you’d never know it. On paper this home appears quite mundane… one story, 2800+ square feet, 3 bedrooms with an office/den, and three full baths. But, surprise! You leave ordinary at the door.

Inside the foyer is a formal living room to the left, with plenty of room for a baby grand. To the right, a spacious office and a full guest bath complete with a huge shower, of all things.

Pad quietly down the hall a bit and you come to a formal dining room with a double tray ceiling with subtly painted clouds and a trompe-l’oeil window scene on the wall.

Go a few feet further and find yourself in a vast open country kitchen with a family room that looks out on a brick lanai with a perfectly private lap pool and Jacuzzi waterfall.

Just beyond are two very ample bedrooms separated by a large Jack & Jill bath.  And then there’s the magnificent master suite with two large walk-in closets and double bath complete with a steam/shower.

And everywhere, every detail is tastefully, artfully attended to by a decorator who clearly knew her stuff. So much so that the overarching feeling is quiet sophistication, and serenity…now.  Seinfeld aside, that’s no joke! Not at $699,000 in a neighborhood surrounded by million dollar homes.

In Valencia at Abacoa … a Jupiter, FL neighborhood usually known for style, luxury and sophistication …  it’s rather unexpected to come across a house that actually feels like family.

One with all the trappings its million-dollar price tag implies. Yet, something priceless as well.

A feeling of family.

126 Segovia is as large as the life it affords.

Large as a grand foyer. A 30-foot cupola amid a huge square staircase. A vast family room with windows so high, they fill it with light. An immense private yard that can hold a brick lanai, gated swimming pool with fountain, and grass playground … backed up to a natural preserve. A chandelier large enough to dominate and define a formal dining room.  A master suite the size of an apartment … complete with foyer, two large walk-in closets, an enormous shower and soaking Jacuzzi tub, and doors that open onto the pool.

Designed with thoughtful details…

An artful use of shadow-boxing and wainscoting, warm bamboo floors, built-ins in every closet, a double porte cochere to keep off the rain drops, an extended garage with built-ins and tool table, a double stove (convection/microwave) with warming drawer, an extra wide fridge, an oversize laundry room, a bench step in the pool to keep little ones safe, even a hot and cold outdoor shower… these are the details that make this estate house so deliciously comfortable.

And one thing more.

A feeling of solidity, stability, warmth that seems built into its very foundation. A sense that this will always be home to happy little voices and busy little feet, dinner parties and birthday parties. A house built for years of growing up and together.

A home in search of a family.

Until recently anyone who wanted information on homes in Valencia at Abacoa went to ValenciaAtAbacoa.com for front views (elevations), floor plans and builder information on each home model available in the Valencia development. Then the development sold out and the site developers let that website become inactive. I thought that was a real shame, since it provides such important information for prospective buyers of resales in that neighborhood. So I took matters into my own hands. 

Since I live in Valencia, know the area so well, and have sold and listed so many homes there, I recently acquired that website and reactivated it. It’s up and running again for your convenience and mine. So you can once again go to ValenciaAtAbacoa.com for information on all the homes there … including which ones are currently up for sale. Now, how great is that!

Whoever said your home is your castle must surely have had this home in mind. With features reminiscent of a castle in Segovia, Spain … this 4400 square foot estate home at 155 Segovia Way is truly a world apart. And every bit that private.

Built with pride by Issa Homes … it’s set on one of the few truly oversized lots, and seems to tower above the rest in style and scale. And a tower it has … that stately curved section that distinguishes any true castle. Also a charming gated courtyard, a delightful front view of lake and fountain, a tropical landscape barrier enclosing a large green yard and perfect pool.

Inside, one large room flows into another casually, seamlessly, flawlessly. The rounded castle foyer with the domed ceiling leads the way… to a marvelous office with a built-in library, a large formal dining room with an intricate ceiling, a huge breakfast area that’s anything but a nook, a wide open family room/kitchen with an island large enough to warrant a name.

So it goes. Through 5 bedrooms and baths … including a separate guest suite over the garage. A sound system Abbey Road would covet …piped within and without, controllable from anywhere. And if all of that isn’t regal enough …well then step into the Butler’s pantry. Grab a bottle of wine from the enormous collection chilling in the cooler. And let’s discuss the royal pleasures of this home over a dry chardonnay.

Jupiter, FL is a nearly pristine little town with large city amenities. It’s where everyone fleeing the crime of Miami, the competitive nature of Boca, the outright snobbishness of Palm Beach finds far more than refuge. They find manageable living, true beauty, a sense of community Florida style. In short, there’s a reason so many people in southeast Florida are moving up the coast to Jupiter.

Yes, Jupiter is a world apart. And Abacoa is pivotal to that world. Very possibly the best-designed planned community anywhere … in or out of Florida. It’s its own little town, really. United, not divided, by its very unique neighborhoods.

Now, my little piece of Abacoa is Valencia. Filled with Mediterranean-style homes, gracious landscaping, and a truly upscale persona. And at the heart of Valencia is its clubhouse. Home to outdoor parties and competitions on the adjoining grassy field. Home to those who exercise religiously …  and those who simply pray they’ll make it though a workout. A clubby, cozy place with couches and chess sets – where you can play, chat or chill. It’s very bit as well designed as the neighborhood it serves.

Many, most homes today are designed with front-entry garages. And I personally hate them! They detract from the beauty of a home, dominating the visual scene.

More than just an architectural eyesore, front-entry garages create the opportunity for all sorts of unpleasant views. How often have you looked into an open garage to see car repairs in progress, unpacked moving boxes stacked to the rafters, piles of trash, garbage cans, messy do-it-yourself projects in process, or bags of dog food and piles of old clothes scattered about. Hardly appealing to the neighbors.

We all live with a certain degree of clutter and messiness.  But with the right garage orientation you can dramatically limit its public exposure!

Valenica at Abacoa front elevation without garage views!

Homes have private alleys with rear-entry garages!

It’s called the Grand Vizcaya.

It’s the largest model of all the homes sold in Valencia at Abacoa. Designed by Frankel Paone, it’s far more than grand. It’s grandeur with a capital EUR! European in style. Palatial in scope. And this one has a marvelous address.

Because 118 Valencia resides on a large corner lot with no home behind, and just a wide green royal palm lined median in front.

5 Bedrooms, 4.5 baths, 3 car garage & unending space!

As if this 4483 square foot home isn’t spacious enough, cathedral and recessed ceilings exponentially increase that feeling of light and air. As does the openness of kitchen leading onto family room leading out to patio & glorious freeform pool … all enclosed with a high privacy wall.

There are 4 bedrooms, three with adjacent baths, a large balcony and new wood floors upstairs. A massive living room (with a REAL wood-burning fireplace and huge window), formal dining room, breakfast nook/kitchen/family room downstairs … along with a master suite that leads directly to the pool through French doors, for a French dip.

As with most Italian-inspired palazzos, living is art.

Priced at $1,295,000, this home offers every feature you seek in an estate home… beginning with its stately exterior. And there’s more … far more. But we’re not giving anything else away. This one needs to be seen, needs to be felt, to be truly appreciated.