Esplanade Golf & Country Club at Lakewood Ranch

Esplanade Golf & Country Club at Lakewood Ranch is the original Taylor Morrison community carrying the "Esplanade" brand name, and Taylor Morrison’s own 2025 marketing for a newer sister community explicitly describes this property as "where Esplanade began." Development started with a first phase in January 2011 on roughly 200 acres, before Taylor Morrison rebranded and expanded the community in April 2013 as "Esplanade Golf and Country Club," adding roughly 800 more homes around a new 18-hole, par-72 golf course designed by Chris Wilczynski of C.W. Golf Architecture. The community’s HOA was formally established in October 2011, and it has since grown to roughly 600 acres and, by the most granular count found, 1,250 total homes (956 single-family plus 294 condominiums), though total-unit figures are not perfectly consistent across sources and the community is now marketed as sold out with no new-construction inventory remaining. Prospective buyers and researchers should take care with naming: at least two other, separate Taylor Morrison "Esplanade" communities exist nearby — Esplanade at Azario Lakewood Ranch (a newer, still-selling community with a different fee structure) and Esplanade at Cammaray (a third, roughly 1,200-home community announced in December 2025 and not yet built) — and pricing, fee, or amenity data should never be cross-applied between these three distinct properties. Although not age-restricted, the community functions largely as an active-adult community in practice per at least one directory’s own characterization. Its most distinctive membership feature is a hybrid golf structure: homes deeded within designated "golf section" parcels carry a mandatory, bundled golf membership (no separate initiation fee, no equity requirement, roughly $6,839 per year) regardless of whether the owner golfs, while homes outside those sections are not required to hold any golf membership and can instead choose an optional social membership at roughly $3,852 per year or decline club membership altogether. This bundled structure is a genuine, sourced drawback worth disclosing plainly: an owner of a golf-section home who never plays golf still pays the golf due, pushing all-in monthly carrying costs (HOA dues, golf dues, and a separate Community Development District assessment combined) toward roughly $1,200 to $1,800 per month for golf-designated homes, substantially higher than a typical non-golf Lakewood Ranch HOA. The community’s standout non-golf amenity is Bahama Bar, an independently reviewed, currently operating restaurant and sports-bar venue with live music that functions as a genuine neighborhood gathering spot rather than just marketing language, alongside two activity campuses with three resort-style pools, tennis and pickleball courts, and a full-time on-staff Lifestyle Manager. This research found no lawsuits or documented HOA litigation specific to this community, and no report of hurricane damage specifically at Esplanade Golf & Country Club from Hurricane Ian in 2022 or Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024, though general reporting on the 2024 storms indicates Lakewood Ranch as a whole, being inland and elevated relative to the coast, "escaped the worst" of Milton’s impact with no widespread flooding, while still experiencing scattered wind and power-outage effects regionally — this should be read as favorable regional context rather than a confirmed community-specific damage history either way. State Road 70, which runs along the community’s vicinity, has been undergoing a multi-year Florida Department of Transportation widening project with construction continuing into early 2027, a real if temporary regional traffic nuisance for residents in this part of Lakewood Ranch.

Age Restriction

Esplanade Golf & Country Club at Lakewood Ranch carries no legal age restriction and is not a deed-restricted 55-plus community, but one directory site notes it "caters almost exclusively to 55-plus Baby Boomer, active-adult lifestyle, retirement home buyers" — meaning it functions as a de facto active-adult community through its amenity mix and buyer base without a formal HOPA deed restriction. Important disambiguation: there are at least three distinct Taylor Morrison "Esplanade"-branded communities in the greater Lakewood Ranch area — this is the original community (now sold out, no new-construction inventory), while "Esplanade at Azario Lakewood Ranch" is a separate, newer community in northeastern Lakewood Ranch with a different fee structure, and "Esplanade at Cammaray" is a third, not-yet-built community announced in December 2025. Buyers and researchers frequently conflate these three by name, and pricing or fee data should not be cross-applied between them.

Housing Types

• Single-family detached homes
• Attached/detached villas
• Condominiums (the "Garden" collection)

Pricing

This community began as "Esplanade" with a first phase opening around January 2011 (roughly 400 units on 200 acres), before Taylor Morrison rebranded and expanded it as "Esplanade Golf and Country Club" starting in April 2013, adding roughly 800 more homes centered on a new golf course. Total home count is reported inconsistently: a granular breakdown of 956 single-family homes plus 294 condominiums (1,250 total) appears in several sources, while others round to approximately 1,200; neither figure has been confirmed against a primary developer fact sheet. The community sits on roughly 600 acres and is now marketed as sold out, meaning any current purchase is a resale. Current resale prices (as of September 2026) range roughly from $329,000 to $1,859,000, with one snapshot describing 88 homes sold over the prior year at an average selling price of roughly $780,000 and an average of 122 days on market; these figures come from real-estate aggregator synthesis rather than a live MLS pull and should be re-verified before publication. Villa floor plans in the "Club Series" run roughly 1,686 to 1,926 square feet with 2-3 bedrooms.

Fees & Assessments

HOA Dues: Non-golf-section HOA dues are reported at roughly $321 to $365 per month, while golf-section HOA dues run higher, roughly $556 to $586 per month, a figure that appears to already fold in some golf-related costs beyond the separately quoted golf membership dues. A Community Development District assessment is also reported, in the range of roughly $1,500 to $2,700 per year (equivalently $129 to $228 per month). Combined, an all-in monthly cost for golf-section owners is estimated at roughly $1,200 to $1,800 per month once HOA dues, golf dues, and CDD assessment are added together, though this combined figure is an approximation rather than a confirmed precise total. This research could not find a Lakewood-Ranch-specific capital contribution or transfer fee; a $5,000 one-time transfer fee that surfaced in search results was explicitly attributable to the unrelated "Esplanade Lake Club" community in Lee County and should not be used for this community.

Club/Golf Fees: Membership follows a hybrid model rather than a single bundled structure: homes deeded within the community’s "golf section" carry a mandatory bundled golf membership included as part of ownership, with no separate initiation fee or equity requirement, while homes in non-golf sections are not required to hold a golf membership and can instead purchase an optional social membership for dining and club access, or decline any club membership. Bundled golf dues for golf-section homes are cited at approximately $6,839 per year (roughly $570 per month), and an optional social membership is cited at approximately $3,852 per year. The 18-hole, par-72 course, designed by Chris Wilczynski of C.W. Golf Architecture, runs roughly 7,000 yards with a course rating of 73.1.

Amenities

• Two activity campuses with three resort-style pools, including a heated lagoon-style pool and a separate lap pool
• Two fitness gyms and an aerobics/dance studio, plus a day spa and hair salon
• Bahama Bar, an on-site restaurant/sports-bar venue with live music, independently listed at 12951 Malachite Drive, Bradenton
• Tennis and pickleball courts and bocce ball courts
• Fire pit and barbecue area
• Miles of walking and biking trails
• Full-time on-staff Lifestyle Manager coordinating resident events and programming
• Gated entrance (staffing model — attended guardhouse versus camera/transponder-only — could not be confirmed in this research)

Getting Around

Healthcare: Regional healthcare access includes Lakewood Ranch Medical Center, HCA Florida Sarasota Doctors Hospital, and the Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, though this research could not confirm a precise mileage or direction to any specific facility from this community with confidence and recommends independent verification.

Airport: Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) is reported at roughly 12 to 15 miles, with an estimated 15-to-25-minute drive; this range reflects genuinely conflicting distance estimates across sources and was not independently pinned down. Nearby shopping and dining include Lakewood Ranch Main Street, Waterside Place (which hosts a Sunday farmers market and Wednesday evening live-music dining programming), San Marco Plaza, University Town Center, and Downtown Sarasota.