Disney community is ‘the Mansion Kingdom’
Central Florida’s Golden Oak hosts priciest area street.
ORLANDO — Central Florida’s leading candidate for priciest address isn’t on a chain of lakes, in Winter Park or Windermere.
Of the 100 most valuable houses in Orange, Seminole, Os c e o l a a n d L a ke c ounties, more than a tenth line Enchanted Oak Drive at Walt Disney Company’s Golden Oak community.
That street had more mansions on the list of Central Fl or i da’s 1 00 top -val ued houses than any street in the region, according to a new analysis of tax records by Potomac Land Company.
Peter Kasmin, 26, an internet marketing entrepreneur, was new to the list this year with an eight-bedroom house valued at $6.4 million on Golden Oak’s Enchanted Oak Drive.
He was 22 when construction started.
“We have our clubhouse that is only for our residents and everyone has been so nice and welcoming and lovely,” said the youthful founder of Revenue Universe
“You meet your neighbors and they all remember your name,” he said.
In the Windermere area’s Isleworth community, the 10-acre lakefront estate of Memphis Grizzlies shooting guard Vince Carter remained the region’s most valuable residential property with a market value of more than
10 million, according to Potomac’s fourth annual report of market values from county property appraisers. The least expensive house on the list was an Isleworth home valued at $4.3 million.
Bill Sullivan, president of Potomac Land Company, said the biggest change in Central Florida’s distribution of wealth during the last year was Golden Oak.
T h e d e v e l o p m e n t launched in 2010 and has grown in markedly difffffffffffferent ways than Central Florida’s other high- end hot spots.
“It’s a different kind of buyer there,” Sullivan said, adding that many buyers intend to keep the houses in their families for generations.
Unlike Central Florida’s two areas saturated with topend houses — Winter Park and Windermere — Golden Oak offffffffffffers theme-park concierge perks and the security of gates fortifified with Disney property’s no- flfly zone.
The luxury neighborhood largely caters to an audience of second-home buyers, although Kasmin said he’s seen the number of permanent residents increasing.
Land stands as a badge of wealth among Central Florida’s more traditional quar- ters for the elite.
The Winder mere - a re a home of former NBA star Grant Hill sprawls across 20 acres spanning two lakes. Golf star Annika Sorenstam has a 7-acre spread in Lake Nona, the development’s sole residence on the list.
At Isleworth, which has a quarter of the list’s trophy houses, mansions each sit atop at least 1 acre.
The lakeside mansion of Bettie Whitaker, built by her former husband and timeshare magnate David Siegel, sits on more than 30 acres. Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal’s Isleworth estate includes 3 acres.
And in Winter Park, the primary residence of Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers rests on the 1.4 acres of the Isle of Sicily peninsula, which juts into Lake Maitland.
At Golden Oak , meanwhile, houses are short on sprawling lawns with views of large water bodies. More likely, they sit on less than an acre in size.
Kasmin said he toured Golden Oak by chance about four years ago when he was visiting Disney. At the time, the Connecticut native lived in California and was building the company he started working on when he was 15. Kasmin said his accountant had lauded Florida’s relatively low tax structure but the idea of relocating wasn’t compelling.
“As soon as I walked in the model, I knew I was movi n g h e r e , ” s a i d Ka s mi n , who works full-time from his home.
The development named for Walt Disney’s boyhood home might not have expansive yards, but it has room to grow and will likely continue reshaping Central Florida’s map of wealth. In January, Golden Oak’s fifirst houses to fall under the brand Four S e a s o n s Re s i d e n c e s a r e expected to be completed with prices starting at $5 million.
The availabilit y of land gives Golden Oak something that’s tough to fifind in Winter Park and Windermere — ample lots. Buyers coveting home sites on chains of lakes often have to demolish or gut existing homes.