Oak Ford is a gated, deed-restricted acreage community in east Sarasota County, off Fruitville Road and roughly 8 to 9 miles east of I-75 (community guides via Michael Saunders and Sarasota brokerages, 2026). It is a country-style setting of single-family homes on wooded home sites that generally run from about half an acre to a full acre.
The community was built around the Oak Ford Golf Club, a semi-private 27-hole course designed by Ron Garl that opened in 1988 and was once one of the busier courses in the area. The course later closed, with sources citing a closure around 2013, so the golf that gave the community its name is no longer operating. Confirm the current status and any plans for that land before you buy on the assumption of active golf.
Because Oak Ford is about land and privacy rather than a dense amenity package, the money is made or lost on the specific lot, the home's condition and systems, and an honest read of the well, septic, and any acreage-specific maintenance, not on a headline price.
The pitch is space and a gated, quiet setting within reach of Sarasota: large wooded lots well east of the interstate, with Fruitville Road carrying you back toward I-75, the UTC area, and downtown Sarasota. The work is reading the lot, the condition, and the carrying costs of a rural-style property, and verifying the HOA rules and the former course's status before you fall for the acreage.
