The Venetian Golf & River Club is a gated, Northern Italian Renaissance themed master plan in North Venice, Sarasota County, built by WCI Communities, Inc. It sits on the north side of Laurel Road, about 1.5 miles east of I-75 Exit 195, adjoining the Myakka River, with roughly 1,300 to 1,400 homes across a large acreage footprint (community and brokerage guides, 2026; confirm counts per the POA).
The community is organized around amenities. At its center is the Mediterranean inspired River Club, which offers fine dining and a casual side, a fitness center with classes, a resort pool and spa with a poolside Tiki Bar, a lap pool, six Har-Tru clay tennis courts, dedicated pickleball courts, and a River Walk and nature park along the Myakka River. The golf side is an 18-hole, par 72 course designed by Chip Powell, and golf membership is optional rather than required (Venetian River Club and brokerage guides, 2026).
The housing is WCI build-era stock, generally from the mid-2000s onward, spanning villas and attached homes, single-family models such as the Valencia, Lesina, Corregio, and Agostino, and larger estate plans. The model, the condition, and the lot view drive value here more than the headline, so the buy is read by home, not by one community average.
The pitch is gated amenity living with strong access: Laurel Road connects directly to I-75 at Exit 195, downtown Venice and the Gulf beaches are a short drive south and west, and Sarasota is a straightforward run up the interstate. The work is verifying the HOA dues, the CDD line on the tax bill, and the optional golf-membership cost, and matching the home and lot to the amenities you will actually use.
