The 60-Second Overview
Esplanade at Highland Ranch is Taylor Morrison's flagship Esplanade-brand active-adult community for the Clermont hill country: a gated, age-restricted 55+ neighborhood of exactly 475 single-family homes on 579 acres, built in phases roughly 2014 to 2022 and now sold out. That makes it a pure resale market, and a thin one, only a couple dozen homes trade in a typical year, so the comp work matters more here than in almost any community we cover in Lake County.
The setting does real work. This is Central Florida's rare hilly terrain, near Old Highway 50 and Blackstill Lake Road on the Clermont/Minneola line, with 30 acres of lakes and nature preserve inside the gates, elevated boardwalks, and about three miles of trails that connect toward the South Lake and West Orange trail networks. Next door sits the Canyons at Highland Ranch, the all-ages sister neighborhood in the same master plan, which means children and grandchildren can genuinely live minutes away.
The financial story is unusually clean for a newer Central Florida community: one HOA payment, reported around $1,379 per quarter, that bundles lawn care, fertilization, irrigation, internet, the gate, and the full amenity campus, and no CDD reported on the tax bill. The 2025 median resale ran about $510,000, with the practical range stretching from roughly $390K to $745K depending on plan, condition, and lot.
Built out, boutique, and fee-simple: 475 homes, one HOA bill, no CDD reported. In a thin resale market, the buyer who verifies the fees and runs plan-level comps wins.
The HOA, the No-CDD Question, and Your True Cost
Start with the costs, because this is where Esplanade quietly beats most of its competition, and where the portals are sloppiest. There is essentially one recurring community layer here:
The HOA: roughly $1,379 per quarter per third-party 2025-2026 data (other aggregators cite figures from about $359 to $460 per month, which is why you should never budget off a portal field). The reported inclusions are broad: full lawn maintenance with fertilization and irrigation, internet service, the gated entry, common-grounds upkeep, professional management, and unlimited access to the amenity campus and lifestyle programming. Bundling lawn care and internet matters when you cross-shop: a community with a lower headline HOA that excludes both can cost you more in real life. Dues and inclusions change at renewal, so we get the current budget and coverage list in writing during due diligence, every time.
The CDD: third-party sources report there is none at Esplanade. That is genuinely rare for a Central Florida community of this vintage, and it is a durable total-cost advantage worth real money over a decade of ownership, no separate infrastructure assessment compounding on the tax bill the way it does at many newer master plans. One source hedges with a may-apply caveat, which is exactly why we do not assert it from a portal: we pull the actual Lake County tax bill for the specific parcel and confirm the non-ad-valorem lines in writing before you offer. Average annual property taxes in the community have been reported around $4,400, but the parcel-level bill is the only number that counts.
The Amenity Campus & the Lifestyle Engine
For a 475-home community, the amenity package punches well above its weight, which is the Esplanade brand's signature. The resort-style clubhouse anchors it: a fitness center, an aerobics and movement studio hosting yoga and exercise classes, billiards, a card room, a coffee bar, and a catering kitchen for events. Outside: the resort pool with spa, hot tub, and cabanas, the circular resistance pool for low-impact training just off the outdoor kitchen, a fire pit and covered lanai built for lingering, and the court complex, four pickleball courts, a tennis court, and two bocce courts.
The software matters as much as the hardware. A full-time, on-site lifestyle director programs the calendar, clubs, classes, potlucks, Friday socials, holiday parties, painting nights, and day trips, and the Esplanade Concierge program layers in practical services from notary work to pet-care and bike-repair coordination. Then there is the land itself: roughly three miles of internal trails, 30 acres of lakes and preserves with elevated boardwalks, and Clermont's rolling-hill scenery in every direction. For most residents, this everyday package, not any single facility, is why the HOA math works.
The Homes: Collections, Plans, and Thin-Market Math
Taylor Morrison built the community across three collections, Capri, Savona, and Venice, plus the NEXTadventure concept home, spanning roughly 1,610 to 3,128 square feet, almost all single-story, mostly two to three bedrooms with two-car garages. Plan names you will see on listings include the Capri, Bergamo, Piceno, Azzuro, Salerno, Santini, Farnese, Lazio, and Pallazio. The Lazio, a 3-bed, 3-bath plan around 2,275 square feet, is the community's most recognizable resale, and the larger Venice-collection homes crown the market.
Because the homes were sold new with Taylor Morrison's design-studio options, two resales of the same plan can be tens of thousands of dollars apart in real content: extended lanais, outdoor kitchens, tandem garages, gourmet kitchen packages, and water or preserve lots. That is the trap and the opportunity of a thin market. Annual medians have swung from about $498K (2022) to $540K (2023) to $531K (2024) to $510K (2025), and most of that movement is mix, which plans happened to sell, not the community appreciating or falling. The right way to price any Esplanade home is plan-level: the last three sales of this plan or its nearest siblings, adjusted for lot, condition, and options. We run exactly that on every purchase and listing.
The Highland Ranch Context: Two Communities, One Master Plan
Esplanade does not stand alone. It is the age-restricted half of the Highland Ranch master plan, sharing the hilltop with the Canyons at Highland Ranch, an all-ages neighborhood of 488 homesites built roughly 2015-2020 with its own pool, splash pad, playgrounds, and sports courts. For 55+ buyers this is a quietly significant feature: adult children and grandchildren can buy five minutes away, inside the same master plan, without compromising Esplanade's age-restricted quiet.
It also creates the area's most common listing confusion. Portals and even MLS remarks sometimes blur Highland Ranch, the Canyons, and Esplanade, three different fee structures and two different buyer pools, and the broader Highland Ranch parcels include larger family homes that have traded well above $900K. A Canyons comp tells you almost nothing about an Esplanade resale, because the Canyons carries no 55+ restriction, different dues, and a family buyer pool. Step one of pricing anything here is confirming which legal subdivision and phase the parcel actually sits in, Highland Ranch Esplanade Phases 1 through 5 are the ones behind the 55+ gate. We check the plat, not the headline.
Schools
Esplanade is an age-restricted 55+ community, so zoned-school quality is not why anyone buys here, and under the community's HOPA-based occupancy rules, school-age residency is governed by association policy, not just district lines. That said, the zoning still matters two ways: it shapes the surrounding all-ages market your home trades within, the Canyons next door competes for the area's family demand, and it answers the practical question of where grandkids in the area attend.
The area is served by Lake County Schools, with Grassy Lake Elementary, East Ridge Middle, and Lake Minneola High among the typical nearby assignments. Ratings change year to year, so follow the GreatSchools links in the table above for current scores, and if a multigenerational plan is part of your purchase, confirm both the district zoning for the address and the community's age-occupancy policy in writing before you commit.
More on Living at Esplanade at Highland Ranch
The depth without the wall of text. Open what matters to you.
Clermont hill country and the trail life
Healthcare close by
Getting to Orlando, Disney, and the airport
Guests, grandkids, and the age rules
5 Mistakes Buyers Make at Esplanade at Highland Ranch
In a thin, built-out, plan-driven 55+ market, the same five mistakes cost buyers the most. Each is avoidable with the right read before you tour.
Pricing off the community median
With only a couple dozen sales a year, the median swings with the mix of plans that sold, $540K one year, $510K another, and tells you little about a specific Lazio or Capri. Plan-level comps, adjusted for lot and options, are the only honest pricing tool here.
Trusting the portal's HOA and CDD fields
Aggregators show this community's HOA anywhere from $83 to $460 a month, and CDD answers range from no to maybe. Get the current dues, inclusions, and the actual parcel tax bill in writing before you budget anything.
Comparing against the Canyons next door
The all-ages sister neighborhood shares the Highland Ranch name but not the age restriction, the fee structure, or the buyer pool. A Canyons comp will misprice an Esplanade home in either direction.
Paying optioned-home money for a base build
These homes were sold new with heavy design-studio personalization. Two identical plans can differ by tens of thousands in real content, extended lanais, outdoor kitchens, upgraded kitchens, and a staged base home can read like an optioned one on a Sunday tour.
Calling the listing agent
The agent on the sign works for the seller. In a thin market where every comp is arguable, walking in unrepresented is how you pay the seller's interpretation of the data instead of yours.
Which Lots & Views Hold Value Best
In a built-out community, the lot is the only thing nobody can add later
The houses can be updated; the homesites cannot. Water-view and preserve-backing lots, especially those along the community's 30 acres of lakes and boardwalk-lined ponds, carry durable premiums and resell faster than interior lots backing another home, and in Clermont's hill country an elevated long-view lot is its own currency.
The mistake is paying a view price for an interior lot because the interior home was staged better. We separate the lot value from the house value on every Esplanade purchase, so your money lands where the market will give it back.
What to Check Before You Offer
Before you write an offer on any Esplanade at Highland Ranch home, run this list. Missing any one of them is how buyers overpay or inherit a surprise.
- Current HOA dues and inclusions in writing: the quarterly amount, what lawn care and internet coverage actually includes, and any pending increases or assessments
- The actual Lake County tax bill for the parcel: confirm the no-CDD picture and every non-ad-valorem line yourself
- Which subdivision and phase the parcel legally sits in: Esplanade phases, not the Canyons or broader Highland Ranch
- Plan-level closed comps: the last sales of this plan and its siblings, not the community median
- The options story: what this home's original structural options and upgrades would cost to replicate, versus a base build of the same plan
- Roof, HVAC, and water-heater age: the earliest homes here are now 10+ years old, which is insurance-quote territory
- Age-occupancy and rental rules in writing if your household or plans include anyone under 55 or future leasing
- HOA reserves and meeting minutes: a resident-controlled association's financial health is your future fee trajectory
Esplanade at Highland Ranch is what happens when a national builder's best active-adult formula lands on the prettiest terrain in Central Florida and then sells out. The result is a boutique, finished, fee-simple community, one HOA that covers the lawn and the internet, no CDD reported, a real lifestyle director, in a hill-country setting most of the Orlando metro cannot match. But built-out and boutique also means thin: a couple dozen sales a year, medians that swing with the mix, portal data that contradicts itself on the fees, and a confusing master plan next door. That is four ways an unrepresented buyer mis-prices the same house.
Our advice is simple: verify the fees on the actual documents and the actual tax bill, price plan-by-plan instead of off the median, and cross-shop it honestly, against Royal Harbor if lakefront boating matters more than resort polish, and against Kings Ridge or Trilogy if golf or mega-amenity scale is the priority. For the buyer who wants newer construction, low-friction fees, and a genuinely beautiful setting at a human scale, Esplanade is the strongest 55+ resale play in the Clermont corridor, when you buy it right.
Esplanade vs. Comparable Communities
The honest way to place Esplanade at Highland Ranch is against the other 55+ communities a Lake County and Central Florida buyer is realistically weighing. Each trades something different.
| Community | How it compares to Esplanade |
|---|---|
| Royal Harbor (Tavares) | The lakefront value play: gated 55+ on Little Lake Harris with Harris Chain boating and a far lower HOA around $187/month, but an older housing stock and simpler amenities. Esplanade counters with newer Taylor Morrison construction, the resort campus, and bundled lawn and internet. |
| Kings Ridge (Clermont) | Clermont's golf flagship: 2,000+ homes from the late 1990s, two courses, three recreation campuses, and lower entry prices. Esplanade trades the golf for newer homes, a 475-home boutique scale, and a cleaner fee picture. |
| Summit Greens (Clermont) | Gated 55+ around an 18-hole course (recently closed for renovation, a diligence item in itself) with a large clubhouse and indoor pool. Esplanade offers newer construction and the hill-and-trail setting instead of fairway frontage. |
| Trilogy Orlando (Groveland) | The amenity heavyweight 15-20 minutes west: a massive club with indoor/outdoor pool, restaurant, and golf simulator. Esplanade is smaller and quieter, with the better location card, the Turnpike, hospital, and Clermont's trails are all closer. |
| Del Webb Minneola | The new-construction alternative on some of the region's highest ground, actively selling with builder incentives, plus a CDD and the construction years that come with a young community. Esplanade is its finished, settled, no-CDD-reported counterpart. |
| Cresswind DeLand | Kolter's new 55+ on a spring-fed lake an hour northeast: new-build personalization and a brand-new clubhouse, but a CDD on the tax bill and years of build-out ahead. Esplanade offers the established, fee-simple version of the same lifestyle. |
Esplanade's case against this field is balance: newer construction than the Clermont golf communities, a finished and settled feel the new builds cannot offer, one HOA covering lawn and internet, no CDD reported, and the best everyday location of the group. The case against it: no golf inside the gates, no new construction, a thin resale market, and amenity scale a mega-community will beat.
The Honest Trade-offs
Pros
- Boutique 475-home scale with a genuine community feel.
- One HOA bundling lawn care, irrigation, internet, gate, and amenities.
- No CDD reported on the tax bill, rare for this vintage.
- Resort pool, resistance pool, courts, and a full-time lifestyle director.
- Clermont hill country: trails, lakes, boardwalks, real views.
- Turnpike, hospital, Disney, and Winter Garden all in easy reach.
Cons
- No golf course inside the gates.
- Sold out: resale only, with thin annual inventory.
- Medians swing hard in a ~30-sale-a-year market.
- Earliest homes are 10+ years old: roof and HVAC diligence territory.
- Portal fee data is contradictory; everything needs verification.
- Amenity scale trails the mega-communities like Trilogy.
The Esplanade Playbook
If we were buying at Esplanade at Highland Ranch, this is the order of operations we would run, and the one we run for our clients.
- Verify the fees first. Current HOA dues and inclusions in writing, plus the actual parcel tax bill to confirm the no-CDD picture, before you judge any list price.
- Confirm the subdivision. Esplanade phase, not the Canyons, not broader Highland Ranch; the plat decides the comp set.
- Price the plan, not the median. Last sales of this floorplan and its siblings, adjusted for lot, condition, and original options.
- Inspect for age. Roof, HVAC, and water-heater dates on the earlier phases, and an insurance quote before the inspection period burns.
- Negotiate from the thin-market data. Days on market and plan-level comps are your leverage; have representation and financing ready and use them.
Questions We'd Ask Before Buying Here Ourselves
The questions a local who knows the Lake County 55+ market asks are different from the ones a portal answers. On any specific home, we want to know:
- What do the current HOA budget and dues actually include, and what is the increase history since residents took control?
- What does the actual tax bill show, any non-ad-valorem lines, and is the no-CDD picture confirmed for this parcel?
- Which plan and original options is this home, and what would they cost to replicate against a base resale?
- What does the lot back to, water, preserve, boardwalk, or another home, and what did comparable view lots sell for?
- How old are the roof, HVAC, and water heater, and what does the insurance quote come back at?
- What are the age-occupancy and leasing rules in the current governing documents?
Esplanade May Not Be Right For You If
We would rather tell you the truth than sell you the wrong community. Esplanade at Highland Ranch may not be the right fit if any of these are deal-breakers, and that is a property question, not a personal one.
Consider elsewhere if you want
- Golf inside the gates as part of your daily routine.
- Brand-new construction you can personalize from the slab up.
- Mega-community amenity scale with dozens of clubs and venues.
- Lakefront boating from your own community dock.
- Entry pricing below the high $300s.
Esplanade fits if you want
- A boutique, finished 55+ community at a human scale.
- One HOA covering the lawn, internet, gate, and amenities, no CDD reported.
- Newer Taylor Morrison construction without builder-phase chaos.
- Hill-country scenery, trails, and 30 acres of lakes and preserve.
- Family next door in the Canyons and Disney 35 minutes away.