The Complete Markland Guide. (2026)

Executive Summary

Markland is a 314-acre gated luxury master-planned community in the World Golf Village area of St. Augustine, in the 32092 ZIP, in northern St. Johns County. It holds roughly 345 single-family residences and takes its name and its design cues from the historic Markland House, the 1839 Andrew Anderson mansion in downtown St. Augustine; the Wolfe family that once owned that house also owned the land this community was built on. The result is a community themed around classic St. Augustine architecture and formal gardens, at a more intimate scale than the sprawling master plans nearby.

Markland was built by six builders, including Dream Finders, Providence Homes, Cornerstone Homes, and the semi-custom luxury builder Arthur Rutenburg, on lot widths ranging from 58 to 93 feet, which produced a genuinely varied collection of homes from roughly 1,800 to nearly 4,000 square feet. It is now largely built out, so buyers today are mostly shopping resale, with some remaining new-construction inventory. Pricing generally runs from the high $400s into the $900s and up, with most homes in the $500s to $700s depending on size, builder, and lot.

The amenity centerpiece is the Manor House, a Greek Revival building reflective of St. Augustine's historic grand homes, with a fitness center and wellness studio (strength and aerobic equipment, free weights, and a yoga and spin studio), a social room, and meeting space. Outside, residents enjoy a beach-entry resort pool with a lap lane and fountain jets, poolside cabanas, tennis and pickleball courts, the Explorer Dome playground, a lakeside fire pit and event lawn, a kayak and canoe launch, and a cricket field, with walking trails throughout.

Children attend the top-rated St. Johns County School District, with Mill Creek Academy serving elementary and middle and the newer Tocoi Creek High School for high school. The honest trade-offs are a CDD assessment that runs roughly $3,100 to $3,500 a year depending on lot width, a location oriented toward St. Augustine rather than Jacksonville, and the realities of buying mostly resale. The single most valuable move you can make is to have your own agent rather than calling the listing agent, who works for the seller.

Quick Facts

Community Overview & History

Markland carries an unusually direct link to St. Augustine history. The community is named for the Markland House, the coquina-stone mansion built starting in 1839 by Dr. Andrew Anderson, a landmark on King Street near Flagler College. The Wolfe family, who owned the Markland House before selling it to Flagler College in the 1960s, also owned the land on which this community was developed, and the master plan deliberately echoes that heritage with classic architecture and formal gardens.

Sitting on 314 acres in the World Golf Village area of northern St. Johns County, Markland was designed as a gated, amenity-rich community at a more connected scale than the larger master plans nearby, with roughly 345 single-family homes rather than thousands. The location pairs the quiet of suburban St. Augustine with a direct route to I-95, putting the historic district and St. Augustine Beach about 20 minutes away and the shopping and dining of World Golf Village and the nearby outlets close at hand.

Because it is a smaller, higher-end community that has largely finished building, Markland trades primarily as resale today, with some remaining builder inventory. The six-builder mix and the range of lot widths mean the housing stock is varied, from comfortable family homes to larger semi-custom residences, which gives buyers a real range of choices within one gated address.

The Builders & Homes

Markland is best understood through its builders and lot widths, since those drove the home styles and price bands across the community. Because it is largely built out, the practical question is which home, lot, and builder product fits, whether resale or remaining new construction.

The six builders

Markland was built by six builders, including Dream Finders, Providence Homes, Cornerstone Homes, and Arthur Rutenburg Homes, among others (CalAtlantic, now part of Lennar, also built here). Arthur Rutenburg in particular is a semi-custom luxury builder, which is part of why the community reaches into the higher price points and why the home designs vary so much from street to street. For a resale buyer, that variety is a feature: floor plans, finish levels, and lot sizes differ widely, so an agent who knows the builders can steer you toward the construction quality and lot that hold value.

Lot widths and home sizes

Homesites come in widths of 58, 63, 73, 83, and 93 feet, with homes ranging from roughly 1,800 to nearly 4,000 square feet. The wider lots carry larger homes and higher CDD assessments, and they command premiums in resale. Many homesites enjoy lake, preserve, or formal-garden views, which is consistent with the community's classic, landscaped character.

Resale vs. remaining new construction

As of 2026 Markland is primarily a resale market, with limited remaining new-construction inventory. A buyer can find an existing home with the upgrades and landscaping already in place, or, where available, a newer build. The choice usually comes down to whether you want a move-in-ready resale at a known price or are willing to wait and personalize where builder inventory remains. An agent can lay out both paths with the real numbers.

The Market & Pricing

As of 2026, Markland homes generally run from the high $400s into the $900s and up, with most landing in the $500s to $700s depending on size, builder, and lot width. The semi-custom and wider-lot homes reach the higher end. Square footage spans roughly 1,800 to 4,000, so price per foot and lot premium matter as much as the headline number, particularly in a gated luxury community where the address itself carries value.

In a primarily resale market, condition, updates, and lot position drive price. A home with current finishes, a newer roof and HVAC, and a lake or garden-view lot will command a premium over a dated home on an interior lot. The schools, the gate, and the Manor House amenities are priced into every listing, so the differentiators are the house and the lot, which is exactly where buyers overpay or underbuy without representation, since the listing agent works to get the seller the highest price.

Markland also competes with the other World Golf Village-area and northern St. Johns communities, from SilverLeaf to Bannon Lakes to the established WGV neighborhoods. A smart buyer shops it against those alternatives on price per foot, lot, gate, and amenities rather than the name alone. An agent who pulls the true comparable sales, not the list prices, is the difference between a confident offer and an overpay, and on remaining new construction, between a represented purchase and negotiating against the builder alone.

Who Lives Here

Markland draws move-up and luxury buyers who want a gated address and a refined, landscaped community without the scale of a giant master plan: established families, professionals, and relocations from higher-cost states drawn by the St. Johns schools, the amenities, and the historic St. Augustine setting. The semi-custom homes and gated entry give it a more upscale, settled profile than the entry-level new-construction communities nearby.

The community's intimate scale, roughly 345 homes rather than thousands, fosters a more connected, neighborly feel, with the Manor House and event lawn as gathering points and a calendar of community social events. Buyers here are choosing character and connection over sheer amenity volume, and accepting a St. Augustine-oriented location in exchange for the gate, the gardens, and the schools.

Schools

Markland is zoned to the top-rated St. Johns County School District, consistently among the highest-rated in Florida. Students generally attend Mill Creek Academy, a K-8 school serving both elementary and middle grades, and Tocoi Creek High School, a newer high school that opened to relieve growth in the World Golf Village and SR 16 area. Both are well-regarded, and the school district is a primary reason buyers choose this part of St. Johns.

As across all of fast-growing St. Johns County, attendance boundaries are periodically adjusted as new schools open, so the specific schools assigned to a given Markland address can change over time. Confirm the current zoning for the exact home directly with the St. Johns County School District before you buy, rather than assuming it from the community name, since school assignment is the first filter for most buyers and the one most likely to shift.

Amenities & Lifestyle

Markland's amenities are anchored by the Manor House, a Greek Revival building designed to reflect St. Augustine's historic grand homes. Its second floor is dedicated to health and wellness, with strength and aerobic equipment, free weights, and a yoga and spin studio, alongside a social room and meeting space for community gatherings. Outside, residents enjoy a beach-entry resort pool with a lap lane and fountain jets, poolside cabanas and lounge areas, and the lakeside fire pit and event lawn.

Beyond the pool and clubhouse, Markland offers tennis and pickleball courts, the Explorer Dome playground with a toddler climbing structure and swings, a kayak and canoe launch on the community lake, and, distinctively, a cricket field, an amenity almost no other Northeast Florida community offers. Walking trails and formal gardens tie the community together. The amenity package is mature and fully delivered, an advantage over newer communities where you pay for amenities still under construction.

These amenities are funded through HOA dues and the community's CDD assessment, covered next. For most buyers the amenity package is a clear positive here, since it is complete, refined, and unusually distinctive for a community of this size.

HOA & CDD

Two separate costs come with a Markland home, and confusing them is the most common buyer mistake. The HOA fee covers ongoing operations: the gate, the Manor House and pool, common-area landscaping and the formal gardens, and community management. The CDD assessment is different. A Community Development District is a financing tool that paid for the community's infrastructure, the roads, the amenity buildings, the lakes, the entry features, and utility lines, by issuing bonds that homeowners repay through an annual assessment on the property-tax bill.

Markland's CDD assessment varies by lot width. As documented figures, the annual CDD has run roughly $3,071 on 58-foot lots, $3,088 on 63-foot lots, $3,121 on 73-foot lots, $3,454 on 83-foot lots, and $3,487 on 93-foot lots. These are meaningful annual costs on top of HOA dues and property taxes, and they are the budget line out-of-state buyers most often miss. The CDD typically includes a bond portion that pays off over roughly 30 years plus an operations-and-maintenance portion; on some resale homes the bond may be partially paid down. Always confirm the current HOA dues and the full CDD assessment for the exact homesite, in writing, before you write an offer.

Commute Analysis

Markland's World Golf Village-area location offers a direct route to I-95, which shapes its commute profile. Downtown St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach are about 20 minutes away, making the historic city and the coast an easy regular trip. Jacksonville's Southside job centers and the St. Johns Town Center are a longer haul, generally 30 to 40 minutes north on I-95 depending on traffic, and downtown Jacksonville a bit further. Daytona Beach is reachable to the south via I-95 as well.

The trade-off Markland buyers accept is location: this is a St. Augustine-oriented community, closer to St. Augustine than to Jacksonville's job centers, which suits buyers working in or near St. Augustine, working remotely, or retired. For a daily Southside Jacksonville commute, factor the longer drive honestly. Everyday shopping and dining at World Golf Village and the nearby St. Augustine Premium Outlets are close by. As always, test-drive your real commute at your real departure time before committing.

Shopping & Dining

Everyday shopping, dining, and entertainment are close at World Golf Village and along the SR 16 and International Golf Parkway corridors, with the St. Augustine Premium Outlets nearby for brand-name retail. Grocery, restaurants, and services have grown across the area as the World Golf Village region has filled in.

For a deeper experience, historic downtown St. Augustine, about 20 minutes away, offers one of the richest dining, shopping, and cultural scenes in the region, on the water and steeped in history, along with St. Augustine Beach. For big-box and regional shopping toward Jacksonville, the St. Johns Town Center is a drive north on I-95. The pattern is typical of a World Golf Village-area community: daily essentials and outlet shopping are close, and the historic-city experience is a short, worthwhile trip.

Pros and Cons

Markland vs. Comparable Communities

The honest way to place Markland is against the other St. Augustine and World Golf Village-area communities a buyer is realistically weighing. Each trades something different.

Markland's case against this field is its gated, intimate luxury character: a refined, landscaped community with distinctive amenities and a strong identity, at a more connected scale than the sprawling master plans. The case against it is the luxury price point, the meaningful CDD, and the St. Augustine-leaning location, where competitors offer more value, more scale, or, in SilverLeaf's case, sections without a CDD.

Hidden Things Buyers Should Know

First, in a resale community the listing agent works for the seller, not for you, and on remaining new construction the builder's rep works for the builder. Either way, your own agent represents only you, at no cost to you in nearly every transaction. Have your own representation before you tour or visit a model.

Second, the CDD is significant here and scales with lot width, from about $3,071 on the narrowest lots to $3,487 on the widest. Pull the specific CDD assessment, and any remaining bond balance, for the exact home, since it materially changes your annual cost.

Third, lot position and width drive resale value. A wider lot, a lake or garden view, or a premium position holds value better than an interior lot, but also carries a higher CDD. Weigh the full picture, not just the home.

Fourth, an established home means established systems. Roof age, HVAC age, and whether the kitchen and baths have been updated drive both price and your near-term costs, especially on the semi-custom homes where finishes vary widely. A thorough inspection matters.

Fifth, confirm school zoning for the exact address with the district. Mill Creek Academy and Tocoi Creek High serve the area, but boundaries shift as the county opens schools, and the right school is often the whole reason buyers choose St. Johns.

Momentum Expert Insight

Markland rewards a buyer who understands that in a gated luxury resale community, the money is made on the house, the lot, and the carrying costs. The amenities and the gate are priced into every listing, so the real analysis is the home's condition and finishes, the lot width and view, and the CDD assessment that comes with it, which here runs to roughly $3,500 a year on the widest lots. The listing agent works for the seller; our job, at no cost to you, is to pull the true comparable sales, read the home honestly, verify the exact CDD and HOA for that property, and structure an offer that protects you.

Our advice to Markland buyers is to shop it against SilverLeaf, Bannon Lakes, and the World Golf Village-area communities on price per foot, lot, gate, and carrying cost, and on any remaining new construction, to let us represent you against the builder. Momentum Realty is Northeast Florida's number one independent brokerage, with 270-plus agents, 800-plus verified five-star reviews, and over $3.5 billion in closed sales, and we represent buyers and sellers across St. Johns County and St. Augustine every week.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Reading

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