Community Details at a Glance
The Homes
Type
Planned single-family subdivision by Highland Homes; plans filed with Polk County describe fee-simple site-built homes, per GrowthSpotter (May 28, 2025)
Status
Pre-launch; plans submitted May 2025, completion anticipated around 2027; not yet listed among Highland's selling communities as of July 2026
Size
Floor plans and pricing unreleased; 45-ft and 55-ft lot widths with homesites of at least 6,000 sq ft, per the filed plans
Scale
262 single-family homes planned on 64.96 acres north of Thornhill Road, west of Deming Drive
Costs & Fees
HOA
Unknown; no HOA dues have been published for Sun Haven, confirm with the builder
CDD
Unknown; Highland uses a CDD at its VillaMar community in Winter Haven, so confirm whether Sun Haven carries one
Taxes
Polk County millage plus any CDD or non-ad-valorem assessments that appear on the tax bill
Amenities
Announced
No amenity package has been announced for Sun Haven; confirm with the builder
Builder pattern
Highland's other Winter Haven-area communities include pools, cabanas, and playgrounds, but nothing is confirmed for this site
Access
One full-access driveway on Thornhill Road with dedicated turn lanes, per the traffic plans reported by GrowthSpotter (May 2025)
Setting
A 64.96-acre site on the Thornhill Road corridor in southwest Winter Haven, near Eagle Lake and the Spirit Lake Road retail area
Location
Area
Southwest Winter Haven area of unincorporated Polk County, ZIP 33880, near the city of Eagle Lake
Access
Thornhill Road to Spirit Lake Road, with US-17, SR 540, and the Polk Parkway reachable for Lakeland and Bartow commutes
Entrance
One full-access driveway on Thornhill Road with a 910-ft eastbound left-turn lane and a 685-ft westbound right-turn lane, per GrowthSpotter (May 28, 2025)
History
The site was approved in 2018 for a 247-unit mobile home park, then re-approved for fee-simple site-built single-family homes before Highland's March 2025 purchase
The Homes & Style
Sun Haven is a planned Highland Homes community of 262 single-family homes on 64.96 acres in southwest Winter Haven, in unincorporated Polk County north of Thornhill Road and west of Deming Drive. Highland, a Lakeland-based builder, purchased the site in March 2025 for $3.2 million and submitted plans that May calling for 45-foot and 55-foot lot widths with homesites of at least 6,000 square feet, with completion anticipated around 2027, per GrowthSpotter (May 28, 2025). Floor plans have not been released, but Highland's Polk County communities center on one- and two-story single-family plans roughly 1,300 to 2,300 square feet, so expect something in that family once the lineup is published.
Because this is pre-launch, there is no pricing, no models, and no resale history. As of July 2026, Sun Haven does not yet appear among Highland's selling Winter Haven communities, so the practical move is to get on the builder's update list and watch for the first release. For a live pricing anchor, Highland's VillaMar in southeast Winter Haven advertises new homes from $259,900 (highlandhomes.org, July 2026); Sun Haven's pricing is unreleased and may differ, so confirm with the builder.
Living Here
The setting is the Thornhill Road corridor between Winter Haven and Eagle Lake, one of Polk County's active new-construction pockets. Daily errands run through the Spirit Lake Road retail area minutes away, downtown Winter Haven and its Chain of Lakes are roughly 15 minutes out, and LEGOLAND Florida Resort is about 20 minutes. Commuters reach US-17 and SR 540 quickly, with the Polk Parkway connecting to Lakeland and the I-4 corridor.
No amenity package has been announced for Sun Haven. Highland's other Winter Haven-area communities include pools, cabanas, and playgrounds, but nothing is confirmed for this site, and the plans reported so far cover the homes, the lots, and the Thornhill Road entrance with its dedicated turn lanes. Zoned Polk County Public Schools for the surrounding area are Eagle Lake Elementary, Westwood Middle, and Lake Region High; verify the assignment for a specific address with the district's address-zoning tool before you buy.
Before You Offer
Verify the status first. Sun Haven is pre-launch with no published pricing, plans, HOA, or CDD, so everything you budget from should come from the builder in writing, not from an estimate or a portal guess.
Confirm the all-in monthly once numbers release. Highland's Winter Haven communities range from a modest HOA with no CDD to HOA-plus-CDD structures like VillaMar, and which model Sun Haven follows is unconfirmed. Get the dues, what they cover, and any CDD assessment for the specific lot in writing.
Read the lot map when it publishes. The plan mixes 45-foot and 55-foot lot widths, and the wider lots and any pond, buffer, or perimeter positions typically carry premiums and resell differently than interior rows. Pull the FEMA flood zone for the exact parcel, and drive Thornhill Road at commute hours, since the community will feed one full-access driveway onto it.
Weigh buying early against waiting. Early buyers in a first release get lot choice and launch pricing but accept years of active construction on a 262-home build-out anticipated to run to about 2027 and possibly beyond; later buyers get a more finished street at whatever the market sets.
Sun Haven vs. Comparable Winter Haven and Eagle Lake Communities
Sun Haven's peer set is the new-construction cluster on this side of Winter Haven. Against Highland's own VillaMar in southeast Winter Haven, Sun Haven trades a community you can tour and buy today, with delivered pool-and-cabana amenities and published pricing from $259,900 (highlandhomes.org, July 2026), for a future first-release position on the Thornhill corridor. Against Eagle Hammock in Eagle Lake, where Highland builds alongside D.R. Horton and Century Complete, and Lennar's Ranches at Lake McLeod, Sun Haven is the same commuter geography a few minutes north, without pricing or a delivered street yet. KB Home's Spirit Landings sits closest of all, near Spirit Lake Road.
The honest shorthand: pick Sun Haven if you want a Highland home on the Thornhill corridor and the lot choice that comes with a first release, and accept that nothing is priced or built yet; pick VillaMar, Eagle Hammock, Ranches at Lake McLeod, or Spirit Landings if you want a new home in this part of Polk County that you can walk, price, and close on now. We compare them on identical assumptions, using the live Stellar MLS feed as distributed by MLS GRID.
Who It Fits Best
Sun Haven fits buyers who want a new-construction Highland home in southwest Winter Haven, are comfortable waiting for a launch anticipated to run toward 2027, and want first pick of the 55-foot lots and perimeter positions when the site plan and pricing release.
It is a weaker fit for anyone who needs a home to tour and a confirmed price now, buyers who want established amenities on day one, or anyone unwilling to carry the uncertainty of unreleased pricing, fees, and timelines on a pre-launch community.
