A record number of buyers in the market for a luxury home have discovered The Founders Club, Sarasota’s traditional private golf and social club community. Annual visitor counts to the community’s sales center increased 40 percent between 2012 and 2013. Visitor numbers in January 2014 showed a large gain, with a 55 percent increase over January 2013. The majority of visits occurred in the last two weeks of the month, signaling the strong return of northern visitors to Sarasota’s warm winter temperatures.

Nearly 70 percent of the community’s January visitors were first-time guests exploring The Founders Club, where London Bay Homes offers four move-in ready model homes.

“We are very encouraged by the number of homebuyers visiting The Founders Club,” said Mark Wilson, president and CEO of London Bay Homes, which owns a majority of homesites in the 700-acre community. “January is typically the start of the high season in Sarasota, and our visitor counts continue to show increased interest week over week. We expect visitor counts to increase significantly as season hits its stride.”

January’s volume of first-time visitors was triple the number of newcomers compared to January 2013, Wilson noted.

“The Founders Club is no longer Sarasota’s best-kept secret,” said Roland Nairnsey, sales director for London Bay Homes. “As Sarasota’s overall real estate market continues to strengthen, buyers are weighing their options and determining there’s more value in buying a new home, one they can customize to their lifestyle.”

London Bay Homes offers single-family homes, golf cottages and one-of-a-kind estate homes at The Founders Club, with more than a dozen floor plans ranging from 2,000 to more than 5,000 square feet of living space. Four model homes are available for viewing and immediate occupancy, and priced from $995,000.

They include the recently completed, unfurnished Belita II, a three-bedroom, three-bath golf cottage with 3,091 interior square feet, and the Delfina, offering four bedrooms, four baths, a den, and bonus room within 4,332 square feet.

Both models have three-car garages, swimming pools and large outdoor covered lanais with summer kitchens.

London Bay’s additional models at The Founders Club are the three-bedroom, three-bath Laurel cottage, offering 2,505 square feet, and the 2,880-square-foot Isabella with three bedrooms and three baths.

All furnished model homes feature interior design by award-winning Romanza Interior Design.

The Founders Club was designed within a natural setting, surrounding its large homesites in intimate neighborhoods overlooking lakes, nature preserves, wetlands and golf course – and often, all four.

“Homebuyers realize The Founders Club offers a rare combination of luxury living, new homes and natural beauty,” said Nairnsey. “It’s the best of all worlds.”

London Bay Homes, named America’s Best Builder by Builder magazine in 2008, offers golf cottages, single-family homes and one-of-a-kind estate homes at The Founders Club.

Golf cottage home and homesite packages are priced from the $650,000s and offer 2,000 to more than 4,000 square feet of living space, including exterior landscape maintenance for a lock-and-leave lifestyle. Offering golf and lake views, cottage homes are conveniently located within walking distance to the clubhouse.

Reserve Collection homes, available on fairway homesites, range from 2,800 to more than 5,000 square feet of living space. These single-family homes provide a variety of design options that can be customized to a buyer’s preference. Home and homesite packages are priced from the $800,000s.

Estate home and homesite packages are priced from $1 million to more than $3 million and offer a wide range of customization and designer options. Floor plans feature dining and living rooms, studies, plenty of alfresco living spaces and large master suites with walk-in closets and spa-like bathrooms.

Amenities at The Founders Club are designed to foster camaraderie among residents and a connection with nature. Miles of winding boardwalks and paved walkways meander throughout the community, which is punctuated by palm trees, pines and moss-covered oaks.

The member-owned Founders Golf and Social Club offers 18 holes of championship golf by Robert Trent Jones Jr., with the area’s only traditional caddie program. Golfers are allowed to walk the course, and membership is limited to just 275 to ensure members enjoy year-round golf with no tee time required.

Training facilities include two putting greens, a short game area and state-of-the-art TrackMan radar technology offered through Florida Golf Performance Center.

The 24,000-square-foot Golf Hall, overlooking an oak hammock and the 18th hole, offers a main dining room, bar and grille, outdoor verandah and private dining room for casual and fine dining. The facility has also a professionally staffed and fully stocked golf pro shop, state-of-the-art fitness center and men’s and women’s locker rooms and lounges.

The club offers a vibrant, active social calendar and recently introduced an in-season reciprocal partnership with Sarasota Yacht Club.

Additional facilities at The Founders Club include two Har-Tru tennis courts, basketball and sand volleyball courts, and a picnic pavilion. Fitness and wellness classes, educational and instructional programs and social gatherings are coordinated by a professional staff.

The Founders Club Sales Center is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is located at 3001 Founders Club Drive, three miles east of I-75 on Fruitville Road, exit 210. Furnished model homes are open daily. The community is just minutes from Sarasota’s famed Gulf of Mexico beaches as well as the shops, acclaimed local restaurants and arts and cultural venues of downtown Sarasota.