By Scout Eveleth,
Licensed Florida Realtor (FL License # BK3491000)
The Village of Orange Blossom Gardens is where The Villages began. Al Tarrson's original Orange Blossom Gardens mobile home park, opened in the 1970s, is the direct predecessor to the entire community — every village that came after exists because this one did first. Built across the 1980s and 1990s in Lake County (ZIP 32159). The Historic Section is not inside any numbered Community Development District, so homes here have no CDD bond and never did. The housing mix still includes manufactured homes alongside site-built Cottage Homes, Patio Villas, and Designer Homes — manufactured-home owners here own their land fee-simple, with no lot rent. Orange Blossom Hills Golf & Country Club, named after the village, is directly adjacent — an 18-hole championship course surrounding the neighborhood.
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The founding story is visible in the landscape. Orange Blossom Gardens was built across the 1980s and 1990s — before the master-planned uniformity that defines newer villages — and the streets show it: mature oak canopies, rolling terrain, and established landscaping that took decades to grow. Buyers drawn to the visual difference between Orange Blossom Gardens and a village built in 2015 are comparing something real. That oak canopy and rolling topography cannot be replicated on a faster schedule; it took 30–40 years of growth to look this way. There is no CDD bond here and never has been — the Historic Section predates the numbered district system, giving Orange Blossom Gardens the lowest possible bond cost: zero.
Orange Blossom Hills Golf & Country Club is not just nearby — the course is named after this village, and it surrounds the neighborhood. Hilltop Executive Golf Course is the walking course directly accessible from the village: rolling terrain and panoramic views, with a distinctly different character from the flat executive courses elsewhere in The Villages. Paradise Recreation Center is the primary facility — bocce, softball, basketball, horseshoes, tennis, and fishing — in a scenic lakeside setting that residents consistently describe as one of the more striking spots in The Villages. The honest cost disclosure: Lake County carries the highest effective property tax rate of the three counties spanning The Villages, approximately 1.6% (2024). Buyers comparing Orange Blossom Gardens to Sumter County alternatives are looking at roughly $2,400/year more in taxes on a $400,000 home. The absence of any bond partially offsets this — but run the full annual cost before drawing conclusions from the list price alone.
Orange Blossom Gardens is in the northern area of The Villages, in Lake County, ZIP 32159, near Spanish Springs Town Square. It is one of the oldest and most established villages in The Villages — the direct founding site of the entire community, dating to the 1970s.
Homes in Orange Blossom Gardens were built across the 1980s and 1990s, making them among the oldest in The Villages. The mature landscaping and established oak canopy visible in the village are a direct result of that build era.
Orange Blossom Gardens has Cottage Homes, Patio Villas, Designer Homes, and manufactured homes — a mix reflecting both the village's 1970s manufactured-home origins and later site-built construction. Manufactured-home owners here own the land fee-simple, with no lot rent, and it is one of four Historic Section villages with manufactured homes (along with Silver Lake, Country Club Hills, and Del Mar).
Spanish Springs Town Square is the closest — The Villages' original town square, with nightly free live entertainment, open-air dining, and boutique shops. Orange Blossom Gardens' founding predates Spanish Springs Town Square itself.
Orange Blossom Hills Golf & Country Club is directly adjacent — the 18-hole championship course is named after the village and surrounds the neighborhood. Hilltop Executive Golf Course is the walking course for residents, with rolling terrain and panoramic views unlike the flat executive courses common elsewhere in The Villages.
Yes. The entire community traces back to Al Tarrson's original Orange Blossom Gardens mobile home park, opened in the 1970s in Lake County. That development is the direct predecessor to The Villages as it exists today. Orange Blossom Gardens is the founding site — every other village exists because this one came first.
Orange Blossom Gardens is the village — the residential neighborhood. Orange Blossom Hills Golf & Country Club is the adjacent championship golf course, named after the village. They are related but distinct: you live in Orange Blossom Gardens; you play golf at Orange Blossom Hills. The course surrounds the neighborhood.
I can pull the current bond balance on any home here, show you what's active, and give you a real read on whether this village fits your priorities.
