Lake Club builds menu for success in Lakewood Ranch

Improvements at The Lake Club's Grande Clubhouse include a new kitchen.

By Pam Eubanks
| 7:10 a.m. October 11, 2017

The exterior of the Grand Clubhouse will keep its Tuscan look and feel, but the interior renovations will make it more modern.

East County
News

Like many of his neighbors, Ken Swan is excited upcoming renovations to the Grande Clubhouse at The Lake Club will present more dynamic options to the residents of one of Lakewood Ranch’s most prestigious communities.

Stock Development and Lake Club Investors, a subsidiary of Lakewood Ranch developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, have announced multimillion-dollar plans to renovate the clubhouse, including brightening and modernizing the interior, adding an indoor-outdoor bar and tennis and bocce courts and constructing a separate outdoor cafe between the pool area and lake abutting the property.

Thoughts from the designers

Charlotte Horvath and Meredith Summersgill, senior designers for Soco Interiors, say the goal with the renovation design is to create a light and fresh space with plenty of texture.

“We love everything about this clubhouse,” said Summersgill. “We picked every piece of furniture, every light fixture.”

The inspiration for the design concept came from the Calcutta porcelain to be used in the entrance area of the main clubhouse, on the fireplace in the billiard room and primarily on the lower level of the clubhouse. The stone is white with hints of gray and gold — warm tones.

“It will be elegant and classic,” Horvath said of the remodel. “It’s going to feel very livable. It’s going to be a space that feels very welcoming and not as heavy as the traditional Tuscan feel.”

Other fun features, for example, are nubby Rattan chandeliers for the main entry, hand-blown glass fixtures in the concierge area and a recycled glass bar front that’s backlit with a “chunky quartz counter top,” Summersgill said.

Most of the upstairs area will be vinyl wooden flooring, but there will be carpet in the banquet hall.

“The clubhouse is 10 years old, and the renovations certainly will put it in a position to compete with other venues in the area,” said Swan, who has lived in The Lake Club for more than three years. “We’ve seen some information on the renovations, but we won’t really know what it will look like until its completed.”

The 20,000-square-foot clubhouse officially closes Oct. 16 in preparation for renovations that will start in November. It is expected to reopen in late summer 2018.

The biggest changes center around the culinary experience. The clubhouse has no working kitchen, so the remodel will include a full-service kitchen through which there will be lunches and dinners available to residents, and special events and parties offered through the clubhouse. Residents will be able to book private parties as well. The bar area in the billiard room will be removed and replaced with an indoor-outdoor bar connected to the upper level patio.

“In our experience, the food and beverage component is what brings everybody together,” said Claudine Leger-Wetzel, vice president of sales and marketing for Stock Development. “People are more attracted to a lifestyle that’s more programmed.”

A second culinary option, to be called The Lakeside Cafe, is Phase 2 of the renovations and will be in a separate building between the pool area and the lake behind it. Plans are progressing, and the cafe will not be complete until 2019. The cafe will serve light fare and cocktails by the pool area.

“It’s two different environments,” Leger-Wetzel said. “By adding the full spectrum of amenities, the residents of The Lake Club would have it all. Both environments are being enhanced to be able to experience more of the indoor-outdoor lifestyle that is so important in the Southwest Florida lifestyle.”

The goal is to sell more homes in The Lake Club and expedite its build-out. It has been under development for a decade. There are about 200 homes, with another 500 to be constructed.

Stock Development offers homes starting in the $700,000s and has sold nearly $20 million in home lots, spec or inventory homes this year. The company plans to diversify its offerings when it opens the final phase of The Lake Club sometime in 2019.

“The exciting thing is the amount of people who have shown interest in the community,” Leger-Wetzel said. “We’re very excited to be working with The Lake Club Investors to bring this community to fruition.

“We believe the right mix of amenities is important to sell the homes,” Leger-Wetzel said, adding the renovations are for both existing and future homeowners.

Previously, residents gathered monthly at the Grande Clubhouse for a social hour, at which they brought their own food and drink.

All clubhouse improvements are funded by Stock Development and Lake Club Investors.