Every other builder in Lake Nona bought land from Tavistock. Craft Homes is Tavistock.
Craft Homes builds in two Lake Nona area neighborhoods: Laureate Park and Summerdale Park. Craft Homes was created by Tavistock Development Company, the company that developed Lake Nona, making it the developer's own homebuilding arm rather than an outside builder buying lots. Craft builds only in Central Florida and only within Tavistock communities. Its designs emphasize modern architecture, open plans and built-in technology, and it markets a collaborative design process rather than a fixed options list. Summerdale Park sits on Lake Nona's southern edge off Boggy Creek Road and was built by Craft Homes and Dream Finders Homes. Homes there commonly record under the Poitras East parcel name rather than under Summerdale Park.
There is a version of this post that treats Craft Homes as one more name on the builders list. That version misses the point entirely.
Tavistock Development Company built Lake Nona — 17 square miles of it, from raw land through Medical City, the Town Center and every neighborhood in between. Somewhere along the way Tavistock created its own homebuilder, and that builder is Craft Homes. So when you buy a Craft home you are buying from the same organization that laid out the street you live on, wrote the design guidelines, built the amenities and is still developing the land next door. No other builder in Lake Nona is in that position.
Which Lake Nona neighborhoods did Craft Homes build?
Two: Laureate Park and Summerdale Park.
In Laureate Park, Craft is one of several builders working across a master plan of more than 2,500 homesites. In Summerdale Park it is one of two primary builders, alongside Dream Finders Homes.
| Neighborhood | Product | Craft Homes' role |
|---|---|---|
| Laureate Park | Modern single-family homes and townhomes within a Tavistock master plan; plan names include the Mercer; open layouts, technology packages, two- and three-car garage options | One of several builders, alongside Ashton Woods, David Weekley, Taylor Morrison, Minto, Dream Finders and others |
| Summerdale Park | Newer single-family homes on Lake Nona's southern edge off Boggy Creek Road; lakefront community park, shaded pool with restrooms, waterfront pavilion and dock, open sports field | One of two primary builders, with Dream Finders Homes |
Who owns Craft Homes?
Tavistock Development Company, the developer of Lake Nona, created it.
Tavistock's own leadership describes the creation of Craft Homes as part of the company's evolution from land owner into a full-service development, construction and management firm. That is the whole story in one sentence: Tavistock stopped only selling lots to builders and started building houses itself.
This puts Craft in a category with exactly one other builder in this series. Jones Homes builds only in Eagle Creek because its parent, The Emerson Group, developed Eagle Creek. Craft builds only in Tavistock communities because Tavistock created Craft. Different companies, identical structure — and in both cases the arrangement explains the builder's footprint far better than anything about the houses does.
Craft is Central Florida only. It has no national operation, no other markets, and no independent corporate history to research. Beyond Lake Nona it builds in Tavistock's Sunbridge development to the east, which is the same relationship extended onto newer land.
Does buying from the developer's builder help you or hurt you?
It helps on alignment and hurts on leverage, and which matters more depends entirely on whether you are buying new or resale.
The case for it is real. A builder owned by the developer has no incentive to fight the master plan, cut a corner that embarrasses the community, or walk away from a phase that stops performing. Tavistock's reputation is tied to Lake Nona as a whole, and Lake Nona is its flagship. That is a longer time horizon than a builder who bought forty lots and wants out.
The case against it is the same fact from your side of the table. In a new-construction negotiation, the party selling you the house is the party that also controls the land plan, the design guidelines, the amenity schedule and what gets built across the street. There is no independent counterweight in the room. That is not a reason to avoid Craft; it is a reason to bring your own representation, price the home against resale comparables rather than against the builder's own price list, and get commitments about surrounding development in writing rather than in conversation.
For a resale buyer, most of this is academic. You are buying a house from a homeowner, and Craft's ownership matters only for warranty questions, which is a smaller company than a Lennar or a Pulte would be.
Why do Summerdale Park listings say Poitras East?
Poitras East is the recorded parcel name; Summerdale Park is the marketing name, and the MLS keys to the record.
Pull up homes in Summerdale Park and a good share of them will show a subdivision like "Poitras East" or "Poitras East N-7" rather than Summerdale. Buyers searching by subdivision go looking for Summerdale Park, find a fraction of the inventory, and assume that is all there is.
This is the second Lake Nona neighborhood in this series where the recorded name and the sign at the entrance disagree — Nona Terrace records as Savannah Landings for the same reason. The practical rule is the same: search both names, and when you are pulling sold data or checking an assessment, use the recorded name, not the marketing one. The nearby Poitras Park carries the same land name, which is a useful reminder of where it comes from.
How do Laureate Park and Summerdale Park compare?
Laureate Park is the mature, amenity-heavy, walkable one. Summerdale Park is newer, quieter, further out, and simpler.
Laureate Park has been building since around 2011 and carries the deepest amenity package in the area: aquatic center with a family pool and a lap pool, fitness center, community garden, dog park, trails, the Village Center and an elementary school inside the neighborhood. It sits next to Medical City, and a meaningful share of residents walk or bike to work.
Summerdale Park is on the southern edge, off Boggy Creek Road just west of Narcoossee, closer to the Osceola County line than to the Town Center. Its amenity package is a lakefront park, a shaded pool with restrooms, a waterfront pavilion with a dock and an open sports field — genuinely nice, and a fraction of what Laureate Park maintains.
That difference should show up in your monthly number, and it is the honest reason to consider Summerdale: newer construction, water access, and less to pay for every month. The trade is distance from the things that make Lake Nona Lake Nona. Compare both on the amenities chart before deciding which trade you want.
What should you check before buying a Craft home?
The recorded parcel name, the assessment on that parcel, and what is planned on the land around you.
Recorded name first, because in Summerdale Park it changes what you can find. Ask for sold comparables under both Summerdale Park and Poitras East, or you are pricing against a partial picture.
Assessments next. Do not take a figure from a listing remark or from any published list, this page included — districts can cover some phases and not others and amounts reset annually. Our CDD fees explainer covers how to pull the number for a specific parcel. In Laureate Park especially, the total monthly carrying cost is higher than buyers expect and is a bigger factor in affordability than the difference between two floor plans.
Then the land. Both neighborhoods sit inside an active master plan, which means the vacant parcel behind the house has a future and Tavistock knows what it is. Ask specifically what is entitled and planned adjacent to the home you are buying. School zoning is set by OCPS and can change even with a school in the neighborhood, so confirm assignments for the exact address using our schools guide as a starting point.
Craft Homes in Lake Nona: pros and cons
What works. The design is genuinely more modern than most production product in Central Florida — open plans, clean elevations, technology built in rather than bolted on — and it fits the neighborhoods because the same organization designed both. Alignment is real: the builder's parent has its reputation and its remaining land tied to how these communities turn out, which is a longer horizon than a lot builder has. Craft's collaborative design process gives more latitude than a fixed package. And in Summerdale Park you get newer construction with water access at a lower monthly carry than the Lake Nona core.
What does not. Buying new from the developer's own builder means no independent counterweight on price, on guidelines, or on what gets built next door. Craft is a small, regional, privately held builder with no public financials and no operations outside Central Florida, so warranty depth years out is a different proposition from a national. Laureate Park's amenity package is excellent and expensive to carry, and buyers underestimate it. Summerdale Park's recorded-name problem makes comps harder to pull and easy to undercount. And in both neighborhoods you are living inside an active master plan, which means construction, changing traffic patterns and vacant land with plans attached.
Our take. Craft builds the most architecturally coherent homes in Lake Nona, which is unsurprising given who owns it — the builder and the master plan came from the same drawing board. That is a real advantage and it shows on the street. Where I would slow you down is the negotiation: buying new here means the seller controls both sides of the transaction, so get independent representation and check the builder's number against actual sold comparables. And in Summerdale Park, pull the Poitras East data before you decide what a house is worth. Most buyers there never do.
What the neighbors know
Laureate Park residents talk about the walk, the trail and the Village Center, and the ones who bought Craft homes tend to talk about the layouts — the plans are more open and more modern than what was being built around them at the time, and that is why they chose it.
Summerdale Park residents talk about the water and the quiet. The lakefront park and the dock get used the way a pool gets used elsewhere, and being on the southern edge means less traffic and a longer drive to Boxi Park and the Town Center. The people who love it there consider that the point. The people who do not have usually underestimated the distance.
Official sources
- Craft Homes
- Craft Homes: Laureate Park
- Urban Land Institute profile of Tavistock Development Company's president, noting the creation of Craft Homes
The inclusion of businesses, individuals, groups, associations, and links on this site does not imply endorsement by the site owner.
Considering a Craft home in Laureate Park or Summerdale Park? I can pull the comparable sales under both the marketing name and the recorded parcel name, tell you what the total monthly carrying cost really is, and find out what is planned on the land next to you. Call/Text David Myers at 407.801.3286 or use the contact form.
Frequently asked questions
Which Lake Nona neighborhoods did Craft Homes build?
Two: Laureate Park and Summerdale Park. Craft Homes is one of several builders in Laureate Park and one of two primary builders in Summerdale Park, alongside Dream Finders Homes.
Who owns Craft Homes?
Craft Homes was created by Tavistock Development Company, the company that developed Lake Nona. That makes Craft the developer's own homebuilding arm rather than an outside builder that purchased lots, which is why its communities are all on Tavistock-developed land.
Why do Summerdale Park listings show Poitras East as the subdivision?
Poitras East is a recorded parcel name for land in that part of Lake Nona, and MLS records key to the recorded name rather than the marketing name. So homes marketed as Summerdale Park commonly appear under a Poitras East subdivision label. If you are searching by subdivision and finding nothing, search both names.
Is Craft Homes a national builder?
No. Craft Homes builds only in Central Florida, within communities developed by Tavistock. That is a much smaller footprint than the national builders working in Lake Nona, which matters mainly for how you think about long-term warranty depth rather than for construction on any individual home.
What is Summerdale Park like?
Summerdale Park sits on the southern edge of Lake Nona off Boggy Creek Road just west of Narcoossee Road. It is a newer single-family neighborhood built by Craft Homes and Dream Finders Homes, with a lakefront community park, a shaded pool area with restrooms, a waterfront pavilion with a dock, and an open sports field.
