Three neighborhoods, one of them an official Lake Nona address that is not zoned for a single Lake Nona school.
M/I Homes built three Lake Nona area neighborhoods: Somerset Park, where it built alongside Century Homes; La Vina, which comprises four separate neighborhoods named Ziani, Solvino, Maribella and Capri; and Randal Park, where it was one of two original builders with David Weekley Homes before Mattamy Homes completed it in 2019. M/I Homes was founded in Columbus, Ohio in 1976 by cousins Melvin and Irving Schottenstein, whose initials give the company its name. It went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1993 as MHO, expanded into Orlando in 1984, and has built more than 170,000 homes across 17 markets. Somerset Park opened in spring 2015, is gated, and sits west of Medical City south of the 417. It is an official Lake Nona neighborhood but has not been zoned for Lake Nona area schools.
There is one fact on this page worth more than everything else combined, and it is not about the builder.
Somerset Park is an official Lake Nona neighborhood, gated, minutes from Medical City, on Lake Nona Boulevard. And it has not been zoned for any of the Lake Nona area schools. Families move there specifically for the schools and then discover their assignment runs elsewhere. If you take nothing else from this post, take that, and go confirm the zoning for the exact address before you write anything.
Which Lake Nona neighborhoods did M/I build?
Three: Somerset Park, La Vina and Randal Park.
Each represents a different kind of role — co-builder in a gated community, builder across four separate villages, and one of the original two builders in a neighborhood somebody else finished.
| Neighborhood | Product | M/I Homes' role |
|---|---|---|
| Somerset Park | Gated single-family homes, roughly 1,600–3,800 sq ft across many designs; community pool and cabana, playground, parks and walking trails; many homes with water views; built in phases from 2015 | One of two builders, with Century Homes; new construction is complete |
| La Vina — Ziani, Solvino, Maribella, Capri | Four separate neighborhoods with differing architecture; single-family homes, 3–6 bedrooms, 2–4 baths; Ziani and Maribella gated with small parks; no community pool or clubhouse | Builder across the La Vina neighborhoods, off Dowden Road between Narcoossee and the 417 |
| Randal Park | Single-family homes in a neighborhood with over 300 acres of preserved land, eight neighborhood parks and a five-acre central park | One of two original builders with David Weekley Homes; Mattamy Homes took over and completed the neighborhood in 2019 |
Who is M/I Homes?
A Columbus, Ohio family company named for its founders' initials that has been building in Orlando since 1984.
Cousins Melvin and Irving Schottenstein founded the company in Columbus in 1976 as M/I Schottenstein Homes — the M and the I are their first initials. They had already developed thousands of apartments and one of Central Ohio's first golf course communities. By 1979 M/I was the largest homebuilder in Central Ohio, a position it still holds.
Florida came early. The company expanded into Tampa in 1981 and Orlando in 1984, which means it has been building in this metro for more than forty years — longer than most buyers would guess for a company headquartered in Ohio. It went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1993 under the ticker MHO, and has since built more than 170,000 homes across 17 markets in ten states.
Robert Schottenstein, Irving's son, has led the company for more than two decades and was named Builder of the Year by Builder magazine in 2008 for steering it through the housing collapse without the restructuring that took down several competitors. The company markets its product around what it calls Whole Home Building Standards, in-house design studios, its own mortgage arm, and a transferable structural warranty — that last one being the piece that matters most to a resale buyer, and the one almost nobody asks about.
Is Somerset Park zoned for Lake Nona schools?
No. Somerset Park is an official Lake Nona neighborhood that is not currently zoned for any of the Lake Nona area schools.
Assignments there have run to Stonewyck Elementary, South Creek Middle and Cypress Creek High School rather than to the Lake Nona schools most buyers picture when they hear the address.
Why it happens: Lake Nona is a large area whose neighborhoods sit across several school attendance boundaries, and boundaries are drawn by Orange County Public Schools on the basis of capacity and geography, not by the developer's neighborhood names. Somerset Park sits west of Medical City, south of the 417, connected to the rest of Lake Nona by Lake Nona Boulevard — close enough to be genuinely part of the community and far enough to fall on the other side of a line.
What to do about it. If schools are driving your purchase, confirm the current assignment for the exact street address with OCPS before you make an offer, not after inspection. Assignments change, sometimes with little notice, and a neighborhood's zoning today is not a promise about next year. That caution applies everywhere in Lake Nona; it just bites hardest here, because the name on the entrance says one thing and the boundary map says another. Our Lake Nona schools guide is a starting point, not a substitute for checking the address.
Worth saying plainly: this is not a knock on the neighborhood. Somerset Park is gated, well amenitized and superbly located for the airport, the 417 and the Turnpike. It is a knock on assuming.
What is La Vina, and why is it four neighborhoods?
La Vina is not one neighborhood — it is four separate ones with different architecture, different gates and different lot conditions.
La Vina sits off Dowden Road between Narcoossee Road and the 417 Greenway, and comprises Ziani, Solvino, Maribella and Capri. Homes run three to six bedrooms and two to four baths across a range of floor plans.
The differences between them are the part that matters. Ziani and Maribella are gated and have their own small neighborhood parks; Solvino and Capri are not gated. The majority of homes in Ziani back to water, while many homes in the other three back to conservation area. There is no community pool or clubhouse for La Vina as a whole — residents are within walking distance of the La Vina Marketplace, with a Publix plaza down Narcoossee.
So "I'm looking in La Vina" is four different searches. Gated or not, water or conservation, and which village — those three questions do more to determine what you are buying and what it costs to carry than the floor plan does. Compare the amenity picture against the rest of the area on the amenities chart, and note that the absence of a pool and clubhouse is a cost advantage as much as a missing feature.
What does the transferable structural warranty actually give you?
On a resale, potentially several years of remaining coverage that most buyers never ask about — and that costs nothing to check.
Most builder warranties are structured in layers: a short period on workmanship and systems, and a much longer period on structural elements. The structural piece is the one worth money, and M/I markets its structural warranty as transferable, meaning it can pass to a subsequent owner rather than expiring at the first resale.
The practical consequence in these neighborhoods is concrete. Somerset Park was built in phases from 2015, and Randal Park and La Vina homes span a range of years. On a home from the more recent end of that range, remaining structural coverage may still be in force. That is a real asset attached to the house, and it is invisible unless somebody asks for the document.
So ask. Request the warranty document from the seller, confirm the length, confirm what is actually covered, and confirm the transfer requirements — some warranties require notice or registration within a window after closing, and missing that window forfeits coverage that was otherwise yours. This is a five-minute request that occasionally turns out to be worth thousands, and in my experience buyers almost never make it.
What should you check before buying an M/I home here?
School zoning, which builder, which village or phase, and the warranty document.
School zoning first, and for the exact address, for the reasons above. Do not accept a listing remark or a neighborhood-level answer.
Builder second. In Somerset Park, Century Homes built alongside M/I, so the name on a listing is not automatically M/I. In Randal Park, three builders worked across the neighborhood — M/I and David Weekley started it and Mattamy finished it in 2019 — so the builder depends entirely on section and year. Get it from the permit record or the seller's disclosure rather than assuming from the neighborhood.
Village and phase third. La Vina's four neighborhoods differ on gating, water and conservation. Somerset Park recorded in phases, and phase can affect both the lot conditions and the assessment. Know which one you are in.
Then the warranty document, and the ordinary items that still apply: confirm the assessment on the specific parcel rather than trusting any published figure, including this page — our CDD fees explainer covers how — and check current availability on the new construction listings rather than assuming what is selling today.
M/I Homes in Lake Nona: pros and cons
What works. The transferable structural warranty is a genuine, checkable advantage that survives the first sale, and it is unusually relevant here because these homes are recent enough for coverage to remain. Somerset Park's location is excellent on every axis except schools — gated, minutes from the airport, the 417 and the Turnpike, with a real amenity package. La Vina's four-village structure gives you meaningful choice on gating, water and conservation within one area, without a pool and clubhouse to pay for monthly. And M/I is a publicly traded builder with forty years in the Orlando market, so it is neither a newcomer nor a company likely to vanish.
What does not. The Somerset Park school situation is a real problem for the households most attracted to a Lake Nona address, and no amount of neighborhood quality fixes it if schools are why you are moving. Two of the three neighborhoods have multiple builders, so the M/I name tells you less than buyers assume — Century Homes in Somerset Park, David Weekley and Mattamy in Randal Park. La Vina has no community pool or clubhouse, which is a saving for some and a dealbreaker for others. And M/I sits in the middle of the market: not the cheapest square footage, not a luxury or custom builder, which means it wins on value and warranty rather than on distinction.
Our take. M/I is a sound, unflashy choice and the warranty is the most underrated thing about buying one of these homes on resale — ask for the document, every time. The one place I would slow a buyer down hard is Somerset Park and schools. It is a good neighborhood in a good location, and if you are buying it because you assumed a Lake Nona address delivers Lake Nona schools, you are buying it for a reason that is not true. Confirm the assignment for the exact address with the district. If the answer works for you, the neighborhood is genuinely worth having.
What the neighbors know
In Somerset Park, the schools come up constantly, because everyone there has had the conversation at least once — usually with someone who assumed otherwise. What residents actually talk about is the location: a couple of miles from the airport, straight onto the 417, the Turnpike a few miles west, and the Creekside Publix plaza just east. For households with travel-heavy jobs, that is the reason they chose it and the reason they stay.
In La Vina, the conversation splits by village. Ziani owners talk about the water behind their houses; the others talk about conservation frontage and what will never be built there. And nobody in La Vina misses the clubhouse they do not pay for. Over in Randal Park, it is the parks — eight of them plus a five-acre green — along with Sun Blaze Elementary at the front and the Orlando Health emergency room right there.
Official sources
The inclusion of businesses, individuals, groups, associations, and links on this site does not imply endorsement by the site owner.
Looking at Somerset Park, La Vina or Randal Park? I will confirm the school assignment for the exact address before you get attached, tell you which builder actually built the house, and check whether structural warranty coverage still transfers. Call/Text David Myers at 407.801.3286 or use the contact form.
Frequently asked questions
Which Lake Nona neighborhoods did M/I Homes build?
Three: Somerset Park, where M/I built alongside Century Homes; La Vina, which is made up of four separate neighborhoods called Ziani, Solvino, Maribella and Capri; and Randal Park, where M/I was one of two original builders with David Weekley Homes before Mattamy Homes completed it in 2019.
Is Somerset Park zoned for Lake Nona schools?
No. Although Somerset Park is an official Lake Nona neighborhood, it is not currently zoned for any of the Lake Nona area schools. Assignments have run to Stonewyck Elementary, South Creek Middle and Cypress Creek High School. Zoning is set by Orange County Public Schools and can change, so confirm the current assignment for the specific address before you buy.
What does M/I stand for?
The initials of the founders, Melvin and Irving Schottenstein, who started the company in Columbus, Ohio in 1976 as M/I Schottenstein Homes. It went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1993 as MHO and has since built more than 170,000 homes across 17 markets.
Does the M/I Homes structural warranty transfer to a new owner?
M/I Homes markets a transferable structural warranty, which means coverage can pass to a subsequent owner rather than ending at the first resale. Terms, length and transfer conditions are set by the warranty document itself, so ask the seller for it and read what remains rather than assuming. On a home built in the last several years, remaining coverage has real value.
Why is La Vina made up of four neighborhoods?
La Vina was laid out as four separate developments with different architecture and character: Ziani, Solvino, Maribella and Capri. Ziani and Maribella are gated and have small neighborhood parks. Most Ziani homes back to water, while many homes in the other three back to conservation. There is no community pool or clubhouse for La Vina as a whole.
