the duPont Registry September 20015
At the apex of the Florida Keys, 112 miles north of Key West's carnival and 65 miles south of Miami, the world is set at bay.
Arriving by car, the 2500 acres of the Ocean Reef Club lie
hidden off Card Sound Road,
as you approach the land of Bogie and Bacall, Key Largo.
Surrounded by water and directly on the Atlantic,
residents are as likely to sail in, or land a private jet on the 4,000 foot
airstrip.
Sixty years ago this was a single family's retreat. Today it's
a sublimely private, self-contained town, with fourteen restaurants,
fashionable shops, a food market, a medical clinic, an inn for visitors, and a
cultural center where superstars like Liza Minelli and Tony Bennett have
head-lined.
"This is by no means a retirement community," says
Richard Weinstein, the Ocean Reef Club's VP of membership and marketing. "The vast majority are still employed,
and the semi-retired are actively involved on corporate or non-profit boards of
directors."
It's multigenerational, adds Paul Bobik, president of the Club's
real estate company. "You have members who've owned homes for thirty-plus
years and now their children and grandchildren are purchasing."
A private school serves students through eighth grade,
either full-time or drop-in for extended family breaks, and twenty camps
include cooking, diving, and beach volleyball.
Surrounded by water, there's world-class fishing, and
sailing, and heavenly diving at Pennecamp
Park. On land, there two
championship golf-courses, tennis courts, swimming pools, the beach, a fabulous
spa, and an endless variety of clubs for every pleasure. Delightfully, the
favored mode of transportation is the golf cart.
Homes range from palatial oceanfront estates, to marina
villas and condominiums, to boat slips for the live-aboard set. Single family
home prices begin at $1,000,000, condos from $500,000, and docks from $200,000.
Club membership is separate and social memberships are
available.
