John Towers doesn’t like to be tied down to a house for too long. Five years is about all John can take, or so it seems, before he is ready to build his next dream home.
Building homes to live in is one of John’s hobbies; and over the past 15 years, John and his wife, Margaret, have built four different houses — all in Boca Royale Golf & Country Club.
Last April, the couple, which spends eight months a year in Boca Royale Golf & Country Club and the summer in southern Rhode Island, moved into their new roughly 5,000-square-feet home that sits on two lots in the back of the community.
While the home is quite a bit larger than some of the surrounding homes being built by Neal Communities, John and Margaret enjoy having plenty of room to welcome family and friends.
“We just enjoy the space and are blessed to be able to afford it,” John says.
And the Towers don’t have any intention of moving again anytime soon.
“My wife corrected me and said building homes to live in was one of my hobbies,” says John, who is in the process of moving to a new home in Rhode Island as well. “This is the very last time we’re going to do it.”
While their location within the community has changed several times over the years, the couple couldn’t think of a more perfect place to call home.
“We love the people,” John says. “The geographical diversity of residents from the East Coast, Midwest and Canada, we find that to be very refreshing and enjoyable.”
Together, John and Margaret enjoy playing golf and using the fitness center, which was built through a collaboration between Boca Royale Golf & Country Club residents and Neal Communities and named in honor of John’s mother, Jane B. Ward.
John’s mother and stepfather moved to Boca Royale Golf & Country Club in 1976, so he was familiar with the community, having routinely visited the area for 40 years.
In 2001, John and Margaret built their first home in Boca Royale Golf & Country Club, which they used seasonally during holidays until John retired at the end of 2004 after having spent 35 years living in Boston while working primarily with State Street Bank.
A little more than a year later, in 2006, the couple built their second home. Five years later, in 2011, the couple found another spot within Boca Royale Golf & Country Club to call home.
“So much of it is the people,” says John. “Not only the fact that there are such diverse backgrounds, but they are all very friendly and very outgoing people. Everyone is so supportive, which makes for an ideal place to live.”
A few years later, the previous developer of Boca Royale Golf & Country Club had 12 large estate lots in the back of the community for sale, which the Towers bought. When Neal Communities took over development of Boca Royale Golf & Country Club, the Towers’ kept a few of the home sites and sold the remaining sites to the builder.
“I think it’s a tremendous positive,” John says of having Neal Communities building in Boca Royale Golf & Country Club. “We’re getting a lot of new people in the community; and from the country club side of the operation, more members means we’re more financially healthy. It’s always fun to meet new people coming in not just from other parts of the country but globally as well.”