Lutz, Florida
“You can't miss Carpenters Run. The houses are painted mustard, lime, coral and Smurf blue. Their eaves twinkle with Christmas lights. Their front yards are adorned with artificial bushes pruned in the shapes of dinosaurs, dachshunds and ballerinas.”
That’s how St. Petersburg Times’ writer Hal Lipper described the Lutz, Florida community Carpenter’s Run when Johnny Depp and the Edward Scissorhands’ film crew came to call. While the people of Lutz today still occasionally enjoy basking in their town’s 15-minutes of fame, they continue to struggle with the same issues facing many northern Tampa Bay communities: growth, traffic, congestion…and more growth.
Lutz (pronounced loots), rated one of the Best 100 Places to Live by Money Magazine in 2004—and being either a contender or a finalist for that spot since then—has a small but growing population of 25,000. It is a land dotted with more than 100 pristine lakes, making Lutz a haven for those who enjoy boating, fishing, swimming and jet-skiing. Being just 12 miles north of its large metropolitan neighbor Tampa, Lutz is considered a bedroom community, with many residents working in the city and returning to their slice of paradise in “the country” at the end of the day. The commute in and out of Tampa is a bit easier than most in the area, which is well known for its traffic plight: the intersection of I-4 and 275, with a commanding, up-close view of Tampa’s downtown skyscrapers, is well-known by locals as “malfunction junction.” To the north of Lutz and sharing many of its borders and services is the city of Land o’Lakes in Pasco County. While most of Lutz sits within Hillsborough County, a small portion is considered Pasco. The line is blurry though; many folks sometimes aren’t sure whether their favorite spot is considered Pasco and Land o’Lakes, or Hillsborough and Lutz.
Like many other “citied up” rural areas, Lutz still manages to hold onto some of its small town charm and appeal, although those who know the community’s past say its harder than ever to recognize. The city hosts many popular community fairs and holiday celebrations to help people feel connected and to celebrate their roots. At the heart of its downtown area on the corner of Sunset Lane and U.S. 41 sits the old Lutz Schoolhouse, a red-brick treasure from 1925—and the last original Lutz structure still standing. Also nearby is a replica of the town’s first train depot, named Lutz Station by William Lutz, an engineer with the Tampa Northern Railroad. Although the town was originally called North Tampa, its name was changed to Lutz when residents won the right to a post office. Some folks still tell tales of how their grandparents cruised their Model Ts down Lutz’s rutted roads, now asphalt and growing wider and wider. The six-lane U.S. 41, which runs north and south through town, was, not too long ago, a two-lane road.
Homes in Lutz
Today, Lutz is known as perhaps one of the last places in the Tampa Bay area where you can still find a non-subdivision home on acreage. The land is a patchwork of farmland with grazing cattle and romping horses, small citrus groves, established tree-lined communities with their own histories…and subdivisions—lots of subdivisions. As for properties…what’s your pleasure? Properties in Lutz range in value anywhere from $100,000 for starter or older homes up to the multiple-millions for gated estates. Sinkholes in the area tend to push insurance prices up a bit, but insurance in Lutz is still considered reasonable compared to the rest of the Bay area. The median price for a 2-bedroom home is right around $190,000; make that $385,000 for a 4-bedroom.
Lutz is home to Avila, one of Tampa’s most exclusive residential communities just north of Lake Magdelene, contains at least five of the largest homes in Hillsborough County, including a French-style chateau and an Arabian-like palace. Homeowners are members of the Avila Golf and Country Club, with a 72-par golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus—one of the best in all Central Florida. The Cheval community, situated on 2,000 acres of lakes, cypress groves, conservation areas and wildlife preserves, offers 1,100+ villas, townhouses, executive homes and estates. Cheval residents also enjoy two 18-hole golf courses, a 45-acre equestrian facility, a polo complex and a tennis center. VillaRosa is another popular deed-restricted community off of Lutz-Lake Fern Road. Its 910 homes are grouped into ten neighborhoods, each with its own style and price point. The area is beautifully landscaped with ponds and fountains; most homes back to cypress conservation areas or any one of over 40 bodies of water in the community.
Lutz Schools
Lutz schools are some of the best in Hillsborough County. Lutz Elementary, Maniscalo Elementary, McKitrick Elementary—all “A” schools. Schwarzkopf Middle, Martinez Middle—also “A” schools. Lutz is also served by one Pasco County School, Denham Oakes Elementary, also an “A” school. A new high school is slated to open in 2009; currently Lutz high school students attend nearby Sickles, Gaither or Alonso High. Lutz is also home to the Learning Gate Community School, a unique K-8 public school that provides a “fresh approach” to education, including “brain-based” instruction in a country setting and with an environment reminiscent of the one-room school house of yesteryear. The school is committed to ecology and the environment, and thus offers students unique learning opportunities by way of an organic garden, wetlands area, butterfly garden and backyard habitat, and an aquatic observation and research deck.
Shopping and Dining in Lutz
Shopping and dining options in Lutz, while nothing to sneeze at now, are about to get a whole lot larger. In June, 2007 ground-breaking began on the hotly contested Cypress Creek Town Center, which is supposedly going to be the largest mall in the Tampa Bay area and the second largest mall in Florida with more than 1.3 million square feet of open-air-style shopping. Residents have put up a good fight to stop the mall over the years but, as is often the case, progress wins in the end. Also opening in the very near future are The Grove and Shops at Wiregrass, two big-box shopping outlets complete with a Best Buy, Ross, Bed-Bath-and-Beyond, 16-screen movie theatre, bookstore and more.
Lutz residents already enjoy easy access to Wal-Mart, K-Mart, a new Super-Target and malls galore in the Tampa area, as well as to all the popular restaurant chains—Moe’s, Chili’s, Applebee’s. But Lutz residents also enjoy a few local favorites like Salvato’s, Benedetto’s and Hot Rod’s Barbeque. Salvato’s, in the Willow Bend Shopping Center on State Road 54, is a local casual dining hotspot with a sports bar and live entertainment. To satisfy that Italian craving, Lutz residents turn to Benedetto’s in the Village Shopping Center, also on SR 54. And for a true local, Lutz experience, don’t miss Hot Rod’s Barbeque and Grill: open four days a week and serving up specialties like “Grilled Swamp Bat,” “Redneck Prime Rib”—otherwise known as SPAM—and the $39.99 BIG BURGER, a 15-pound, 100% American USDA beef burger on a 16-inch bun that takes two hours to make and includes ingredients like Gator Guts Hot Sauce, Fo-Play Rub and “enough chopped onion to make you cry.”
Leisure and Play in Lutz
There’s lots of play to be had in and around Lutz. With its numerous freshwater lakes and ponds, many of which are connected through canals, the area is heaven to fishermen, boaters and water-ski enthusiasts. Lake Keene, a 30-acre lake at the intersection of Hanna Road and Sunset Lane, is reportedly well stocked with bass, catfish, speckled perch and brim. Lake Commiston, half the size of Lake Keene and with much undeveloped shoreline, is home to osprey, egrets, blue herons, woodstorks and the occasional bald eagle. Lutz, being home to the most prestigious golf courses in the Tampa Bay area—Avila, Stillwater, Cheval—and with 166 courses within 30 miles of the city proper, is also a retreat for golfers.
Lutz is also home to several popular “clothing optional” resorts, including Paradise Lakes, a 72-acre haven with more than 400 residents, and Lake Como, a rustic 200-acre nudist community and resort on a 35-acre lake. Neighboring Land o’Lakes offers a few more of these resorts—if that sort of thing strikes your fancy.
At Nye Park (clothing NOT optional), which abuts the undeveloped shores of Lake Commiston, residents enjoy baseball, tennis and picnic facilities, as well as a recreation center for indoor fun. Lutz Nature Park features a pond surrounded by boardwalks and pavilions; it is on the west western edge of the Oscar Cooler Park and Youth Complex, which hosts little league and soccer games. Lutz is also home to two dog parks, the newest of which is on US 41 just south of Lutz-Lake Fern Road. Lutz residents are also within easy reach of all that the Tampa area has to offer, including the sun-drenched beaches of Pinellas County and Tampa’s Busch Gardens, popular Museum of Science and Industry, Lowry Park Zoo and Florida Aquarium.
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