Bristol Pointe

The arrival tells you most of what you need to know. Two lakes sit on either side of the entrance off Jog Road, fountains rising across the water, with a tropical garden island at the center. The clubhouse and clay courts come up on the left. Then tall, mature palms take over beyond the recreation grounds, and sidewalks pick up the curve of the streets. Only after all of that do the custom houses come into view, set along quiet cul-de-sacs past the water.

The houses went up between 1999 and 2002, and the landscaping has had long enough since to become the thing you notice first. Past the lakes, the broad opening tightens, and at the street edges the trunks, the pavement and the first residences draw close to the route. The scale changes from arrival to neighborhood in about the length of a driveway.

Substantial Houses, Distinctly Their Own

Seventy-six custom houses make up Bristol Pointe, laid out along three streets that keep the whole plan to a small collection of quiet cul-de-sacs. The original Mediterranean exteriors are still very much present, and a good number of homes have been renovated toward a transitional or contemporary look. The curved sidewalks hold their course past both kinds of house. The variety sits inside a consistent frame, rather than a single elevation repeated house after house.

Homes generally run from about 3,200 to 5,200 square feet, in four-, five- and six-bedroom plans. The two-story houses split their living area between levels, with broad interiors opening toward backyards that leave room for private pools and summer kitchens.

One plan worth knowing about centers on a courtyard, with a guest house standing completely separate from the main residence and the courtyard between them. Guests cross outdoors moving from one to the other, an arrangement that gives a long-staying visitor a front door of their own and rarely turns up in a community this size.

A Quiet Street and an Active Center

The recreation grounds gather near the gate, on the first stretch of the drive. A clubhouse holds the fitness center and a sauna. Two lighted Har-Tru courts take one side of the grounds, with the pool beside them, a wading pool next to it, and the playground beyond. The sidewalks follow every bend, so a walk from the gate traces that curve past all of it before the residential turns take over.

A lake sits at the center of the plan, with the houses on the loop road looking across it, and more water lies on either side of the entrance drive. The recreation grounds stay gathered near the gate by design, while the streets continue beyond them beneath the palms, which is why the streets themselves stay quiet.

None of it asks anything extra. There is no membership to join and no equity to buy. The clubhouse, the courts and the pool are open to every household here.

At the Delray Beach End of Millionaire's Row

A manned guard gate operates twenty-four hours a day. The entrance stands on the west side of Jog Road in Delray Beach, south of Linton Boulevard and a mile and a quarter from the Boca Raton city line. Locals place Bristol Pointe among the residential addresses they call Millionaire's Row, a name carried by this stretch of the road.

That position is the practical argument for the community. Downtown Boca Raton is within a fifteen to twenty minute drive, and famed Delray's Atlantic Avenue and the beach at the east end of Linton Boulevard are all within a ten to fifteen minute drive. Downtown Boca has Mizner Park and Royal Palm Place, where you can find restaurants, shops, fabulous nightlife, theater, a museum and an amphitheater with a slew of events. Town Center at Boca Raton anchors the region's shopping, with Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's under one roof and most of the luxury labels between them. And if you head west on Atlantic Avenue, ten to fifteen minutes away, there's a great IMAX theater and plaza: Delray Marketplace, filled with shops, several restaurants like Burt & Max's and outdoor entertainment. Boca and Delray's many beautiful, well-maintained parks and municipal golf courses are minutes away. The choice between Delray and Boca is one you make at the wheel rather than one the address makes for you.

If you're looking for walkability, Bristol Pointe has that as well. The Shoppes at Addison Place sits a short walk south on Jog Road, with a Starbucks, several upscale boutiques, and dining options including Henry's and The Sea.