Why Alley-Load Homes Are a Practical, Pleasing Choice
If you’re searching for a new custom Florida home, you’ve likely discovered that ICI Homes builds alley-load homes in several of the state’s most in-demand communities.
This is a win-win for buyers seeking a true community lifestyle.
Alley-load homes have the garage sited at the back rather than the front. This makes the front more street-friendly without a garage and driveway dominating half its square footage. The front entry also offers a more welcoming appearance and quicker access to sidewalks.
You reach the garage and driveway via a street behind your house, commonly called an alley. Your neighbors access their garages from the same street and often, the driveway and garage access for homes the next street over from yours are located on the opposite side of your alley.
On a practical note, this arrangement also makes it easy for trash and recycling pickups. Everyone places bins at the foot of their alley driveways, allowing sanitation crews to service two streets’ worth of homes at the same time.
Here’s more on why alley-load homes are a practical, pleasing choice.
Alley-load homes vs front-load homes
The biggest difference is no garage and driveway. With those elements tucked at the back of alley-load homes, there’s more room up front for attractive landscaping and closer proximity to conversations with neighborly passersby.
It offers a true front-porch lifestyle that’s safer for kids to play in — often on a small lawn behind a small fence.
Then there’s the aesthetic piece. In an alley-load footprint, vehicles don’t block the front of the house or neighborhood sidewalks, and open garages don’t reveal all the necessary but often-unattractive stuff that most of us store in that space.
Along with skillfully concealing those items, the garage portion of an alley-load home also serves as a built-in backdrop for outdoor living spaces. A covered lanai — included in every ICI Homes floor plan — provides a quick, easy, and weatherproof path between the garage and the house.
It’s also the perfect launching pad for your outdoor living dreams, which brings us to…
Options for customization
Turn the lanai into a summer kitchen with dining space, or a relaxing patio with a fire pit.
Another great idea is to pair the lanai with an adjacent swimming pool or a spa.
ICI Homes’ alley-load homes
You’ll find our versions in multiple Florida locales.
We’re building single-family, alley-load homes on 40-, 60- and 70-foot lots at Seven Pines, in Jacksonville. South of Jacksonville, check out our multi-level, alley-load townhomes in the West End neighborhood of Nocatee.
Further south, our Oceanview townhomes at Verona in Ormond by the Sea are alley-load.
On the Gulf Coast, we’re building single-family, alley-load homes in Persimmon Park at Wiregrass Ranch, one of the Tampa Bay area’s top master-planned communities.
