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Tony and Barb Windsor longed for the simplest kind of home life.
In particular, they wanted a maintenance-free house that was easy on the wallet and the soul.
Tony, a retired mechanical design engineer, and Barb, a retired language teacher, spent four years on the road traveling full time in their RV. When they rolled back into Florida, they headed for the Rice Creek RV Resort in Riverview and decided to stay.
Permanently.
So, three years ago they traded in the recreational vehicle and bought a new 497-square-foot manufactured home fully furnished with vinyl siding, a shingle roof and cathedral ceilings for $38,000. For $10,000 more, they added a Florida room that offers workshop and display space for Tony's elegant, hand-built remote-control boats and planes, and room for Barb's piano keyboard.
It's perfect, say the couple in their 60s.
Cheap, attractive and low stress.
"I can clean the whole house in two hours," Tony says.
And he's not kidding.
The interior, with its built-in shelving and efficient living spaces, is as tightly organized as the cabin of a sailboat.
"We have everything we need and plenty of storage," he says, guiding a visitor on a tour of the sunny home, which has its own carport and pair of pink plastic flamingos.
They rent their 35-by-75-foot lot for $262 a month, which includes water, sewer and trash collection. Their electric bill amounts to $1,175 yearly. Insurance is $600.
For $100 more a year, their lawn is mowed regularly.
Taxes amount to $75 a year.
At a time when housing costs can be out of control, a manufactured home offers an affordable option, Tony says.
"President Jimmy Carter builds houses for Habitat for Humanity that cost about $57,000. But here's another alternative," he says. "And they're smaller and better than they were years ago."
His house is secured firmly to the ground with 20 hurricane anchors and is rated for 120-mph winds. The windows are rated for 140-mph winds.
For the price, you can't beat it.
"For a young couple just starting out, I believe this is the way to go," Tony says.
Better yet, he notes, how many other communities offer such a plethora of amenities including a recreation hall and evening entertainment, which includes stand-up comics and musicians?
"It's a very active community with friendly people - the sort of place where if someone needs something, everyone comes together and helps," Barb says.
Rice Creek is one of those traditional Florida resorts still frozen in time, so bucolic that you can still spot a pileated woodpecker. Shuffleboard and bingo are woven into the quilt of daily life for its residents, many of whom are over 55. The community also offers horseshoes, swimming, exercise classes, dominoes and regular card games, such as whist and canasta.
Residents hang wooden plaques outside their RVs and manufactured homes with their names and, if they're snowbirds, where they are from.
"We've got residents from Michigan, Canada, Illinois, Ohio and the Northeast," says Barb, who coordinates the weekly domino games.
Jokes Tony: "I always say that my wife is a nonwealthy socialite."
Lately, Barb has noticed more younger, working people living at Rice Creek, something that doesn't surprise her considering the rising cost of rent and buying a home.
Besides, the old-fashioned, low-stress, low-maintenance lifestyle is something someone could really get into. And, with the snowbirds arriving, the shuffleboard courts are hopping.