A small peninsula in southern Manatee County hides some of the most luxurious real estate in Southwest Florida. Not many people know about Hawks Harbor in Bradenton, an exclusive enclave of princely waterfront estates located south of Bayshore Gardens and north of the Sarasota – Bradenton International Airport.

To get to Hawks Harbor, one first needs to find Bay Drive, which is the road opposite 69th Avenue West on the western side of the Tamiami Trail. Heading south on Hawks Harbor Circle, visitors will see the gates of a majestic neighborhood that consists of 54 single-family homes that dare to defy the cookie-cutter look seen in many communities and subdivisions across the Southwest Florida housing market.

Most of the custom-built homes at Hawks Harbor have waterfront views of a canal, a creek, a lake, or the Sarasota Bay. This means that homeowners have access to their own deep-water, private dock space. Development of this exclusive community started in the year 2000, and thus the homes here are all from the 21st century. The architectural designs range from Caribbean estates to Key West homes and from Mediterranean mansions to Cape Cod homes.

The real estate prices at Hawks Harbor vary as much as the architectural styles. Most homes have a minimum of four bedrooms and four bathrooms built on spacious, two-story floor plans. Homeowners tend to hold on to their properties, but house hunters can always count on three or four listings on the market. As of summer 2014, the available listings ranged from $895K to $5.9M, and these listings included a private island connected to Florida by a single bridge.

Hawks Harbor may be hidden, but it is by no means isolated. Seafood restaurants, marinas, racquet clubs, and golf courses are located nearby, and young residents can attend Bayshore Elementary, Harlle Middle and Bayshore High School of the Manatee County Public School District.