San Carlos Park was started in 1953 by the Freeman brothers, who set out to build low-cost homes for middle-class families. Seventy years later it is still doing that job: over seven thousand homes, almost entirely single-family, and an occupancy rate above ninety per cent.
That last figure is the unusual one in Lee County. This is a year-round community, not a seasonal one, which means roofs get watched and leaks get reported early. It also means the stock is sixty to seventy years old with re-roofs from several different eras stacked up behind it.