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Butler Bay, Windermere: One Community, Two Local Governments
Counting its three units and the Manors at Butler Bay, Butler Bay, Windermere, has 278 homes built mostly from 1983 to 2000, split between the Town of Windermere and unincorporated Orange County, so neighboring homes can have different permitting and tax levies.
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Buying or Selling in Butler Bay
Butler Bay homes for sale, including the Manors at Butler Bay (often searched as The Manors, Windermere FL), offer older homes on large lots, many on Lake Crescent. Our agents help buyers understand what the Town-county split changes, and help sellers price from the right section. Crescent Lake Estates is a close neighbor on the same lake.
Butler Bay's Sections
- Unit 1 (Town): 34 homes on median lots of 1.31 acres, built 1983 to 2013, median $1,086,345; 17 touch a lake.
- Manors at Butler Bay (Town): 97 homes built 1987 to 2000 on lots of about 0.6 acres, medians of $742,860 and $778,785 in its two phases.
- Unit 2 (county): 27 homes on one-acre lots, median $1,227,380.
- Unit 3 (county): 118 homes on 0.57-acre lots, built 1988 to 2022, median $820,420; 36 touch a lake.
The Water
On Lake Crescent, 55 homes touch the water, with a median 2026 value of $1,393,010, and 12 more touch Lake Roberts. Both are stand-alone lakes rather than chain lakes, so boating to the chain isn't something to assume. Our lakefront guide covers what to verify.
How the Town Line Shows Up on the Tax Bill
The split is easy to see in the millage. Butler Bay's 131 Town homes pay 15.4839 mills for 2025; its county homes, 16.3894 or 16.1366. On a $1 million just value, that's about $650 to $900 a year less inside the Town, before exemptions. Across the community, a new owner's tax runs roughly $11,500 to $18,000 for the middle half of homes.
Flood zones follow the lakes: 67 lakefront lots and 13 others touch a FEMA special flood hazard area. Schools are assigned by address in Find My School, whichever side of the line a home is on.
For Butler Bay Owners Thinking of Selling
Buyers will ask whether your home is in the Town or the county and what that means for permits and taxes. We answer with the property appraiser's record and your tax bill, and price your home from sales in the same section and lake position.
See also Waterford Pointe and the Windermere neighborhood comparison.
The Own Luxury Homes® Perspective
In Butler Bay, the house next door can answer to a different government.
Butler Bay's 278 homes share a name and a build era, but 131 of them, in Unit 1 and the Manors, are inside the Town of Windermere, and 147, in Units 2 and 3, are in unincorporated Orange County. The Town adopted 3.7425 mills for fiscal year 2025-26, and permitting for each home runs through its own local government.
Before comparing two Butler Bay homes, check the municipality on each one's property appraiser record. The answer tells you whose permitting rules apply to a remodel or a dock, and which levies will appear on your tax bill.
Butler Bay Questions
Is Butler Bay in the Town of Windermere?
Partly. Unit 1 and the Manors at Butler Bay, 131 homes, are inside the Town; Units 2 and 3, 147 homes, are in unincorporated Orange County.
Are the Manors at Butler Bay part of Butler Bay?
Yes, by name and location. The Manors' 97 homes, built 1987 to 2000, are inside the Town.
Which lakes do Butler Bay homes front?
Lake Crescent, with 55 homes, and Lake Roberts, with 12, according to county maps. Neither is among the Water Atlas's Butler Chain lakes.
A Private, More Intentional Beginning
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Sources:
Orange County GIS, parcel data (2026 tax roll); Orange County GIS, recorded subdivision plats; Orange County GIS, hydrology (lakes); Florida Department of Revenue, Orange County levies FY 2025-26; Orange County Water Atlas, Butler Chain of Lakes; Orange County Property Appraiser, parcel search; Orange County Property Appraiser, 2025 final millage rates; Orange County GIS, FEMA flood zones; Orange County Public Schools, Find My School. Checked October 2026.
Figures: homes with a Windermere site address outside the Horizon West planning boundary, from Orange County parcel data; values are county just values on the 2026 tax roll, not sale prices; medians. Tax estimates multiply each home's 2026 county just value by the 2025 final millage for its tax district, before exemptions and non-ad valorem assessments, and are rounded. Flood counts are homes with at least 1% of the lot in a FEMA special flood hazard area (zones A, AE or AH) on the county's FEMA layer.
Reviewed by Ryan Brown, Licensed Real Estate Broker and CEO, Own Luxury Homes®