Gene and Heidi Hoyt and their daughter Sara are among the first residents of the town of Ave Maria. The oratory and school can be seen from their back yard.

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The towers of water park slides peak above the city center Ave Maria, a promise of residential activity to come. The community boasts a fledgling university, budding residential base, a parochial school, several restaurants, shops and services, while eagerly awaiting a grocery store and other general amenities.

For Heidi and Gene Hoyt and their six-year-old daughter Sara, Ave Maria is the reality of the American dream of home ownership with four bedrooms, two baths and a pool.

As a university library employee, Heidi says the family had the opportunity to be in on the ground level with one of the best lots in their neighborhood -- a corner strip of land, with five homes.

“All of the employees got a list of what was available and those that signed up, received a phone call, and we got our first choice,” Heidi says of selecting the lot. “We got to choose the carpet, tile, cabinets in the kitchen, grout color, and counter tops. It’s not a custom home, but it is ours.”

The Hoyts selected their home from four models. They chose the Emerson neighborhood, which foregoes an alleyway to accommodate more back yard space. Speaking of the back yard, their lot enjoys a nice view of the school as well as the impressive Ave Maria Oratory.

“The side yard will be perfect for birthday parties,” Heidi says as she looks out to the green space, which is denoted as an environmental berm, providing plenty of room for Sara to roam.

Heidi also enjoys her three-minute commute from home to the library, each morning, stopping to drop her daughter off at the nearby Catholic elementary school.

“My favorite class is art,” says Sara, a first grader at Ave Maria Prep and Grammar School. “It looks like a high school, it is so big.”

The school currently has a student enrollment of 145 students.

“The first and second grades are combined, so she will have the same teacher for first and second grades,” Heidi explains of the current K-12 multi-age curriculum. “Sara is learning Spanish and Latin, and we are practicing with flashcards and a workbook that was recommended to us.”

As library associate for public service in the library, Heidi assists patrons in the reference sections and check-out desk as well as overseeing distribution of audio-visual items such as headphones, tapes, and other library resources.

Gene is involved in the business side of academic affairs for the university. He, too, enjoys the short commute, which was once a 45-minute drive prior to the completion of their new home.

Heidi admits there are a few shortcomings the family is willing to sacrifice for their home.

“I don’t like living this far away from my Mom and Dad, who live in Naples, and we miss the different restaurants in Naples and shopping at the Mall,” she says. “We’ll probably eat at home a lot more often.”

As to the benefits, Gene touts the university’s state-of-the-art technology.

“This town is integrated with the University, and the technology rivals Walt Disney World. There is a duplicate data center with cable straight into the University,” he explains. “Ave Maria just won the Diggie Award for the use of technology on campus, beating out M.I.T.”

Because the Hoyts qualified for the University’s employee assistance program, they signed an agreement that ties their home ownership to their employment with AMU.

“If you leave the university, the house has to go up for sale,” explains Gene. “It’s a system that is based off of the University of Colorado.”

So for now the family is content to enjoy the view from their own back yard as they watch the community grow from a few homes to what will one day become a bustling hub of social, commercial and scholastic activity.