Our History

On Top of the World Communities is an award-winning building and development company founded in 1947 by the Colen family, who have owned and operated it for more 60 years. The company is Florida’s oldest privately owned land developer and is debt-free in a housing industry filled with takeover- and merger-prone national home builders.

In 1975, with decades of home-building experience to their credit, the Colens ... led by family patriarch, the late Sidney Colen ... brought their vast experience and vision to the heart of Florida. Here, in Ocala, they purchased 12,972 acres, formerly known as Circle Square Ranch.

And it is here that the vision to pioneer an active-adult community and lifestyle has been realized as On Top of the World, the second such Florida community bearing that name (the other is in Clearwater).

Sidney’s son, Kenneth D. Colen, is company president and has overseen development and operation of On Top of the World Ocala since the earliest stages of construction in 1981. From the start, Mr. Colen’s focus has remained the same: “a commitment to build quality, energy-efficient homes in a well-designed, amenity-rich community.”