Neighborhood Watch
LAUREL PARK BLOSSOMS

            Laurel Park is one of only two single-family neighborhoods set squarely in the heart of downtown Sarasota. Eclectic and proud of it, the neighborhood is home to a diverse mix of young professionals, journalists, artists, baby boomers and retirees. Located just west of U.S. 301 and bound by Orange Avenue, Main and Mound Streets, it’s within easy walking distance to downtown restaurants, theater and the waterfront. The past five years have seen tremendous change in this leafy neighborhood, as many small Craftsman cottages have been demolished to make way for new “cottage-chic” homes, some of them selling near the million-dollar mark.

Number of Laurel Park properties: 150
Number of sales 9/2005 to 9/2006: 7
Range of sale prices 9/2005 to 9/2006: $370,000 to $823,000
Average sale price 9/2005 to 9/2006: $596,500
Range of square footage: 1,180 to 3,500 square feet

Sample Listing
A Spanish Mediterranean-style home at 602 Ohio Place is for sale at $1.15 million. With more than 3,200 square feet of interior living space and 10-foot ceilings, it has four or five bedrooms, four full baths and a powder room, a two-car garage and back yard large enough for a swimming pool. Special finishes include chisel-edge tile, solid wood cabinets, stainless appliances, granite surfaces and custom wood trim and stonework. The listing agent is Elizabeth Pitts of Sarasota Brokerage LLC.

Recent Sale
This new coastal cottage-style home at 1860 Hawkins Court recently sold for $823,489, up from its original list price of $598,500 and second list price of $749,000. It is located on a small brick street between Laurel and Morrill streets. The main residence has 1,700 square feet, plus a 270-square-foot bonus room and a 540-square-foot guest quarters above the vintage two-car garage that formerly served as a horse stable. The listing agent was Jennifer Pecora and the selling agent was Matt Orr; both are with Michael Saunders & Company. Previous sale: $381,500 in January 2004 (the property at that time contained an existing old building that was subsequently converted to the garage and guest quarters; the new cottage was added after the 2004 sale).

MLS statistics courtesy of Matt Orr of Prudential Palms Realty. MLS records transactions and listings by members of the Sarasota Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service.

Top of the Market

A Gulf-front estate designed to complement the Sarasota School of Architecture style captures top spot for recent residential real estate sales. The 6,035-square-foot home under construction at 2 Sandy Hook Road on Siesta Key sold for its original list price of $5.9 million. Buyers Kim and Olga Nielsen, who opened the high-end Danish furniture store dkVogue last year, fell in love with the water views and the nearly one acre directly on the Gulf. The couple wanted a home with styling well-suited to their Danish furnishings, and guest quarters were a must. The historic Carousel House designed by Sarasota School of Architecture architect Tollyn Twitchell, which sits on the property, will be remodeled as a guest house. It overlooks an astonishing circular pool situated between the main house and guest quarters. Gulfside Homes is currently constructing the main house. Brandyn Herbold and Chad Roffers of SKY Sotheby’s were the listing agents, and Kim and Michael Ogilvie of Michael Saunders & Company were the selling agents.

Sales information provided by Kim Ogilvie of Michael Saunders & Company.

TRADING SPACES When Scott George listed his landmark neoclassical house near the Ringling Museum, he knew he would have to genuinely like the new buyers. What he couldn’t know was that he also would really like their old house—so much, in fact, that he is making it his new home.   

George, a realtor with Michael Saunders & Company, loved refurbishing his magnificent old home on Brywill Circle, off Bay Shore Road. The historic 5,100-square-foot estate surrounded by nearly an acre of manicured lawns was built in 1924, styled after the most elegant mansions of Palm Beach, with breathtaking architectural details. “When I put it on the market, I figured it could go really fast,” says George. “A couple walked in on their way to the airport, with just hours to spare before a flight to London, and within five minutes, they told me they would love to buy it.”

While finalizing the deal, the couple explained that their former house had suffered damage during a fire and the event had so traumatized the woman that she could not go back inside. When George learned that the former residence was on Westbrook Drive in Oyster Bay, he decided to swing by and take a peek. “The house was absolutely gorgeous, on a great street, with amazing lines and a beautiful back yard,” he says. “Five minutes after I saw it, I decided to buy it.” 

George became fast friends with his clients and goes out to dinner with them often to discuss design details of each others’ former residence and the upside of real estate investments. “They just sort of walked into my life and I walked into theirs,” he muses. “Life is beautiful when things work out.”

FAIRY TALE EVENING Where else but in Sarasota can you preview a multimillion-dollar mansion, enjoy delicious hors d’oeuvres and see Cinderella, all in the same night?  SKY Sotheby’s International Realty, Laughlin’s Luxury Lifestyles and the Asolo Repertory Theatre hosted an evening featuring a scene from the theater company’s upcoming production of The Plexiglass Slipper and the unveiling of Casa Elegante, a palatial new home at 3731 Indian Beach Place. Casa Elegante, constructed by Triangle Construction Company, is offered for sale at $8.95 million and features 14,243 square feet of living space on a lot measuring over 35,000 square feet.  

            Guests strolled beneath swaying palms, sipped cocktails by the pool and took in the views both south and north along miles of Sarasota Bay. Inside, the luxury home’s five bedrooms, four bathrooms, powder room, gourmet kitchen, multi-leveled loggias and balconies wowed the crowd. Finishes of note include mahogany double doors, granite bathrooms and kitchen, and flooring of Brazilian cherry, teak, bamboo, polished Italian marble, travertine and tumbled marble interspersed with smooth marble for a lavish dance floor. Invisible to the eye but equally impressive are the home’s air and water purification systems, structured wiring and programmable lighting and state-of-the art engineering, ensuring a home with structural integrity and a sanctuary for health and well-being. Casa Elegante is listed with Laura Brady and Stuart Mattison of SKY Sotheby’s.

SHOWING OFF THE PAST Designers are working feverishly to finish the ASID Showcase house in time for its January opening, and local residents are eagerly waiting to see the home that was hidden in shadows for so many years.   

Ellen Wells of Michael Saunders & Company was selling agent for the house, which is located at the corner of Osprey and Bougainvillea, across the street from Cherokee Park. Her buyer is Scott Bill of Scott Bill Inc. and Inspired Renovation Property. Wells is convinced Bill was the right guy to restore the old Dutch Colonial to its original splendor.

“This house was built back in 1926 and once belonged to the Dr. Benjamin Sullivan family,” she explains. “Dr. Sullivan actually had his physician’s office in the house, and there’s a brass nameplate still on the door. As years went on, the house began to look a bit neglected, and the landscaping became so overgrown that you really could not even see the house from the street.” Because Bill specializes in custom homes and restoration and has a sterling reputation for projects he worked on in the Northeast, Wells felt confident that any modifications would be made in keeping with the historical significance of the original design.

“Unlike so many others, Scott doesn’t swoop in and level old houses in order to slap up a mini-mansion that stretches from lot line to lot line,” says Wells. “He restores what is there, working with what already exists.” The refurbished home will feature a new master suite, swimming pool and carriage house with guest quarters. It will be offered for sale following the showcase. 

CREATING A HOME Artist Mary Engelbreit is famous for her whimsical, make-believe world of little girls in great big hats holding court at tea parties. Not surprisingly, Engelbreit’s Casey Key home was just as charming and inviting as her wildly popular line of greeting cards and home accessories.  

“The home has such a wonderful feel, like an old Florida beach cottage,” says realtor Sharon Whitfield. “The exterior is friendly and welcoming, all done in white clapboard with a trellis covered in flowering vines. She had large, comfortable chairs placed all around the porch, and there’s a path leading to the beach access. Mary’s studio was in the Florida room, with a precious child-sized art table in the room so her young granddaughter could sit and draw along with her. The paneling was all wonderful old bead board, and Mary had taken vintage Florida postcards and enlarged them as wall art. You walked in the door and just never wanted to leave.”

Engelbreit and her husband, Phil Delano, recently decided to spend more time at their main residence in St. Louis and less in Sarasota and placed the cottage on the market. Sharon and her husband, Keith Whitfield, both of Coldwell Banker, sold the home at once for $1.4 million. They already feel Engelbreit’s absence. “Both Mary and her husband were adorable and so down-to-earth,” says Sharon. “They were a pleasure to be around.”

MAKING CONNECTIONS While traveling from Sarasota to Los Angeles, Rick Chang of Prudential Palms Realty was changing planes in Dallas when he noticed an Asian woman and her daughter struggling to find their gate. Chang approached them and, in fluent Chinese, politely offered his assistance. “They became very excited when they heard their own language,” says Chang, “and I looked at their tickets and directed them to the proper concourse. It was fortunate, because they were not in the right location.”

They shared a few moments of conversation, and Chang learned that his new acquaintances were headed to Oregon but resided in Bradenton and coincidentally were in the market for a house. The woman inquired whether Chang knew of anyone in the real estate business and he told her yes, as a matter of fact he did. Business cards were exchanged and plans made to meet upon their return. “I laugh at this situation,” says Chang, “because I was not soliciting business. I was just helping two people lost in a big airport.”