If this week’s house looks vaguely familiar, it’s because it used to grace the Palmetto waterfront. Then, in 2006 when it was about to be demolished, a couple who loved old houses bought it for $1 and paid $250,000 to have it barged over to Ruskin where it now sits in splendor on a beautiful 5 acre parcel of land facing the Little Manatee River.

It still bears its Palmetto name—Lamb Manor. (The Lambs were a pioneer local family.) It’s a classic example of Queen Anne architecture from 1910, complete with turret and verandahs. After its move, the couple renovated the place at great expense, using paneling, arches and moldings salvaged from other distinguished homes (including an elevator from the Woolworth mansion in Palm Beach). 

The property now consists of the main house, a guest house with three separate units, a four-car garage, a deep water dock, and a lagoon pool with a waterfall. 

Ruskin is about halfway to Tampa, up U.S. 41. It’s a nice old Florida town, still a little underdeveloped. Judging from a recent drive around the place, I’d say it has a lot of retired military people living happily in mobile homes and fishing like crazy. Lamb Manor is right in the middle of all this, but its five acres shield it completely from the neighbors. 

2410 Shell Point Rd., Ruskin FL., is priced at $1.8 million. For more information call Jennifer Zales of Coldwell Banker at (813) 758-3443.