This new listing is the most expensive home currently for sale on Longboat Key—but its real attraction is that water slide. You whoosh down a twisting tube into the pool, which is already situated three stories off the ground. Visiting grandchildren will never want to leave.

The whole home, in fact, suggests nothing so much as a cruise ship that has somehow become beached on the shores of Longboat Key. It’s enormous (just under 10,000 square feet) with five staterooms—I mean bedrooms—and six-and-a-half baths. The water views are incredible, with lots of balconies and terraces looking out over the 175 feet of beachfront.

But it’s the interior décor that steals the show. There are polished floors of wood and stone, soaring atrium-like spaces, elaborate finishes and custom art pieces, onyx pillars, glass railings, etched mirrors, tray ceilings, arched ceilings, wood-paneled offices and a theater. There is even a “sky lounge,” where presumably you sip a cocktail while listening to the piano music drifting up from below before heading down to the main dining room. More practical amenities include a commercial-grade elevator, a whole house generator, and an air-conditioned seven-car garage.

The home was built in 2004, just before the recession, and it will be interesting to see what the new owner does with it. It is no longer the taste of the moment and will undoubtedly be redone in the currently obligatory coastal style. Which is sort of a shame. Its exuberance and personality are almost overwhelming. It screams “fun” and “vacation” and “fantasy getaway” like no other house in town. I, for one, wouldn’t change a thing.

3105 Gulf of Mexico Drive is priced at $12.9 million. For more information call Joel Schemmel of Premier Sotheby’s at (941) 587-4894.