In Sarasota and Manatee Counties, home inventory has risen significantly, with a 64.6 percent increase in inventory for single-family homes and a 91 percent increase in inventory for townhomes and condos across both counties since the first quarter of 2023.

And recently, local price drops have also garnered national attention. The Washington Post reported this week that Sarasota County ranked No. 1 in a nationwide list of counties where home values have fallen the most in the past year, and Manatee County ranked fourth. 

But amidst the evolving landscape, a property at 612 Juan Anasco Drive on the Manatee County side of Longboat Key, is seeking to buck the trend and then some. The house, perched on a peninsula with water on three sides, is listed at $24.95 million, placing it among some of the most expensive listings in the area. (For what it's worth, the asking price is currently down $1 million from its original list price.) 

Rick Wilson, who owns the home with his wife through a local LLC, purchased the land in 2021 for $7.5 million, per county records. At the time, it housed a substantial concrete structure built in 1998. “It was a big poured-concrete house,” Wilson says. “We thought about remodeling, but the style wasn’t right. Tearing it down just made more sense.”​

From the dock, the house appears to hover. White and linear against the sky, its rooflines lift faintly like sails. On three sides, the water closes in: Whitney Bayou to the west, Harris Canal to the east and a narrow slip leading south, where boats idle by. The property sits on just over an acre of land.

This version—their version—took two years to build. It's British West Indies in style, popular on barrier islands for its breezy rooflines, painted millwork and mix of covered outdoor living spaces and formal interiors. 

“What I really fell in love with was the lot,” Wilson says. “The water on three sides, no wake, great for boating—you can sit out there and just watch everything pass by. And I like to entertain, so the space made sense.”

Wilson isn’t a developer by trade, though development has become something of a second act for him. Originally from Kentucky, he sold a web services company in 2020 that specialized in building websites for car dealerships—more than 6,000 of them nationwide. “We’d been doing that for 16 years. We Sold the company five years ago, moved down here a little after that,” he says. “My dad was already down here, and I came down on vacation. We just decided to stay.”

Since then, Wilson and his wife have built and sold several homes along the west coast, mostly on Longboat Key, Anna Maria Island and Lido Beach. “Our first one sold for $14 million,” he says. “We stick to waterfront. Live in them for a while, then move on to the next.”

This home was built by EBG Builder Group and designed by Beacon Home Design. It spans more than 9,200 square feet of air-conditioned living space and more than 21,000 square feet in total. There are six bedrooms (each with its own bath), two home offices, a golf simulator, a sauna, a gym, a guest suite with private entry and a garage setup that can accommodate up to nine cars. “The garages all have HVAC,” Wilson says. “I wanted it to feel comfortable, year-round.” 

Outside, a 77-foot-by-30-foot heated pool and a 13-by-13-foot hot tub dominate the central courtyard, flanked by two outdoor kitchens, a fire pit and multiple porches. Four low-profile boat lifts—one rated for vessels up to 30,000 pounds—ring the seawall. “We see dolphins and manatees every day. It’s that kind of place,” Wilson says.

It’s also the kind of place that tends to take time to sell.

According to Concierge Auctions’ 2025 Luxury Homes Index, ultra-luxury homes in the U.S. now spend 400 percent longer on the market than standard listings and often hit the MLS at prices as much as 25 percent above perceived market value. But Florida, and particularly the Sarasota area, has defied easy expectations. The region’s average luxury home price has jumped 160 percent since 2018—from $6.1 million to $16 million—narrowing the gap with more established luxury markets like Miami and Palm Beach. In February, we wrote about two other homes on Siesta Key listed around $30 million. 

That growth has been driven, in part, by people like Wilson: recent transplants with liquidity and a taste for water access. “The people who buy my homes are usually people who’ve just sold a business,” Wilson says. “They’re from up north. They want to move to Florida, and they want a house that feels like something special.”

Whether that buyer appears this spring, next season or not at all, Wilson seems unfazed. “It only takes one,” he says. “This house isn’t for everyone. But for the right person? There’s really nothing else like it.”

Interested? Call Charles Buky of Coldwell Banker Realty at (941) 228-6086.