In Sarasota, where cranes can rival palm trees for a claim to the skyline, preservation work often happens off to the side—technical and sometimes unglamorous. But this spring, that quieter work gets a public stage.

On April 30, the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation (SAHP) will honor this year’s Sarasota County Heritage Awards recipients at its annual Heritage Awards Dinner, recognizing 11 honorees for preservation, research, education, skilled trades and stewardship across the county. 

Established in 2017 by the History and Preservation Coalition of Sarasota County and now directed by SAHP, the Heritage Awards recognize the full spectrum of preservation efforts—public agencies and private owners, architects and craftspeople, neighborhood advocates and researchers—each working to keep older places viable in a rapidly changing market. 

As local architect and award recipient, Robert Conner of the firm Hall Darling Design Studio says, "With historic projects, once you start pulling things apart, you find conditions you couldn’t predict and it's kind of like a lasagna of layers to pull apart." 

“We’re seeing so much get torn down,” Paul van Deventer, owner of one of this year's award-winning homes, adds. “It feels important to add something back to the history. It's not about a money-making venture—it's about saving what's there and documenting its past too."

Here are this year’s winners..

Architecture: Bay Haven School of Basics Plus

Architect Todd Sweet
Sweet Sparkman Architecture and Interiors 

Bay Haven opened in 1926 and was designed by M. Leo Elliott, an architect whose school designs helped shape Sarasota’s early civic architecture. The campus is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. SAHP’s jury recognized Sweet Sparkman’s leadership in a restoration and renovation that preserved the school’s architectural integrity while allowing the campus to continue functioning as a modern public school. Todd Sweet is an award-winning architect whose work in public, civic and educational architecture has shaped community spaces across the Gulf Coast. Among many others, the firm has completed projects such as The Nest at The Bay Sarasota, earning local awards for design excellence.

Historic Structure Preservation: Lamolithic House, Siesta Key

Mark and Lorrie Bogart 

Built in 1948 and designed by architects Ralph Twitchell and Paul Rudolph, the Lamolithic House is a prime example of the Sarasota School of Architecture ethos, which ushered in a period of postwar experimentation in construction methods. The term "lamolithic" is tied to a building technique pioneered by concrete businessman John Lambie that uses reinforced concrete to enable thin planes and modernist forms. It's part of the region’s mid-century architectural identity. SAHP’s award recognizes the Bogarts’ rehabilitation and restoration, which the jury said retained character-defining materials and features while strengthening the home for continued use and long-term resilience.

Adaptive Reuse & Organizational Achievement: Phillippi Estate (Edson Keith) Farmhouse

Sarasota County Parks, Recreation & Natural Resources; Fred and Grace Whitehouse, Friends of Sarasota County Parks 

Built in 1916 as the first structure on the Edson Keith estate, the clapboard farmhouse at Phillippi Estate Park has served many roles over more than a century—private residence, workers’ quarters, guest lodging and soon, a public interpretive center. Keith, a retired Chicago millinery businessman, lived in the farmhouse while overseeing construction of his Italian Renaissance–style mansion. Under later owner Mae Hansen Prodie, a Chicago doll-industry entrepreneur, the farmhouse housed guests of the Phillippi Plantation Inn during the 1950s before being rented to artists and young residents. Sarasota County purchased the estate by referendum, and the farmhouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. The award recognizes a multi-year public-private collaboration between Sarasota County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources and the Friends of Sarasota County Parks, under the leadership of Fred and Grace Whitehouse. Beginning in 2013, the Whitehouses launched the farmers market at Phillippi Creek to help fund restoration, raising nearly $500,000. Recent work included refinished floors, upgraded electrical and plumbing systems, new fire protection and security and accessibility improvements. The completed restoration was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting in April 2025. 

Historic Preservation: The Fredrickson House, Laurel Park, Sarasota

Paul and Michelle van Deventer

The Frederickson House is a historically designated 1939 bungalow in Laurel Park, hand-built from old Florida pine and representative of the modest, durable homes that once defined the neighborhood. Paul and Michelle van Deventer purchased the property after years living on Siesta Key, drawn by Laurel Park’s proximity to downtown. The restoration, completed in 2022, was extensive. The house was lifted and rebuilt on a new foundation, with all new plumbing, electrical wiring, HVAC and roof. Original windows were restored, preserving materials that are no longer readily available. Inside, the couple balanced preservation with livability, selectively removing dark interior wood to introduce light while salvaging and reusing it for trim. During the work, they uncovered layers of the home’s history: a medicine cabinet razor slot filled with blades, improvised repairs hidden in walls, and multiple layers of flooring. For the van Deventers, the project was never about financial return. “We’re seeing so much get torn down,” Paul says. “It felt important to add something back to the history. It wasn’t a money-making venture—it was about saving what was there and documenting it too. Now it will be there for the next 100 years." With the home now pending at a $1,449,000 asking price, the van Deventers’ work also undercuts the old stereotype that historic houses are “money pits”—showing that careful restoration can carry real market value.

Skilled Trades & Craftsmen: Sarasota County Terrace Building

Hall Darling Design Studio 

This award goes to the people who make preservation physically possible: the specialists who can repair what is ornate, fragile and no longer standard. Hall Darling Design Studio repaired and restored historic exterior elements on the Sarasota County Terrace Building, working alongside Sarasota County preservation staff and recruiting artisans across multiple trades. The Terrace Building began life as the Sarasota Terrace Hotel, constructed in 1925 by Charles Ringling, John Ringling's brother. It was the first in a series of buildings that would make Ringling's Courthouse Subdivision an extension of downtown. At 11 stories, 125 rooms, and a construction cost of nearly $750,000, it was touted as one of the finest buildings in Florida. Over time, it became part of county government functions and is now home of the Sarasota tax collector and property appraiser “Looking at old photos and postcards, there used to be a golf course across the street, and tons of important people stayed there," Connor, of Hall Darling says. The exterior restoration addressed chronic water intrusion; as work progressed, the team rebuilt elements to better reflect the original building, including the upper-floor detailing: “We found a chunk of the original cornice in county storage, got dimensions from that and recreated it,” Darling says. 

Adaptive Use: Lord Higel House, Venice

City of Venice; Black Gold Coffee Roasters; Venice Heritage

Constructed in 1896 by entrepreneur Joseph H. Lord, the Lord Higel House is one of the oldest surviving structures in Sarasota County and a rare relic of early settlement in what became Venice. Originally built atop a 90-acre citrus grove owned by Lord, the two-story, Queen Anne-vernacular house was later occupied by grove manager George Higel and his family, who lived there until 1919. Threatened with demolition twice, the house was first moved to a nearby location in 1950 to save it from development. In 2005, the City of Venice acquired the property after preservation advocates convinced an owner facing teardown to deed the house to the city. It was moved again to a city-owned lot at 409 Granada Ave., where Venice Heritage volunteers have been working for years to restore the building to its original appearance.  Now, a collaboration between the City of Venice, Venice Heritage and Black Gold Coffee Roasters has returned the Lord Higel House to community use while preserving its historic character. 

Historical Research (Publications): Sarasota Trivia Game

Kim Patton Manning and John D. Manning

History doesn’t always arrive through textbooks. The Sarasota Trivia Game turns Sarasota County’s past into a question-and-answer format that invites curiosity while grounding play in solid research. Drawing from archival sources, the game spans the region’s people, places, and lesser-known stories, offering a way to learn local history through participation rather than presentation. The Heritage Awards jury recognized the project for making historical research accessible and engaging, noting its ability to spark conversation and deepen public understanding of Sarasota County’s evolving story.

Lillian Burns Individual Achievement: Esther Horton

Esther Horton

Esther Horton, a lifelong Englewood resident and sixth-generation member of the community, has spent decades preserving and interpreting Lemon Bay’s history, pairing advocacy with public education. She played a central role in saving Englewood’s 1928 Green Street Church after its land lease was threatened, helping secure funding and grants and navigating the permits and logistics needed to relocate and preserve the building. Alongside that work, she has led lectures, monthly programs, the annual Cracker Fair and mentorship efforts that keep local history visible and active.

Organizational Achievement

South Poinsettia Park Neighborhood Association

The association was recognized for resident-led preservation advocacy and public education, including a neighborhood homes tour that engaged nearly 500 participants across eight historic homes, serving as a replicable model for community-driven preservation.

Historical Research: Kristine Ziedina

Kristine Ziedina

Ziedina is being recognized for research and documentation that expands understanding of Sarasota County’s built environment and cultural history, bringing visibility to under-recognized resources and supporting future preservation planning.

Builders/Developers

Pat Ball

This award recognizes Sarasota builder Pat Ball for more than five decades of preservation-sensitive building and restoration work, underscoring the role builders play in safeguarding architectural heritage.

To check out last year's winners, click here. To learn more about the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation, click here.