In Harbor Acres, the view is priceless. The house, as it turns out, is $17 million.

Listed for $21 million in January, a waterfront estate at 1204 Hillview Drive has sold for $17 million, just in time for a buyer to claim one of Sarasota’s pricier Fourth of July perches. From its west-facing spot on Sarasota Bay, the Harbor Acres home had ideal views of the fireworks over the water—and the distinction of being the highest-priced residential sale on the Sarasota mainland so far this year. The sale closed July 2.

The home was listed for $18.9 million, with furnishings handled through a separate deal. While this price point often sees all cash transactions, this sale wasn’t.

The only residential sale in the Sarasota area known to have fetched more this year was at 865 Longboat Club Road on Longboat Key, which sold for $17.5 million.

Set on one of Hillview Drive’s bayfront lots, the gated estate occupies one of Harbor Acres’ premier waterfront homesites, with 171 feet of Sarasota Bay frontage and panoramic views. The two-story home was designed by Sarasota architect Cliff Scholz, whose work also includes La Serenissima, the Venetian-inspired Longboat Key estate that sold for $16.5 million in 2020 and later sold again for $30.3 million last year, making it the priciest sale in the county ever.

Built in 2008 and extensively renovated, the 7,687-square-foot Harbor Acres residence has six bedrooms, seven full bathrooms, two half bathrooms and an oversized three-car garage, along with a boat dock, pool, seawall and more than 1,400 square feet of patio.

The house is arranged around its west-facing bayfront setting, with expansive walls of glass, formal living and dining rooms, a waterfront family room, a private library, an executive office and a gourmet kitchen with zebrawood cabinetry, quartz countertops and a dedicated coffee bar. An elevator services both levels of the home.

The primary suite overlooks Sarasota Bay and includes dual spa-inspired bathrooms, three walk-in closets and a private laundry. Upstairs, two waterfront bedrooms and a library open to a 35-foot terrace overlooking the bay.

Outside, the property includes a 76-foot elevated entertaining terrace with a summer kitchen, a 55-foot heated pool, private dockage and direct access to Sarasota Bay and the Intracoastal Waterway.

Considered a “mega-deal” at the time, the property last sold in late January 2016 for $7.05 million, after 45 days on the market. It had been listed then for $7.75 million. 

The sale also widens the top of the 2026 mainland Sarasota market. A mainland comparison report shows 1356 Harbor Drive in Harbor Acres sold for $14.75 million on Feb. 20, while 4423 Bay Shore Road in Indian Beach sold for $9.5 million on March 19. 

Harbor Acres has never needed celebrity mythology to sell itself. The neighborhood’s appeal has long been more private than performative, with deep-water lots, quick access to downtown and a small supply of bayfront homes that don’t come on the market often. It has also become one of the places where Sarasota’s record book gets rewritten. A home at 1233 Hillview Drive sold for $20 million in 2024, while the double-lot estate at 1423 and 1435 Hillview Drive sold for $17.5 million in 2022—each deal at the time was the area’s highest residential sale ever.

This latest sale doesn’t reset Harbor Acres’ all-time high, but it reinforces the neighborhood’s place near the top of Sarasota’s luxury market. In Harbor Acres, the house is only part of the number. The rest is frontage, dockage, sunset and scarcity. The buyers are yet unknown, according to records not yet updated. The sellers, according to public records, are William and Marianna McComb. He’s the previous CEO of Liz Clairborne Inc. and worked with corporate giants like Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson. Marianna had a career in children’s book publishing before becoming a master gardener and joining the board of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.

Roberta Tengerdy with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty represented the buyer. Stephanie Church of Coldwell Banker Realty represented the seller.