A Midcentury Home in the Sanderling Club Is Redesigned to Bring the Outdoors In
The home sits on an acre of palms, banyans and bamboo on Heron Lagoon; the previous owners found this sculpture hidden in mounds of yard debris.
Image: Raif Fluker
It’s a mystery who originally designed the midcentury residence on Heron Lagoon in the Sanderling Club that Kelly and Brad Anderson purchased in the exclusive gated Siesta Key enclave last year.
Built in 1960, most likely as a traditional Florida ranch, it morphed into a modern home after decades of renovations, which introduced elements of the Sarasota School of Architecture—a flat roof, clerestory windows, walls of glass. Its 4,800 square feet include an enormous coral-stone-pavered lanai that runs the length of the house and then turns a corner to encompass an enormous lap pool. The home is set on a very private acre framed by gigantic live oaks, stands of bamboo, banyan trees and rhapis palms.
Interior designer Kristin Raybon decorated the interiors in soothing tones of white and sand.
Image: Raif Fluker
But it’s no mystery why the Andersons, after years of withstanding Chicago winters, were attracted to its light-filled spaces and tropical views. “We were looking all over at new construction, but I loved the way this house felt,” says Kelly Anderson.
The Andersons reached out to interior designer Kristin Raybon to capitalize on what makes the residence so special. Bringing the outdoors in—the central aim of the Sarasota School of Architecture, too—was Raybon’s objective. To that end, she chose coastal contemporary furnishings with lots of natural textures. The tone-on-tone white and sand hues let the couple’s artwork and the surrounding foliage take center stage.
The kitchen/dining area
Image: Raif Fluker
Bedroom
Image: Raif Fluker
In the living room, for example, a jute and chenille woven rug ground the space, while a petrified wood accent table and woven leather cocktail table lean contemporary and organic at the same time. In the family room, an organic root coffee table is a favorite. And in the master bedroom, where a diamond-shaped window is reminiscent of midcentury design, Raybon chose a low-profile bed that “allows the architecture to shine,” she says. “All the earth tones give the room a feeling of serenity and don’t take away from the landscape peeking in from every angle.”
The home now nicely honors the Sarasota School of Architecture. “You can feel the nostalgia,” in the original clerestory windows and skylights, for example, says Raybon, “but it’s got modern touches.”
The backyard pool area
Image: Raif Fluker
There’s one more mystery, that of who created the gleaming white sculpture of a female diver that stands on a pedestal in the front entry circle. Rumor has it that a long-ago owner bought it at an auction at Pine View School. Remarkably, the couple who sold the home to the Andersons found it hidden in overgrown brush in the back yard when they were remodeling the house several years ago and had a construction worker with a backhoe move it to the front yard.
“We can’t think of another place where you truly live in paradise,” says Kelly Anderson. No detective work needed to know that.
