Sarasota’s best front porch? This may well be it. It’s wide, wooden-planked, and nicely framed by mature vegetation and a white picket fence. The only missing is a swing.

The porch is attached to a classic American vernacular home in Gillespie Park, where the renovations are proceeding at lightening speed and expensive new construction going up all over. It was built back in 1925 and seems a little grander and more imposing than its one-story contemporaries. 

 The home has three bedrooms and one-and-a-half baths, plus a lot of original features: a fireplace, wood floors, and lots of authentic charm. Some changes have been made—the kitchen has been opened up to the living area—and others are waiting to happen. It has, as they say, a lot of “possibilities.” 

Gillespie Park used to have the stigma of transient renters and a shabby air. Not so any more. Now it’s one of the most desirable areas in town, virtually downtown and right next to the blossoming Rosemary District. This home is a perfect example of what makes it so special.

1684 Sixth St. is priced at $410,000. For more info call Valerie Wadsworth of Michael Saunders and Co. at (941) 780-3858.