St. Armands
Persons with discerning taste and a sense of style have been attracted to
chic, stylish St. Armands since Renaissance man John Ringling set up his
real estate office where Café L’Europe now stands and designed a collection
of shops in the round to replicate a circus wheel. World-class specialty
stores, spa and salon services, fine restaurants and the pristine sugar
sands of Lido Beach are all just steps away from neighborhoods mingling
grand waterfront estates with charming 1920s bungalows. St. Armands is also
home to several historically significant residences built in the
contemporary design of the Sarasota School of Architecture. St. Armands
plays host to several music festivals, holiday celebrations, walk-a-thons
and running events as well as an automobile show each year. Residents enjoy
the good life with a European flair, walking to the store, strolling to
dinner on cool evenings and being greeted by merchants who have been on the
Circle for decades. St. Armands also boasts easy access to Longboat Key and
downtown Sarasota.
Island of Venice
Shark’s teeth older than a million years dot the beaches and shell seekers
hit the sand early on a quiet piece of paradise known as Venice Island. Like
her sister city in Europe, Venice Island features lovely Italian
architecture with courtyards, fountains, gardens and balconies. Single
family homes range from Old Florida bungalows and beach houses to sleek
modern masterpieces with stunning waterfront vistas. Head over the bridge to
downtown where one finds a charming mix of businesses, restaurants and
quaint shops along with a thriving theater community. Nature lovers will
enjoy snorkeling along the coral reefs of Venice Municipal Beach, walking
the shoreline and attending the annual Sharks Tooth and Seafood Festival on
nearby Caspersen Beach. Residents of “The Island” enjoy the sense of being
a million miles away yet living in the heart of it all.
Siesta Key
Artsy, eclectic and colorful, Siesta Key offers the laid-back island
lifestyle with a carefree feel and no worries philosophy. Colonized in 1846
and home to a mere 300 residents in 1940, Siesta Key began as a collection
of fish camps for avid anglers and boating enthusiasts but today’s
vacationers come for the beaches. The award-winning white sand is 99 percent
pure quartz and as light and cool on the feet as talcum powder and there are
three different beaches to sample. Turtle Beach offers a distinct family
feeling with picnic areas, playgrounds, volleyball nets, horseshoe pits and
a boat launch. Crescent Beach is less crowded and features Point of Rocks, a
perfect spot for snorkeling and diving. Siesta Key Public Beach is the
happening place, with Fun Runs during the week, Drum Circle on Sunday
evenings at sunset, sand sculpturing contests, lifeguards and concession
stands. A shaded playground and picnic area draw a crowd and it is just a
short walk from the public beach to Siesta Key Village, with shops that
range from designer chic to hip and funky and restaurants that serve up a
diversity of dining experiences. Stroll past the sidewalk cafes and art
galleries with your hand-dipped ice cream cone and make reservations for an
elegant dinner. Outside venues are plentiful and flip-flops typically
satisfy the dress code. Pedestrian-friendly and casual, Siesta Key is an
artistic mecca for writers, watercolorists, jewelry designers, furniture
makers, potters and sculptors. Locals rub elbows with novelists and
playwrights while window shopping and painters are often spotted setting up
their easels on the beach at sunset. Author John D. Macdonald wrote his
Travis McGee detective series while a resident of Siesta Key and penned some
70 books during his time on the island. Mackinlay Cantor, winner of the 1956
Pulitzer Prize for his book “Andersonville” is another famous writer who
called Siesta Key home. Real estate ranges from small rental cottages to
waterfront condominiums and custom single family homes on canals, open bay
and the Gulf.
Casey Key
A scant eight miles long, from Siesta Key to the Island of Venice, this
narrow length of land is dotted with private tennis courts, resort-style
swimming pools, quaint guest cottages and magnificent estates sharing what
might be the most expensive slice of real estate along Florida’s West Coat.
Casey Key is less than 300 yards wide in most places, but her shores are
lined by the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Little Sarasota Bay to the east and
the Venice inlet to the south, offering spectacular water views from every
direction. Casey Key is home to less than 400 residences and almost
completely comprised of single family homes, with an average sale price of
more than $3 million and several residences with prices in the record books.
Strict zoning restrictions and a piece of legislation from the 1970s that
deemed much of the island a conservation district insure the continuance of
a lifestyle that feels worlds apart from the traffic jams and tumult of
southwest Florida. Casey Key is named for Army Captain John Casey who came
to the area in 1849 to quiet Seminole Indian uprisings and stayed around to
assist in the original surveys of the coastline. An enterprising land
developer tried unsuccessfully to change the name to Treasure Island to sell
lots during the 1920s land boom and there is an unsubstantiated rumor that
actual buried treasure was discovered under the sand on the north end of the
island. Casey Key is also famous as a temporary home to writer John D.
MacDonald, who authored “Flash of Green” and described the brilliant emerald
burst that is visible on rare occasions for fleeting seconds when the orange
sun sinks below the horizon.
Manasota Key
Experience a taste of Old Florida on this quiet barrier island just west of
Englewood and slightly south of Sarasota. Manasota Key has no high-rises and
no traffic lights, just a two-lane road and fourteen acres of unspoiled
beaches with natural vegetation and beautifully sculpted sand dunes. This
long-time secret beachfront paradise straddles two counties, giving it a
split personality. On the northern Sarasota County end, lovely single
family homes nestle into one-acre lots, sheltered beneath coastal oaks, red
cedar trees, palms and lush tropical foliage. On the southern Charlotte
County end, you find a sprinkling of low-rise condominiums, Mom and Pop
motels, restaurants and shops. The southernmost tip of Manasota Key is
Stump Pass Beach State Park; a favorite destination for egg-laying sea
turtles. Mother Nature is respected here. Homes meld into their home sites
rather than dominating the land and dwarfing their neighbors and most buyers
remodel rather than raze.
Longboat Key
Sapphire water and emerald golf courses amidst stands of blooming
bougainvillea and oleander frame the twelve sun-drenched miles of Longboat
Key stretching between the Gulf of Mexico and Sarasota Bay and including
both Sarasota and Manatee counties. Polished and sophisticated, Longboat
Key is home to 8,000 permanent residents but her population swells to 20,000
during peak tourist season as devotees return year after year for superb
dining, shelling, biking, fishing, boating, golf and tennis. First-class
country clubs cater to members seeking the highest level of amenities and
aesthetic surround. The annual Stone Crab Seafood Festival draws thousands
of visitors each year and the long-established Longboat Key Center for the
Arts is well-known for its permanent collection as well as changing exhibits
of juried and invitations shows, art classes, workshops and cultural events.
Longboat Key is ideally situated for those who seek the city life, with
Sarasota’s sparkling skyline just a short drive away. The Van Wezel
Performing Arts Center, The Asolo Theatre, The Ringling Museum, the Sarasota
Ballet and Sarasota Opera are enthusiastically attended and supported by the
culture-loving residents of Longboat Key. Residences range from plush
penthouses and condominiums to beachfront estates and handsome single family
homes in quiet waterfront neighborhoods.
