Listing of the Day
Location: Sarasota, Florida Price: $11.9 million
When it came time to renovate and rebuild their cozy Siesta Key house, Allen and Sandy Davis decided they wanted something with Old World charm and romance.
"I always wanted it to look like an Italian villa," Mr. Davis says. "We worked to make it look as old as we could."
They covered the waterfront compound with 150-year-old tiles rescued from a Spanish cathedral and added vaulted ceilings, tumbled Italian stone floors, cypress beams, hand-painted murals, and glazed walls in warm shades of yellow and brown.
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Outside, the Davises added stately royal palms, vined trellises, a cobblestone courtyard, covered porches, coral walkways, and a 10-foot hand-carved stone pavilion and teak gates.
"It’s got that Old World design," says agent Tamara Currey. "It’s about romance inside and out."
The Davises keep a 57-foot boat at their private dock here and have made many trips to Mexico and the Bahamas. "There are very few deep-water ports in Sarasota," Mr. Davis says. "That’s one of the reasons I bought the house."
"If you’re a boater, you’re 20, 30 feet from your kitchen for loading things in and out," he adds.
And there’s lots of wildlife just outside your door. "We like to watch the manatees and the porpoises come in to feed," Mr. Davis says.
The Stats
The 6,850-square-foot house has six bedrooms, six full bathrooms and two half-baths, Mr. Davis says. The 1962 house sits on a 1.4-acre private peninsula with the bay on three sides. There is also a large air-conditioned garage with room for seven cars.
Amenities
The property has a putting green, a sturdy seawall made of concrete and rebar, a 60-foot heated pool lined with green Venetian glass, and a private, protected mooring designed for a 70-foot yacht.
"You have nearly 800 waterfront feet, and with most of our waterfront properties, you have about 100 feet, maybe 150," Ms. Currey says.
Celebrity Cachet
A recent catalog for designer Lilly Pulitzer was shot here. There have also been GQ magazine photo shoots held at the villa.
Neighborhood Notes
"Sarasota is considered the cultural capital of Florida because of the arts and shows and restaurants, and all of that is within 12 to 15 minutes of this house," Ms. Currey says.
And the white pristine beaches on Siesta Key are regularly ranked as among the best in the country, she says.
Agents: Tamara Currey and Todd Currey, Premier Sotheby's International Realty
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