SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — Some residents in one Sarasota neighborhood are celebrating a win after the county's commissioners voted to approve moves toward selling one historic house to save another.
It is part of an ongoing, larger push by community stakeholders in both the city and the county to preserve old buildings and Sarasota's history and heritage.
When going down Vamo Drive, one is transported back into the 1920s at the sight of the quaint, architectural splendor in the buildings on the street.
With the county commissioners' decision to have staff look into negotiating with potential buyers of one of the long-abandoned homes, neighbors hope the street's historic aesthetics would be maintained.
"There are so few streets like this left in Florida and you know it's easier a lot of times to demolish and rebuild a house than to restore and preserve it," said Jane Reifert, a Vamo Drive neighbor.
Reifert has lived in the area for more than 12 years. When the issue of the two homes at the end of the street came up, she and her neighbors joined local historians to convince county leaders to buy the land in 2018.
The property had the Vamo Lodge, an eight-room lodge that started as a family home, but later became a hub for the fishing community, was turned into a passive park.
The neighbors wanted to stave off developers and preserve the historic homes, but the county's need for water access for the park equally posed a threat.
"I don't believe you should demolish a house for a parking lot because you are demolishing history," said Nancy Deforge, Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation.
The community working with both SAHP and the director of Parks, Recreation & Natural Resources for the Sarasota County Government came up with other plans to present to county leaders.
One favored plan was to sell the 1710 Vamo Drive single-family, Mediterranean Revival home built in 1925 to save the Vamo Lodge, which was built around 1900.
"Take the proceeds from that sale and then put the Vamo Lodge on the Historic register locally so that they can apply for Florida grants that will help add money to this money from the sale of that house to restore the lodge," said Deforge.
County leaders expressed approval of the idea at their meeting in Venice on Tuesday, giving the nod for parks and recs staff to revisit and negotiate a proposal sent in last year by interested buyers.
"That is going to be unbelievably beautiful. You're going to have kayakers. You're going to have paddle borders. Absolutely a very tranquil area, and certainly the architecture down there on all those houses that are very individual. I think whoever it is, if these individuals go through, they're going do a great job and it's going to look very beautiful," said Joe Neunder, District 4 (Vice Chair) Sarasota County Commissioner.
Among the features expected once the lodge is restored would be public restrooms and access ramps. The park's surrounding area would be restored, and a small portion of the property would be carved out for small watercraft launch and parking.
"It allows it to be saved, to be historically renovated and have a win-win for the neighbors and the community moving forward," said Nicole Rissler, Director of Parks, Recreation, and Natural Resources at Sarasota County.
According to the neighbors who met the intended buyer, they are a couple who specialize in restoring old homes. They plan to live in the Vamo Drive house and raise their two young children.
"Really it's just that it's old Florida. It's nature, they're big lots. I cannot imagine myself living anywhere else than here on Vamo Drive," Reifert said.
Since 2020, with its Six-to-Save initiative, the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation has saved around four of nearly two dozen threatened historic buildings in Sarasota County.