The big listings are starting to move in the Sarasota real estate market.
A bayfront modernist landmark, at 1452 Hillview Drive in Harbor Acres, closed Monday at $7 million after 100 days on the market. It was the third house sale of $6 million or more in the region since January.
Kim and Michael Ogilvie of Michael Saunders & Co. represented the seller, Mollie Nelson. John Woodward of Sarasota Real Estate Group brought in the buyers, Mark and Kim Standish. Mark Standish is president and co-chief executive of RBC Capital Markets.
In the past eight months, four landlocked homes in Harbor Acres have sold for $1.13 to $1.95 million. In October, two waterfront homes sold for $4.5 million and $7.5 million -- the latter an 8,400-square-foot mansion next door to the house that sold Monday.
The Standish house was listed at $7.9 million by Saunders. It has five bedrooms and five bathrooms and 3 half-baths in 6,728 square feet of living area. It is on 1.6 acres that are is dotted with oak trees, has 206 feet of shoreline and features an infinity-edge pool that "spills" into the bay. The open floor plan is covered in travertine marble.
Phil Skirball designed the house, which was built by commercial contractor W.G. Mills in 1997 for Mollie and the late Bob Nelson, who founded the local ABC television affiliate.
"It has a wonderful view and is a great house for entertaining," Woodward said. "The Nelsons had something going on there almost every month."
"There was nothing else like it in our marketplace," said Kim Ogilvie. "To be on two lots in Harbor Acres, with southern exposure, with an iconic house -- it was not a surprise to us that it sold so quickly."
Ogilvie said the "funny thing" about the sale is that although Kim Standish "doesn't even like contemporary architecture, its clean lines and timeless design really hooked her."
The market for homes priced at that level is gaining momentum. In January, a mansion on New Pass at 1219 Westway Drive in Lido Shores sold for $6.3 million. A week ago, "Snook Inn," on Siesta Key's Flamingo Avenue, sold for $10 million.
"This much activity in the upper end of the market" -- starting at $5 million -- "is a sign that it is back," said Ogilvie, who teamed with her husband to sell about $50 million worth of residential property last year.
"The $3 and $4 million properties are more of that lower-tier of luxury," she said. "The $3 million market is quite vigorous."
As for the effect on the remainder of the market?
"A rising tide lifts all boats," she said.
