This updated 1925 house at 1713 Hawthorne Street in Sarasota is listed at $ 1,090,000 through Susan McLeod of Michael Saunders & Co. It has four bedrooms and three baths in 2,712 square feet of air-conditioned area with a detached parking structure, large porches and a private pool. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 5-6-2013.
The West of the Trail residential area around Sarasota Memorial Hospital, bordered by Orange Avenue, Hillview and Bahia Vista Streets and U.S. 41, doesn’t have a neighborhood name. Yet, it is one of the most charming residential sections in the county.
PHOTO GALLERY: See more photos from Sarasota Heights neighborhood
It also was part of an interesting jurisdictional conflict that arose early in Sarasota’s history.In 1916, three years after it incorporated as a city (14 years after incorporating as a town), Sarasota passed an ordinance extending its corporate limits to include all of Bungalow Hill.
At the time, that section included the area from what is now Tamiami Trail to the bayfront and from Hudson Bayou to Orchid Street, north of Siesta Drive.
Property owners protested the annexation, figuring they wouldn’t get much in return for the extra taxes they would have to pay. With approval of the state legislature, they incorporated as a separate town, Sarasota Heights, in 1917.Sarasotans labeled Heights residents as tax dodgers but lost the legal battle to have the incorporation voided.
A new modernist house designed by architect Greg Wall on Hawthorne Street in Sarasota. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 5-6-2013.
The “secession” didn’t last long, though. In the midst of the Florida real estate boom, the residents decided that the benefits of becoming part of Sarasota outweighed the disadvantages. In 1925, they gave up incorporation and Sarasota Heights ceased to exist, becoming part of Greater Sarasota. The last mayor, J.W. Harvey, was given a seat on Sarasota’s City Council.
Since then, Sarasota Heights has seen the development of a number of prestigious, historic neighborhoods, including Avondale, Harbor Acres, McClellan Park and Cherokee Park, but the “hospital area” never received its own designation.
Nonetheless, it is a popular spot with those in the know.
“The No. 1 reason for that is its close location to the hospital, Southside Village and downtown Sarasota,” said Donald Geikie, a Realtor with Michael Saunders & Co. who, with Dana Westmark, has had a number of listings in the area.
Another key attraction is Southside Elementary School.
This 1925 house on Hawthorne Street in Sarasota has been renovated and added to recently. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 5-6-2013.
All of these amenities, as well as Siesta Key beaches, shopping centers on the Trail and Sarasota’s many cultural offerings, are either within walking distance or a short drive away.
Another attraction is the magnificent foliage and “old Florida” feel. Banyan trees, live oaks, palms and pine trees abound. Generously sized backyards have large patios, swimming pools without cages and shaded gazebos.
“It’s a quiet, friendly neighborhood. People walk their dogs and talk to one another,” Geikie said.Residents — a mix of retirees, empty nesters and working professionals and their families — tend to be people who were familiar with the area before they moved there. In some cases, they had visited Sarasota for years, or they grew up here and like West of the Trail because they know the lifestyle it offers.
Because of its history, the area also has a variety of architectural styles. Spanish Revival homes from the 1920s sit next to bungalows with gabled roofs, wrap-around porches and shutters next to the windows.
There are also ranch homes going back to the 1940s and 1950s, as well as recent Mediterranean-style mansions and several modernist houses, including the one architect Guy Peterson and builder Dean Thompson just finished on the corner of Prospect Street and Orange Avenue.
Morton's Market in the "Southside Village" shopping area is an amenity for residents of the "hospital area" of Sarasota. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 5-14-2013.
Many of the buildings have quaint and unusual histories. The spacious New England bungalow at 1715 Prospect St., listed by Roberta Tengerdy of Sotheby’s International Realty, dates from 1926. One of its longtime owners, a Latin and English teacher at Sarasota High School, was a small child when she watched it being towed up the Intracoastal Waterway and pulled to its present site.
The million-dollar home Geikie and Westmark list at 1539 S. Orange was the original Scottish School House. Built in 1925, it was rolled on logs from Phillippi Creek to its present location. It is also unusual for sitting on a 20,000-square-foot lot. Most of the other properties are 10,000 to 12,000 square feet.
Both properties, like others in the area, have been expanded and extensively remodeled inside while maintaining their historical integrity on the outside.
With its eclectic blend of million-dollar mansions and smaller homes valued at $500,000 and up, the hospital area is pricey. “The dirt is more expensive here than in many other places around town,” Geikie joked.
Currently, nine homes are on the market, ranging from $520,000 to $1.2 million. One condo is for sale on Hillview Street, listed at $179,000.
“If you want character, charm and location, you get it here,” Geikie said.
