Overshadowed by its high-profile neighbors, including Cherokee Park, San Remo Terrace and the Flower Streets, the Shoreland Woods/Lake Park neighborhood hardly gets a second glance from beachgoers who have just crossed the Siesta Bridge and are eager to get home and shower after a sandy day in the sun.
Hidden among a canopy of oaks, the little enclave is consists of Old Oak Drive, Spring Creek Drive and Shoreland Drive north of Siesta Drive and west of Osprey Avenue.
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Fine estate properties are on Old Oak, with gently sloping landscapes that run to the mangroves on the edge of Sarasota Bay. A mansion on 2 acres of bayfront, most recently owned by social icon Paulette Crabtree and built in the 1950s for the Wilfred Robarts family (Robarts Sports Arena), sold in April for $2.5 million. It was demolished and is being replaced by a 4,900-square-foot house built by Nutter Custom Construction.
On higher ground, Shoreland and Spring Creek are lined with moderately priced houses, many from the 1950s and ’60s postwar boom. Prices here are in the $400,000s to $800,000s. However, a 2,500-square-foot house built in 2010 at 1760 Spring Creek sold last month for $1.1 million.
A small lake between Spring Creek and Shoreland is bordered by the houses of the Lake Park subdivision.
Realtors and residents tout the neighborhood’s convenience to Siesta Beach and Village, the Southgate mall, Southside School and Village, Sarasota Memorial Hospital and downtown Sarasota.
“Where else can you be five minutes from secluded Shell Beach and five minutes from downtown?” asked Jennifer Linehan. The Michael Saunders & Co. agent has a listing on Old Oak Drive for $488,500. The house was built in 1955 and has been updated. “And you don’t have to worry about crossing the bridge.”
Realtor Debbie Hering has a new listing, open from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, on Spring Creek Drive with a unique feature — a section of the old wooden basketball court from the Sarasota High gym is used as flooring upstairs. It became available when the old court was replaced.
“It has the markings” still on it, said Hering, an agent with Horizon International Realty.
“My seller is extremely proud of her home and that special second floor makes it historic in its own way. This home has a lot of character and Florida charm.”
As does the neighborhood.
“It is a premier spot West of the Trail,” said Hering. Although there are no deed restrictions, she said, “everything looks so nice and manicured.”
Shoreland Woods has an interesting mix of homes, from postwar ranches — the oldest dating to 1948 — to a modernist house that is right next door.
Linehan said the neighborhood is enhanced by shell middens on properties that reach to the bay. One home, she said, “is set forward because of the middens. They are marked, and there are at least 10. To me that is what makes that neighborhood special — the history.
“The landscape is so different, very lush. The large lots and lovely bay views also set this neighborhood apart from others.”
