One of Sarasota’s most admired historic houses has sold after 36 years of ownership by Realtor Pat Taylor.
The Taylor-Whitfield house, at the corner of Bay Shore Road and Indian Beach Drive, sold Thursday for $1.51 million.
Taylor, a Coldwell Banker real estate agent, listed the 4,000-square-foot house on a walled and gated half-acre of land in May 2013 at $4.5 million.
She reduced the price on at least two occasions — most recently to $1,775,000 — before making the sale. The buyer was represented by Jeff Weller of Michael Saunders & Co.
The yellow Spanish-style house was one of the finest in the city when it was built in 1926 during the Florida Land Boom. It was built by J.G. Whitfield, brother of the man who developed Whitfield Estates.
The house has oak floors, vintage furnishings, interesting architectural details inside and out (including a copper-clad porch roof, a porte cochere, and bay views over a lush landscape.
It even has a basement.
The Whitfield-Taylor House is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, and has been featured on many home tours over the years.
It was selected as the prettiest house in the city by readers of the Herald-Tribune in a poll two years ago.
Taylor told the Herald-Tribune last year that she discovered the house in 1976 while touring the neighborhood on bicycle with her two sons.
“When we got to this house, my heart literally stopped beating,” said Taylor. “I got up on my bike across the street and I just stood there and looked at this house, and I said, ‘God, I hope someday you will let me own this house,’” Taylor recalled.
Her prayer was answered two years later.
