If you like wide-open spaces, quiet living and counting the stars at night, away from the city lights, there is no better place than Sarasota Ranch Club.
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The community is on the eastern outskirts of Sarasota County. Take Fruitville Road all the way to the end, and go north on Verna Road for a mile or so until you get to Singletary Road. Turn right, and you’ll soon see entrances to the community on either side.
Sarasota Ranch Club was developed in early 2000 on 620 acres of an old cattle ranch. The custom-built homes all sit on a minimum of 10 acres. The area was platted for only 60 units, and many of the original owners bought several lots for their houses. SRC currently has 27 residences.
As a result, Sarasota Ranch Club has a true rural feeling with pastures and ponds and creeks throughout. Century-old oaks are everywhere. Extensive green belts and hammocks offer a home to a variety of wildlife, including deer, rabbits, boar, wild turkeys, bobcats and foxes.
Because Sarasota Ranch Club is an equestrian community, it has six miles of bridle paths, and all of the properties are delineated by attractive white paddock fences. About half of the residents own horses.
“It’s beautiful out here. If you want true country living close to nature, there is no better community than Sarasota Ranch Club,” says Joanna Sternberg, a Realtor with Michael Saunders & Co.
She has lived there since moving from Casey Key 12 years ago, and loves it.
When asked how she and her husband ended up more than 12 miles east of Interstate 75, she laughs and says, “I decided to go shopping with my sister and mother, and he went for a ride in the country, and here we are.”
The homes throughout the neighborhood are luxurious, spacious and as beautiful as their surroundings.
Sternberg’s listing at 2590 Ranch Club Blvd. is a Mediterranean-style jewel. The four-bedroom, 5,400-square-foot house was built in 2002 and is replete with artistic details. The family room has a pine ceiling with hand-painted accents. A billiard room and media area feature a full pub. The spa by the pool, covered by a pergola, includes a water fountain. And the views of the meadows and woods beyond are breathtaking.
Another property, at 21660 Ranch Club Blvd., is listed by Tom Cinquegrano, also with Michael Saunders. The house is an estate mansion befitting a Hollywood celebrity. Built in 2007, the Tuscan-style villa has 7,200 feet under air. There is a movie theater, a walk-in wine cellar and gymnasium. The master bedroom alone is almost the size of a small house.
“One of the people looking at it told me, ‘You ought to sell it to a professional basketball player. Just look at the ceilings!’ ” says Cinquegrano. “It needs someone who wants peace and serenity and something big out east.”
Why would anyone want to move so far afield? “It’s not as far as people think,” says Sternberg. “It’s only 15 minutes to I-75. My husband took longer to get to downtown Sarasota from Casey Key than from here.”
Cinquegrano agrees. “You can get to Lakewood Ranch via Verna Road, and it’s a straight shot to downtown on Fruitville. With everyone moving east, it’s getting closer.”
Sarasota Ranch Club has families whose children attend Pine View School for the Gifted, Lakewood Ranch High School, Booker High and St. Martha’s Catholic School.
Other residents include an equestrian veterinarian and a world-class sharpshooter who both travel extensively. A couple that owns a multi-million dollar home on Longboat Key lives across the street from Sternberg. “That is their waterfront home and this is their country home,” she said.
Deed restrictions require that new houses to have a minimum of 2,400 square feet under air.
Residents can have two cows, but no chickens. They may put up two additional outbuildings of the same architectural style as their homes, but no standalone barns are allowed without a residence on site.
Water and sewer utilities are provided via wells and septic tanks, and there is fiber-optic television service. Homeowners’ association fees are about $400 a quarter, and the reserves for the private roads are well-funded. “It’s a very well-kept community,” says Sternberg.
Currently, three homes are on the market, priced at $1,050,000, $1,295,000 and $2,595,000. Two empty parcels are listed at $132,500 each.
“I can’t think of a better place to live,” said Sternberg.
