Its owners call it “the annex.” The 5,000-square-foot residence is owned by its next-door neighbors in Siesta Key’s secluded Point Crisp enclave, Ken and Claudia Bachman.
This kitchen in a house at 1320 Point Crisp Road that is listed at $2.79 million by Stephanie Church of Michael Saunders & Co. (Staff photo / Harold Bubil)
To protect the bay views from their own large house, the Bachmans bought the property in 2003, when it came on the market and just as the real estate boom was gaining steam.
The 0.58-acre site already had a 1953 house that had been renovated a couple of times, including an addition by architect Carl Abbott in the early 1990s.
“It was in good condition, but it was only 3,200 square feet,” Ken Bachman said. “We were concerned that if somebody bought the house, they would tear it down and build a house like ours. That would have been OK, but we wouldn’t have wanted them to build it at the same closeness to the bay and block our view north” over the Point Crisp peninsula to the northern reaches of Little Sarasota Bay.
“Our interest in the house was in preserving the location, the first-floor aspect (it was built on grade at 8 feet of elevation) and to build a very attractive, modern home.”
So they hired a progressive modernist ar
chitect named James Bowen to extensively remodel the house. Bowen, who now lives in Portland, Oregon, took the house almost to the foundation and built a structure that still looks brand new, with open spaces and big views through double-height walls of glass.
“We call it ‘The Annex’ because it is sitting on the same property as our house,” with a shared shell driveway, Ken Bachman said. “We didn’t want to call it the 1320 Point Crisp Investment Home, so we just dubbed it ‘The Annex.’ ”
This house at 1320 Point Crisp Road is listed at $2.79 million by Stephanie Church of Michael Saunders &Co. (Staff photo / Harold Bubil)
Unfortunately for the Bachmans, they missed the chance to sell the house for a profit when the real estate market crashed in 2007. Since then, it has been rented to several tenants, but is currently vacant.
It doesn’t seem vacant, though. The house and its lush grounds are meticulously maintained.
That comes at a cost, though, especially with a waterfront house of this size. So the Bachmans have the property listed at $2.79 million through Stephanie Church of Michael Saunders & Co.
The price was cut by $210,000 on May 19; Church listed the property at $3.25 million in January 2014. Well before that, the former Sky Sotheby’s brokerage had it listed at $4.25 million.
“It is a beautiful house,” said Church, who had several showings last week. “It is not one that jumped out at me originally, but over time I have really grown to like this house a lot. Modern houses are growing on me. The more I am in them, the more I like them.”
Modern is exactly what the Bachmans wanted. And Bowen was an ideal fit.
“Like most architects, James was strong-willed, which I liked, but open enough to provide input, because he wanted to design the home based on what our objectives were,” Ken Bachman said. “He knew our objective was to make it look like a brand new home on grade, and make it quite modern. Our own house is contemporary and modern, and this house is even more so.”
The main level has two guest suites, formal living and dining rooms, a gourmet kitchen and an exercise area.
Upstairs, the house has two master suites, the larger with a “spa-like” master bath.
It has polished concrete floors and huge walls of glass with spectacular views toward the waterfront, which is fringed with mangroves.
“James did all the exterior design,” Bachman said. “He worked with several window companies to make sure we could put up the window wall that we ultimately did, within the building requirements.
“It is fabulous. You walk in and see nothing but blue sky and puffy clouds and the bay. He just did a terrific job.”
The Bachmans, who built, owned and operated five Eager Beaver car washes in the Sarasota area, provided input on the floor plan.
“But James did a fabulous job of integrating everything,” he said.
