One of Sarasota's most beloved houses has come on the market after being in the same ownership for 35 years.
Coldwell Banker agent Pat Taylor has listed her own house, the historical Whitfield-Taylor House, at 2704 Bay Shore Road, at $4.5 million. The house, owned by just three families, has 4,000 square feet of living area, with oak floors, vintage furnishings, interesting architectural details inside and out, and bay views over a lush, walled landscape.
It is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, and has been featured on many home tours over the years. It was built in 1926 by the brother of the man who developed Whitfield Estates.
The Herald-Tribune featured the house in its February coverage of the 2013 Historic Homes Tour presented by the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation. Excerpts from that article:
The Whitfield-Taylor House on Bay Shore Road at Indian Beach Road in Sarasota. Historically designated, it is listed for sale at $4.5 million. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 2-20-2013.
Pat Taylor remembers the first time she saw it. The three arched windows, the elegant proportions and symmetry, the original barrel-tile roof -- all shimmering in the sunlight.
It was 1976, and the house at 2704 Bay Shore Road in Sarasota was 51 years old, built during the Florida land boom by J.G. Whitfield, whose brother, L.B., developed Whitfield Estates. A newcomer to Sarasota, Pat Taylor was exploring with her two young children on their bicycles and headed to Indian Beach.
This outdoor table at the Whitfield-Taylor House is from the Acacias, the demolished mansion of Bertha Palmer's parents. Staff photo / Harold Bubil.
"When we got to this house, I still remember it, my heart literally stopped beating," said Taylor, her native South Carolina accent dripping with charm. "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.'
"Two years later my Realtor called and said, 'You know that 'love house' you have picked out? It is on the market, but there are two offers on it already.'"
The living room of the Whitfield-Taylor House on Bay Shore Road in Sarasota. It has come on the market at $4.5 miilion. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 2-20-2013.
Promptly, Pat and John Taylor met the real estate agent at the house. "We wrote an offer on the hood of her car," Pat Taylor recalls. "And she said, 'John, this offer is not enough. It is going to go for more than that.' But at that moment, my faith was so strong, and I said, 'You know what? That house is mine, Phyllis.'"
Indeed it was. The owner was on a cruise, but she had given her lawyer power of attorney. "So we went in and talked to him," Taylor recalls, "and my Realtor called me the next afternoon and said, 'I am about to faint on the floor. Your offer was the lowest offer, and do you know what? You've got that house.' I said, 'Oh, I knew I was going to get it.' I am a woman of very strong faith."
OK, Florida natives, this is called a basement -- a space beneath ground level where items can be stored. The Whitfield-Taylor House is one of the few in the region that has one. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 2-20-2013.
The offer accepted by Charles Jr. and Althea Black was $135,000, the sale closed on May 1, 1978, and the Taylor family became the third to inhabit the house. (Charles Black Sr., an oil company executive, bought the house from the Whitfield family. Whitfield died in the house in 1943.)
"It's worth a bit more than that now," said Taylor. "But it's not worth as much as it means to me, though."
In Pat Taylor's 35 years of residence, the Whitfield-Taylor house has been featured on a half-dozen home tours.
Grate over the front-door window at the Whitfield-Taylor Home in Sarasota. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 2-20-2013.
Built by Russell Currin, a noted builder of the 1920s boom period, the Whitfield-Taylor House was selected by the Herald-Tribune as the area's "prettiest house" in 2011.
The house has classic Mediterranean-style features -- extensive wrought-iron details, most of the original fenestration and extensive bas relief.
Ron McCarty, curator of Cà d'Zan, the John and Mable Ringling mansion in Sarasota, said the house may have been designed by Cà d'Zan's architect, Dwight James Baum, or it may have been done by Sarasota's most prolific and influential architect of the pre-war era, Thomas Reed Martin. But McCarty said there is no paperwork to support either assertion.
"There are many features that are similar to Cà d'Zan," said Taylor. "It certainly has the charm of Cà d'Zan.
But not the size. At 4,000 square feet, it is more than 30,000 square feet smaller.
Copper roof at the Whitfield-Taylor House. Staff photo / Harold Bubil; 2-20-2012.
Taylor said the most interesting feature of the house was a copper roof over a porch that reflected sunlight "like a copper penny after a dozen coats of paint were removed." The roof, she says, is original, although broken tiles have been replaced by some found in Boca Raton.
As the house is historically designated, Taylor makes sure that every fix or improvement she makes to the house is approved by the history experts.
"We have done no restorations, except to cut through the fireplace and install gas logs. The floors are original. The tiles are the original tiles. The bathrooms are original.
"I have had good fortune with this house, and it has required very few replacements. Everybody who has lived in this house has maintained it with nothing but love and dedication. I am just a caretaker now."
