RECORD NUMBER OF SALES
ANNETTE & ALBERT AYERS SET RECORD NUMBER OF SALES
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The case for Casey Key
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Dave Balut, Tampa Bay's 10 News
Tampa Bays 10 News By:Dave Balut |
Unique Homes Cover Story: Opulence on the Water
By Camilla McLaughlin November 2005 On Casey Key, Fla., this 2-acre compound is as much private resort as it is family home. Frontage on both the Gulf of Mexico and Little Sarasota Bay affords water views from all the main rooms of the home as well as sandy beaches, a boat dock and east-west water views. The Italianate design of the home lends itself to the mix of casual and elegant. Curves, arches, interior balconies, coffered or vaulted ceilings enliven but don't overwhelm. Spacious rooms, ideal for entertaining, also include architectural details that create intimate spaces, like the area in front of the family room fireplace, that is sheltered by a lower ceiling. Ask Annette Ayers, who is listing the home for Michael Saunders & Company, about outstanding features and she points to the kitchen. The space is huge, 42-by-28 foot, but it has two defined cooking areas. One, located adjacent to a casual atrium dining area, is intended for family use while the entire area can accommodate a large catering staff. A wine room which has a tasting area highlighted by leaded and stained glass has a walk-in cooler for 2,500 bottles. An entertainment wing includes a billiards room, poker room, gym with lap pool and home theater. Four en-suite bedrooms on the second floor share a living room. The master suite with multiple rooms is a private getaway and even includes a sunset room oriented to capture the last rays of the day. A full complement of outdoor amenities includes a putting green, 28-by-40 foot resort-style pool and spa, competition Har-Tru tennis court and a boat house with boat and wave-rider lifts. In addition to the main house, the compound includes a two-bedroom guest house, staff quarters for four and a 15-car garage. In spite of its prominence, the home still blends with the old Florida ambiance of Casey Key. "Private and exclusive" is the way Ayers, a 20-year resident, describes the island, which she says is "all single-family homes with wonderful quiet walking beaches. Property ownership extends right down to the waterline, so the only people you see on the beach are residents." This location might be an oasis of privacy, yet two bridges link the island to the mainland. Sarasota is 12 miles away. Privacy and exclusivity have a price, which makes Casey Key very expensive by West Coast Florida standards. Even a cottage on a land-locked interior lot is apt to fetch more than $1.5 million. However, with prices here still somewhat less than prime waterfront elsewhere, at $20 million this month's cover home might very well be a bargain. This stunning Gulf-to-Bay estate is the jewel of Casey Key, a beautiful barrier island located just off of the Sarasota mainland, but just minutes from all of the restaurants and shops that you could possibly desire. Set on 2 prime waterfront acres, this majestic mansion was designed to offer the ultimate balance of privacy and perfection with its central location between a lush private beach on the Gulf of Mexico and tranquil bay. Abundant windows and French doors combined with cathedral and coffered ceilings create a spacious and airy feeling in this eight-bedroom, nine-bath estate that features gulf or bay views from every room. This expansive 15,025-square-foot home's dramatic foyer with twin winding staircases, custom iron detail and 22-light chandelier is the perfect introduction to the elegant interior. Designed with family, friends and entertaining in mind, the home offers a 1,200-square-foot state-of-the-art gourmet kitchen with dual cooking stations that is truly a chef's dream. Complete with four fireplaces, this extraordinary estate also features a game room, media room, exercise room with an indoor lap pool and a 2,500-bottle wine room. Outside, the amenities continue amid lush grounds enhanced by a competition tennis court, putting green, private beach, boat house, dock and two boat slips. Nestled near the resort-style pool and relaxing spa is the two-bedroom, two-bath pool house complete with a kitchen and Jacuzzi tub. Truly a once-in-a-lifetime offering. $20,000,000. © 2005 Unique Homes Unique Homes Cover Story: Opulence on the Water |
Beachombing---from the Sarasota Herald Tribune
March 9, 2003 by Dorothy Stockbridge-Pratt Jerry and Rita Collins want to build a new house, so they've listed their year-old mansion at 1804 Casey Key Road with Annette and Albert Ayers for $12 million. Right, views of the interior of the house. Casey Key homeowners scour the shore for opportunites to build "world-class" houses. Annette Ayers has noticed an interesting phenomenon about the owners who list their Casey Key homes. "They're not leaving the island. Often, they're building a new 'world-class' home nearby," said the Michael Saunders & Company associate. Like Ayers, the owners have fallen under the spell of the island, where special homes on the Gulf or bay become more valuable every year. "When I first came over the bridge and turned down Casey Key Road, I was struck by the beauty and peacefulness," said Jerry Collins. Thirty days later he and his brother, Joe, had bought a house that they took turns visiting until they turned over their Indiana-based wholesale satellite business to their children. Now retired, they each have a home on the island. Jerry and his wife, Rita, are preparing to build a new one. They've listed their year-old, technology-packed home at 1804 Casey Key Road with Annette and Albert Ayers for $12 million. That would be a record sale for the Ayerses, whose $5.75 million sale in 1993 set a Sarasota County record that stood for several years. They participated in the highest residential sale in Sarasota County in 2002: their listing of Henry Rodriguez's Gulf-front home for $6.5 million. Cindy Hawthorne of Signature Investment Properties brought in the buyer. A few blocks south, at 1416 Casey Key Road, they're listing Deborah and Walton Beacham's 1998 Villa Toscana for $7.5 million. The Beachams already have their new home under construction on another choice Gulf-front site. Villa Toscana, with its Old World finishes, is on the cover of the duPont Registry of Fine Homes publication. It's on an acre of Gulf-to-Bay property where they saved and enhanced the gardens of a tear-down house. Inspired by their travels in Italy, the 7,000-square-foot house has another 2,500 square feet in grand entertainment porches and decks. A cabana adjoins the 18- by 34-foot pool. They imported 54 8-foot mahogany doors (some with stained-glass insets) from Brazil and the barrel-tile roof from Venezuela. The 65 hand-carved columns used inside and out came from Mexico, as did the 22-foot carved stone fireplace in the dramatic courtyard-dining area. An 11-foot fountain and twin stone lavatories in the master also are Mexican. A circular staircase leads to guest rooms with Mexican-tiled baths and hand-painted ceramic sinks. The carved built-ins in the Renaissance library and its double doors also came from Mexico, along with the carved mesquite front doors. Railings and gates are hand-forged wrought iron. Architect LeeAnn Ferguson remained true to the Tuscan influence by keeping the front of the home simple; she put the columns, arches and terraces on the back, facing the 150 feet of bayfront. The "fresco" exterior is finished with four dyes on a crushed stone and polymer material that need no painting or care. Corbels, eaves and veranda ceilings are cypress. Pro Tile of Osprey patterned cement floors to look like intricate stone. Wide cypress boards are on the master floor. Erica Moore did the faux finishes. The gourmet kitchen has a hood made of Mexican tile with a floral design. Other tile forms a checkerboard. The house has three bedrooms upstairs and two spaces downstairs that could be guest suites. The boat dock is off to the side, where it doesn't block the view. The separate studio/exercise room could be nanny quarters.
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Beachcombing continued
Why are they moving? "Walton gets the bug and has to build," explained Deborah. Walton has an engineering degree from Georgia Tech, has been a college professor and now has a reference-book publishing company with his wife. Ferguson and Bill Bell Construction are working on the new house. The Beachams moved from Washington to Casey Key in 1994. Jerry Collins says he wants to build again on Casey Key "because I had so much fun" working with contractors Mike and C.J. Mayer. "I need a bigger garage," he added, but his present faux-painted garage has room for five cars and lifts for two more. His favorite vehicle is the red Lamborghini. The house the Collins are listing for $12 million is packed with high-tech features. When he's back in Marion, Ind., he can call up the home's Web site and see if workmen were there when they said they were. Surveillance cameras record and store pictures for one month. In residence, he can rotate the cameras to check out the beach cabana, pool area, front door and various rooms. Switches control mood lighting and turn on numerous fountains, the pool and spa. The gentleman's library has a computer center and an electric cabinet that raises and rotates a television. But water and pool views may be more impressive. A dramatic sunset room upstairs, with wet bar, has both Gulf and bay views. It opens to covered terraces with balustrades. The master suite also has Gulf and bay views. The master features a coffered ceiling and marble bath with spa tub, dual showers and bayside outdoor shower. The huge closet has glass-front cabinets. "This home has the most magnificent pool I've ever seen," Ayers said. Designed by Lee Miller and built by Wade Barwick, the curving pool has a vanishing edge, spa, waterfalls, lion fountains and fiber-optic lighting. It adjoins a summer kitchen and overlooks the bay and dock for a 50-foot vessel plus two boat lifts and personal water-craft lift. On the Gulf, an existing cabana was remodeled; new cabanas are no longer allowed. The main house is walled and gated with a columned entrance complete with portico, fountains and paver drive. The wooden double leaded-glass doors lead to sweeping views inside. Main-room floors are polished stone with coral stone columns, custom moldings and fireplace. Coral stone balustrades accent the exterior. Yoder Kitchens of Indiana did the cabinets throughout the house and has since contracted for six jobs on Casey Key. The kitchen features granite tops, top name appliances, two extra dishwasher drawers, a grinder/coffee maker, two breakfast bars and informal dining overlooking the bay. Downstairs is a 12-seat home theater, a wine cellar and guest space. Rita Collins decorated the home and chose faux-painted walls by Hampton Enterprises. The dining room ceiling looks like it's tented. Each of the bedroom suites has its own balcony. Architect George Merlin worked with the owners.
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