Posts Tagged "Longboat Key"
Live from Longboat – 2012
I’m on Longboat Key this week, vacationing with my family. The weather has been amazing, and today is no exception. The forecast says sunny and 83 degrees, and as I write this, I’m sitting in my favorite spot, staring at one of my favorite views. The beach is less than 20 steps away, and this is where we sit and watch the sun set every night. Here are some photos from earlier in the week.
Click image for slideshow...
So, as you can imagine, it’s pretty easy to see why I love this place. But for those of you who have followed me along on my crazy journey, you know about a special little beach house called Villa am Meer that sits quietly and resolutely about a half mile up the beach. MY house… and the impetus for me to quit my career of 20 years and take this great, scary leap of faith.
[For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, it's a long and winding tale that all started with my very first blog post. Start here if you want the whole backstory: Villa am Meer, Chapter 1.]
Ross and I took a walk the other day to go check on my house. Nothing much new to report. A fisherman on the pier told us that a caretaker lives on the property, and as far as he knows, there are no plans to develop it anytime soon. It doesn’t look much different than it did last year at this time:
Me and my house, 2012
There is something new to report, though. Last month, I received an amazing gift via email. A relative of the Kohls who lives in Germany found my blog and sent me several old photos of Villa am Meer, taken back in its heyday.
Enjoy the gift. I’m off to soak up some sun.
Click image to view slideshow
Our last day on Longboat
It’s our last day on Longboat Key, and I can’t believe how fast the week went by. Like every year, I get here and think, “Wow, a whole week! It’s only Saturday, and we have seven more days!” And then, suddenly, it’s Friday, and I think, “Wow. Now how did that happen?” Rats.
A photo from our first sunset last Saturday:
I know I said I was going to update you on the outcome of Hermann Kohl’s national bootlegging trial this week, but that’s a little too time-intensive for my last day of vacation. Instead, I thought I’d just upload a few photos from the field trip that my mom and I took today. Even though it was a perfect, sunny beach day, I really wanted to see the John and Mable Ringling Museum, so that’s what we did. Well… kind of. We actually never made it to the museum because we were too enthralled with Ca d’Zan (“House of John”), the Ringlings’ waterfront mansion on Sarasota Bay.
What a great and tragic love story. John and Mable both came from humble beginnings, but soon became one of the wealthiest couples in America. They were married in 1905, and began work on Ca d’Zan in 1924. Under the artistic direction and ever-watchful eye of Mable, it was completed two years later, in 1926.
In 1927, John and Mable decided to begin construction of a museum to house their ever-growing art collection. John had acquired several hundred valuable works of art while traveling Europe in search of new circus acts.
Sadly, Mable died on June 8, 1929 from complications of Addison’s disease and diabetes. She was only 54 years old. She had spent only three years in the Venetian-inspired palace she had helped design and build.
John was devastated by Mable’s death. Only four months later, the great stock market crash of 1929 hit and the Florida land boom went bust. Times were hard for the Ringling Brothers’ Barnum & Bailey Circus, and John had been a bit reckless in his financial dealings. Construction of the Ritz-Carlton hotel he’d been building on Longboat Key was halted permanently. It stood vacant for almost 40 years before it was finally torn down in 1964. (Today, it is the site of the Longboat Key Club resort.)
John had to borrow money to complete the construction of Mable’s beloved art museum. In October 1931, “The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art” was officially opened to the public. Five years later, John Ringling bequeathed his art collection, Ca d’Zan mansion and entire estate to the people of the State of Florida.
Read much more about the Ringlings and their art museum at this link:
http://www.ringling.org/
Joy at the main entrance to Ca d'Zan (House of John)
Mable picked out the colors of the window panels which glow from every room of the house
John and Mabel had no children, but considered their two pet birds as children
The Tap Room saw a lot of action, even though it was the Prohibition era
Joy and Kathy on back patio of Ca D'Za
Marble staircase leading out to Sarasota Bay
Kathy showing off the waterfront side of Ca d'Zan
Railing detail on marble staircase
Mable Ringling's Secret Garden
Final resting place of John and Mable Ringling, and John's sister, Ida Ringling North. (We wondered where Mr. North was... I'll have to get to the bottom of that.)
Until next time… we’ll miss you Longboat Key! XOXO
Read MoreLive from Longboat!
An update on Villa Am Meer
It’s Tuesday morning and I’ve finally had some time to exhale and catch up on my sleep. We arrived here on Longboat Key Saturday afternoon and have enjoyed beautiful, perfect weather every day. Today we woke up to our first day of clouds, so I decided to take the opportunity to write a quick update about Villa Am Meer.
(Achtung! Spoiler alert! If you have no idea what I’m talking about, click the link at the very top of my blog that says “villa am meer” to start from the beginning.)
On Sunday, Ross and I took our first daily amble down the beach. I was anxious to see “my house,” as well as the new concrete piers (groins) they installed last year, so I brought my camera along. We were a little bummed because we’d heard The Colony Resort had closed, so we were keeping an eye out for a new “margarita stop.” (If anyone knows of a place, please let us know.)
Here’s the view as we were just starting out. You can see the concrete groins up ahead. That’s where we’re headed. Villa Am Meer is the first property past those groins.
Here’s a Google map of where we’re headed. That’s Villa Am Meer at the bottom right of the map (the house closest to the beach with the long driveway off Gulf of Mexico Drive).
Once we reach the groins, you can see the tall palm trees on the property. That’s the Islander Club on the left. Notice how close to the water that resort is compared to the rest. That’s why they had to put the groins in… to prevent erosion of the beachfront. These days, new properties are required to be built much further back.
Ross decided to check out the new pier/groin…
Finally, we approach Villa Am Meer. Trying hard not to look like a creeper, I decide to take a few videos:
Later, on another walk, we noticed a young couple enjoying the beach, directly in front of Villa Am Meer. We introduced ourselves and learned they are now living on the property and maintaining it, though it is still owned by a separate company. They confirmed there are no plans to develop the property anytime soon. (Yay!)
So… all good news for Villa Am Meer at the moment! Later this week… an answer to the question, was Hermann Kohl or his company, Norda Essential Oils and Chemical Company, ever convicted of bootlegging? I’ve been to the National Archives in Chicago to find out.
Stay tuned!
Read MoreVilla Am Meer, Chapter 3
Benedict family sells estate in a profitable flip
New here? Start with Chapter 1…
After discovering the August 14, 2006 newspaper article in the Sarasota Herald Tribune (see Chapter 2), I felt I was finally getting somewhere. The article mentioned that a man named Dr. Kohl, an investor in Tropicana, had originally built the house in 1935. His daughter, Elena Kohl, married into the Benedict family, and that’s how the home came to be known as the Benedict Estate.
I tried Googling “Elena Kohl Benedict,” but that got me nowhere. So, I tried just “Elena Benedict” and found this story from the August 1, 2006 issue of the Sarasota Herald Tribune. It was printed two weeks prior to the earlier article I had found:
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Longboat Key estate sold for $18 million
Tampa-based developers plan to build 30 townhomes on the Benedict property.
By Stephen Frater, Sarasota Herald Tribune
August 1, 2006 – The posh estate of a former flavor and fragrance magnate — and one of the last largely undeveloped bastions on Longboat Key — has been sold to a Tampa developer for $18 million. The 5.2-acre Benedict property, once owned by the chairman of Norda, has been sold to Jason Woods, president of Statewide Associates, and his father, Arthur. The property has 350 feet of beach along the Gulf of Mexico.
Jason Woods, president of Statewide Associates, and his father, Arthur, plan to turn the 5.2 acres and 350 feet of beach fronting the Gulf of Mexico into a luxury gated community with 30 or so townhomes in several four-story buildings.
The property, with a long driveway spiking out from Gulf of Mexico Drive between the Villa di Lancia and the Islander Club to a 2,300-square-foot home and carriage house, had long been sought after by developers.
The estate at 2251 Gulf of Mexico Drive on the southern half of the barrier island is one of the last of the founding Longboat family estates to be developed.
The Benedict family had earlier sold off numerous acres to the south of the site — the source of the Villa di Lancia condo development’s name.
The $18 million works out to nearly $3.5 million per acre, or, considering that the zoning allows for up to 30 units, about $600,000 per unit.
The new development is to going to be the plural version of the Benedicts’ home, “Villas Am Meer.”
The deal is “great news as far as Longboat Key values are concerned,” said Debra Pitell, a longtime Michael Saunders & Co. real estate agent and a Longboat Key residential property specialist.
Re/Max Properties’ Marc Rasmussen agreed, noting that that there are 15 units pending for sale at $2.5 million or more on Longboat Key.
Although pricey, the deal is not the most ever paid on Longboat Key on a per-unit basis, Jason Woods said.
That distinction belongs to Positano and The Orchid, he said, referring to two other high-end Longboat Key multi-unit developments.
Positano’s cost averaged out at $720,000 for each of its 29 units while each of The Orchid Condominiums works out to $950,000. But on a per-acre basis, the Benedict property is the second-most expensive costing $3.46 million. The Orchid and Positano are $3.5 million and $2.1 million per acre, respectively.
With some of the property sold off before, only the home and carriage house remain on the property formerly owned by Edward E. Benedict, who was chairman of Norda Inc., a privately-owned flavor and fragrance company acquired by Unilever United States in 1985.
Benedict was 78 when he died in 1989 in Manhattan. The Boston native spent his entire career with Norda, becoming chairman in 1971, a post he retained until he retired in 1980.
A 1939 New York University graduate, Benedict was known in New York society circles as a breeder and owner of thoroughbreds and was the founding president of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association.
Benedict and his wife, Elena Duke, had six daughters: Browne and Patricia Benedict, both of Greenwich, Conn.; Diane Benedict, of Elbert, Colo.; Elena Benedict-Smith of Longboat Key; Celeste Pinelli of Manhattan; and Verna Neilson of Kinderhook, N.Y.
Browne’s deal for the family estate was a “direct buyer-seller transaction” — meaning no real estate agents were involved, said Woods, adding that he had known Browne, for “some time.”
Woods said that he and his father have completed about $100 million in developments during the past decade, including hospitality, retail and interior renovations for the St. Petersburg Times Forum in Tampa. The projects included Forum’s XO Club I, the XO Club II and the Budweiser Terrace.
Their Statewide Associates also has been involved with stadium-renovation construction projects, including work for the Florida Panthers, New York Yankees and Denver Broncos.
On the residential side, Statewide is selling units in a Tampa development called Brownstones of Soho.
The Woods have retained Michael Saunders & Co. as the exclusive listing agent for the town houses to be built at Villas Am Meer. They expect prices to range from $2.5 million to $4 million each.
Under that scenario, construction would start next summer with a two-year completion schedule, meaning it would be 2009 before buyers moved in, assuming everything goes as planned.
The property is limited by zoning to 6 units per acre so there will likely be as many as five four-story buildings on the property.
Stateside is meeting with Longboat Key town development officials next month to present preliminary elevations and design concepts.
Each building will have rooftop patios in a resort-style community. Woods says there will also be a communal “lagoon pool” on-site.
A remnant of the original Villa Am Meer will remain: The Benedict house, which stands on the property nearest the beach, will be renovated as a community clubhouse.
——
Ah, relief. Even though my house had been sold, the new owners planned on renovating it to be used as a clubhouse for the new development. Good news, but I still wanted to track down the members of the Benedict family to find out more about the history of the house, who built it, and what it was like to grow up on Longboat Key before the condos took over. I decided to keep digging.
And more good news… I was back on familiar territory. I had names. And with names, I could fire up the old genealogy engine. Ah, yes… familiar territory indeed. I poured myself a glass of wine, logged on to Ancestry.com and got straight to work.
Next time:
Condo project is a no-go, the history of Norda, Inc., and who the heck is Elena Amaducci?
Read MoreVilla Am Meer, Chapter 2
A few dead ends lead to an orange juice story
New here? Start with Chapter 1…
First things first. I wanted to know the history of my house, who built it, and who owned it.
So, one day when the rest of the gang had opted to go golfing, I stopped by the Longboat Key Library to check out their local books.
Sidebar.
Longboat Key Library
My question is… why? Not to take anything away from the diligent and wonderful volunteers who run the library, but if a town like Longboat Key can’t get enough taxpayer support to fund a public library, then what’s this world coming to? But… I digress.
End sidebar.
I started combing through a few of their “Local Interest” books, including Calusas to Condominiums by Ralph Hunter, but I couldn’t find any information. I asked the ladies at the library if they knew anything about the property, but they weren’t familiar with it either. They referred me to the Historical Society down in Whitney Beach Plaza.
So, a few days later, on a wet and rainy morning, I convinced my dad to come along with me to the LBK Historical Society to see if they knew anything about my house. When we arrived, no one was there, but we did find a flyer taped to the window with a phone number of the current board president – Tom Mayers. We called and talked briefly with him, but he wasn’t sure which property we were referring to. We went next door to “Steff’s Stuff” and chatted with her a bit, but she didn’t have any information for us either. She did mention though, that Tom Mayers had grown up on Longboat Key and lived at the historic “Land’s End” property, right before the bridge that takes you to Anna Maria Island. I filed that away for future reference and we went on our merry way.
It was at this point we realized an address would be helpful. So, we drove back toward the old ramshackle cottage, slowly passing condo after condo, looking for the street entrance to the old vintage estate. Of course, we knew it right away when we saw it… stone columns, iron gates, inlaid ceramic tiles. A perfect entrance designed to match the architecture of the house. We wrote down the address on the mailbox and headed to the LBK Town Hall.
They were very gracious and willing to help me at the Town Hall. After doing a few lookups on the computer, the woman there gave me the name and number of the current owner (“BBC Key LLC” out of Northbrook, Illinois). I hurried home and dialed the number, anxious to get some answers to my questions. But of course, as luck would have it, the number had been disconnected.
Bummer. Dead end.
Hmm… now, what would Bosley and the Angels do at a moment like this? Well of course. It was time to start Googling.
Sarasota Herald Tribune, 8/14/2006
The story gets really good from here… and a little mysterious. Here’s the full article:
——-
Lots of local history behind Benedict Estate on Longboat
By Stephen Frater, Sarasota Herald Tribune
August 14, 2006 – Two weeks ago, I reported that the former Benedict Estate on Longboat Key sold for $18 million to Tampa-based developers Statewide Associates.
The developer plans to build up to 30 town homes on the property.
More historical details have been unearthed about the property by Cindy Alegretto, the Herald-Tribune’s news research manager.
The once much-larger property originally was developed as a private estate by a Dr. Kohl in 1935.
In the 1940s, Kohl was said to have been one of the original invetors, along with Italian immigrant Anthony Rossi, in a Manatee County-based citrus business.
Kohl was said to have invested $7,500 for a 49 percent stake in the business, which grew to become one of the largest citrus businesses in the world, Tropicana Products Inc., now a unit of soda giant PepsiCo Inc.
One of Kohl’s daughters, Elena Kohl, married into the Benedict family, which is how the property came to be known as the Benedict estate.
A sharp eyed reader pointed out that the rusted estate’s gate columns still feature the letter “K” in a design motif that outlasted Dr. Kohl’s original Mediterranean villa on the site.
——-
Stay tuned… you’ll learn more about Dr. Kohl, the Benedicts, and the current status of the “Villas Am Meer” condo project…
Oh, and by the way, here’s a link to a large image of that rusted gate. Try as I might, I couldn’t find any K in the motif, even when I looked in real life. Let me know if you can find anything. Be patient, it’s a 2.32MB file, so it may take a while to load.
Read MoreAbout Me
Join me in my sporadic ramblings as I embrace the curious life. Wife of a turkey farmer. Mother of two teenage boys. Avid ponderer. Treasure seeker. Curator of the written word. I enjoy sparking interest in the mundane and uncovering a compelling backstory.
