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SOLD! A second Siesta Key property made headlines recently when the estate site at 8132 Sanderling Road

sold for $3.4 million after an original list price of $3,995,000. The grounds measure more than 1.7 acres and stretch from Heron Lagoon to the Gulf of Mexico, with 150 feet of beautiful walking beachfront and mature specimen trees. The gated enclave of Sanderling offers a private beach club, tennis and boat docks. The property was listed by Linda Dickinson of Michael Saunders & Company and sold by Joel Schemmel of SKY Sotheby’s International Realty.

HISTORY HOOK

Mary Rockwell Hook is reputed to be among the first, if not the first, female contractor in Florida, and her name graces Sandy Hook, one of Siesta Key’s most established neighborhoods. So it is something of a big deal that her former home is currently listed for sale with Brad Kayser of Re/Max Alliance Group. “Mary designed the house with architect Peter Keleti, and she did some very interesting and experimental things with glass on the water side,” explains Kayser, who happened to grow up in Sandy Hook himself. “This two-story residence and guest house have been a part of the landscape since Sandy Hook was developed back in the 1950s. I remember riding past the place on my bike, heading to the beach to dive or fish or swim when I was younger and then later to hang out with my friends. Sandy Hook was a very special place [in which] to grow up.” Built in 1956-57, the Hook house has five bedrooms and two baths in 4,351 square feet of living area. It could be lovingly refurbished by someone with a penchant for Sarasota modern architecture, or, with its nearly 40,000-square-foot lot and 274 linear feet of waterfront, it offers an opportunity for an estate-sized new home. The list price is $4.5 million.

WHAT’S COOKING?

Want to stir things up at your client’s next open house? Lynn and Michael McDonald of Premier Properties of Southwest Florida got things cooking on Bird Key with an Iron Chef competition that drew more than 100 of Sarasota’s top realtors. Celebrity chef judges, culinary student competitors, a mouth-watering menu and scholarship money attracted a crowd to 611 Owl Way for a deliciously different sales pitch. The evening started with a wine tasting, sampling of olive oils and several signature dishes prepared by Eloquent Entrée chef Blake Ellis. Local culinary students Lesa-sa Melaos and Charles Coogan then presented their delectable desserts, featuring mango as the secret ingredient. The dishes were savored by the audience and judged by executive chefs Andrea Bozzolo of Divino’s, Shane Dabney of Cosimo’s and Maurizio Colucci of Primo. Winner Cogan was awarded a $500 scholarship, and a very satisfied crowd dubbed the event a triumph of good taste. The McDonalds plan to do more creative marketing, because “selling a client’s home should be a special event.”

REAL ESTATE RAINBOW

The Gay Real Estate Executive Network, or G.R.E.E.N., has introduced its new interactive Web site at www.gayrealestateexecutivenetwork.com. Founded in Sarasota in 2005, G.R.E.E.N. is a nonprofit organization of gay and gay-friendly real estate professionals providing confidential and specialized real estate services to a domestic and international clientele. The new Web site includes listings from all of the area’s major real estate companies.

CLOSING FAST

Longtime Casey Key property expert Tom Stone this spring listed and sold the most expensive Casey Key property to date this year—in less than two weeks. The 4,000-square-foot beachfront estate, a masterpiece of classic modern design by the Chicago firm of Binkley Associates, previously belonged to the late philanthropist Rhoda Pritzker. An accomplished journalist who wrote for the BBC and the Associate Press of Great Britain, Pritzker was the widow of Chicago lawyer and businessman Jack Pritzker, whose family founded the Hyatt hotel chain. The Pritzkers’ Casey Key home was completed in the 1970s, remained in the Pritzker family for four decades and has never before been on the market. The house and its large beachfront terrace command a sweeping view of the Gulf of Mexico from a rocky promontory overlooking a magnificent strand of Casey Key Beach. The residence was listed on Feb. 20 for $4.75 million and went under contract March 3. The sale price: $4.5 million.

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