By Ilene Denton

Set on the northernmost tip of Longboat Key, Longbeach Village is an eclectic old neighborhood comprised entirely of single-family homes, including a smattering of beach cottages and Sears poured-block homes dating back to the 1930s, even a one-room schoolhouse that’s been converted into a residence.

Some 40 peacocks roam the Village streets, and the only public boat launch on Longboat Key is here. Two old-Florida seafood eateries, Moore’s Stone Crab Restaurant and MarVista, are here on the bayfront. The Longboat Key Center for the Arts, now managed by Ringling College of Art and Design, offers art classes and exhibits.

“Longbeach Village has an independent spirit,” says Leslie Russell of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty. “It feels a little more eclectic, a little more artistic; it appeals to people who want a yard, a garden and a place for the dog.”

Inventory is very low, Russell reports, and most of the homes currently on the market have been so “for a long, long time,” she says. “They’re fixer-uppers, and it’s harder for people looking for a second home on a resort island to want to do that type of work.”

Conversely, she says, “If the home is in great shape and if the price is right it goes more quickly.”

Two big vacant lots on the water and four nonwaterfront lots are on the market, too.

By the Numbers

209

Number of Longboat Village properties

3

Number of sales in 2012

$1 million to $360,000

Range of sale prices

1,350 to 2,350

Range of square footage of sold homes