Manasota Key may be the most secluded of our barrier islands but it can get very opulent indeed. Take a look at this 12,000 square foot house (six bedrooms, 10.5 baths) built in the scale and style of a Parisian hotel.

Not so much the exterior, which might best be described a “generic mansion.” But inside, the house takes off. Everywhere you look are leaded glass windows, marble floors, elaborate balustrades, eight fireplaces and a double-walled aquarium.The formal rooms are French-looking, with the enormous living room equal to any hotel lobby. Also check out the game room, the gym, the home theater and, most unusual of all, the vast paneled library that seems to be packed with books—very unusual in a house of this type.

Oddly enough, the home faces Lemon Bay, not the Gulf (though you have deeded beach access). It’s gated and set on three acres of wooded land. Lots of privacy. Count on an hour’s drive to downtown Sarasota.

Manasota Key is the perfect spot for reclusive celebrities. Singer Bobby Vinton, now well into his 80s, has a large estate there, and late disco queen Donna Summer spent her retirement there in a house she bought from country star Mel Tillis. So the new owner will have some interesting neighbors.

7159 Manasota Key Road is priced at $5.5 million. For more info call Deborah Beacham of Michael Saunders and Co. at (941) 376-2688.