Old School Appeal

Check Out the Winners of the 2022 Heritage Awards

The Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation recognized four outstanding preservation projects in Sarasota County last weekend.

By Kim Doleatto May 5, 2022

Brian and Katherine Leaver of Tandem Construction earned a Heritage Award for the remodel of their home, the Cunliff Residence. Built in 1894, it was in danger of demolition when they bought it in 2016. Restoration of the Queen Anne style home included repairing the cedar shake siding and trim and restoring the original windows, heart pine flooring, chimney and fireplace and plaster walls.

Photography by Courtesy Photo

The Cunliff Residence before the owners rehabilitated it starting in 2016. The Leavers also installed a new kitchen and added bathrooms to serve today's homeowners and their family of six. "If we don't adapt historic homes to modern living they're just museums. This way, they'll survive for another hundred years," Katherine says.

Photography by Courtesy Photo

Rob Brown won for his faithful rehabilitation of the Golden Host Resort and Bahi Hut, cultural Sarasota landmarks on the North Trail. You may know the Bahi Hut today for its lethal Mai Tais, but when the resort first opened in 1959, it was billed as a "super luxury" motel and was the newest resort on the west coast at the time.

Photography by Courtesy Photo

Brown stayed true to the building's original colors. It's one of the few remaining examples of the motels that made the North Trail the resort destination of the mid-century.

Photography by Courtesy Photo

The Golden Host and Bahi Hut restoration included reviving its retro vibes down to the turquoise appliances.

Photography by Courtesy Photo

Don and Terri Liebentritt were awarded for the restoration of their Siesta Key cottage on Point of Rocks Road, which gained county-level historic designation. They bought the home in 2019, and demolition was recommended. Historians theorize it was built in the 1930s, and builders found different wood pieces used to construct it, reflecting the economic scarcity of the times.

Photography by Courtesy Photo

Anne and Bob Essner won a Heritage Award for their restoration of the Umbrella House in Lido Shores on Lido Key. Designed by Paul Rudolph and Philip Hiss in 1953, the home displays the birth of a design that responded to the subtropical climate in the post-war period. The original wooden shade “umbrella,” which fell victim to windstorms several decades ago, was replaced with an aluminum version, among other restored elements. It is nationally and locally historically designated.

Photography by Courtesy of Architecture Sarasota

The cottage on Point of Rocks Road on Siesta Key went through a two-year rehabilitation. "We found pieces of crates stamped with a company name from Tampa they used in the framing," says Ramsey Frangie of Ramate Construction, which headed the restoration. The home is a traditional wood frame vernacular and is a rare remaining example of homes built on Siesta Key at the time. "When you drive down Point of Rocks, it's mostly new homes, then you see the cottage," says Frangie.

Photography by Courtesy Photo

Over the weekend, building crews took a break from working on new high-rises headed for the downtown Sarasota skyline. And at the same time, acts of historic preservation were celebrated.

Along with nominations from the public, a jury of local architecture and history experts and advocates pored over this year’s historic preservation project applications to decide which might earn a Heritage Award from Sarasota County. Four stood out, and were announced the winners at a luncheon at the Sarasota Garden Club last weekend.

Applicants’ projects were judged for their success in the rehabilitation, restoration or adaptive use of a historical building, and judges took into account the impact of the project on the community.

“It’s important to celebrate these successes and is a way to share information about the people and places working to preserve our heritage,” says Lorrie Muldowney, chair of the awards committee and immediate past president of the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation.

In most cases, it would have financially behooved the winners to tear down the once-sagging, neglected buildings and start over, but these were “labors of love,” says Muldowney. “And it’s important to let people know that they can accomplish award-winning work and that we appreciate them."

Sarasota History, Renovation, Bahi Hut, Awards

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