Shotgun houses are typically one-room-wide, single-story homes on small lots that sit close to neighbors, often without windows on either side. But when the homeowner is an architect conceptualizing a forever home for himself and his wife, a tight lot size can yield a home that blends high style with practicality.

Shotgun houses were popular in Black communities in Southern cities like New Orleans, Charlotte and Houston in the early 20th century, and are known for their long, narrow footprint. The one at 908 Gillespie Ave. is 104 feet deep and 23 feet at its widest. “We used every inch we could,” says Stephen Harvey, who owns the home with his wife Lorraine. “It was almost like designing a boat.”

The home is located in Gillespie Park, just north of downtown Sarasota and east of the Rosemary District. From the outside, the home offers different flavors. It’s a little traditional, with rich, dark wood framing, and a little midcentury modern, with the address numbers, concrete finishes and a cantilevered roof that smartly serves as the carport cover on one side of the home.

Built by Jonas Yoder Custom Homes, it was recently finished while the Harveys fast-forwarded their plans to move to Sarasota due to the pandemic and the chance to work from anywhere. Before making the move, the couple looked at South Gate and even considered purchasing Sarasota’s famous two-story Round House, a midcentury gem. “But we wanted to be closer to downtown for walkability,” Lorraine says. “We love midcentury architecture and that Sarasota has a preponderance of that style. We like that vibe.” At the time, the lot at 908 Gillespie was empty; they bought it in 2020 for $150,000 and set about creating their own midcentury-style home.

The property is technically a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house. The front room faces Gillespie Park and houses the office where Steve, 60, still works remotely as a partner in an architectural firm in the couple’s previous home of Richmond, Virginia. Originally from Tampa, Lorraine, 61, is retired and plays tennis “eight days a week,” Steve says, at the courts across the street.

The room next to the office feels like a cozy reading getaway, but a Murphy bed tucked into the wall makes it a flexible bedroom. And then the home opens up and gives way to a large common area with vaulted 15-foot ceilings. Suddenly, the space is airy and flooded with natural light that shines on mod furniture and design touches, alongside contemporary finishes. The home has two buildings—this first one spans 1,230 square feet.

Although it’s one large room, different areas are clearly delineated without needing space-eating walls. There’s a coffee and bar station with vintage pottery on the shelves, while in another area a record player sits on a colorful TV stand, the LPs stored within. The Harveys have done away with a formal dining room no one misses and instead carved out a gathering corner off the kitchen that seats eight. There are also bar seats tucked under a kitchen island made of quartz and spruced up with what’s called a “leather finish” that minimizes fingerprints and has a pleasant texture.

All the walls are white and dotted with colorful art by a talented nephew and other happenstance finds. One wall is covered in Eichler siding—the popular midcentury modern-style wood panels with thin grooves. The floors are concrete but fool the foot and eye into assuming terrazzo. Colored flecks have been added to the gray mix, and it has the same smooth, cool feeling on the skin.

Unlike a true shotgun house that would forgo windows along the lengthwise walls, clerestory windows let in lots of light while maintaining privacy in high-density zoning, where side setbacks amount to just 10 feet divided between the two sides of the home.

The Harveys are close to their next-door neighbors, but the adjoining property owners built on elevation, while the Harveys built low. Although the couple could have gone up two stories, they opted for one floor. “This is our forever home and we want to age in place,” Lorraine says.

The vaulted common room leads to a caged-in saltwater pool that connects the main home to a second building out back. The pool is the plunge kind that’s all the rage: 24 feet by 9 feet. There’s also a private outdoor shower, which—amid the breeze, with potted plants and outdoor lounge furniture—creates a spa-like effect.
The second building, just under 300 square feet, houses the Harveys’ bedroom, a walk-in closet and a full bathroom with a pocket door that blocks a portion of the private space so it can be used by pool guests.

It’s a unique layout but blends in well with the eclectic, ever-changing neighborhood, where there’s a Med-Rev home next door and a vintage Florida ranch, a massive cube-style house and two homes in the shape of a boat and lighthouse just a short walk away.