Tearing down older, single-story wood frame vernacular homes to build clean-cut double-story sugar cubes is business as usual in the Sarasota real estate market. (Take a stroll through Arlington Park, for instance.) After all, it satisfies the trend for new construction, large en-suite bathrooms, walk-in closets and pantries, and loads of square footage.

But one 1918 West of Trail home is bucking the trend and staying true to its roots and its street in the Granada neighborhood, thanks to owners Skip and Andy Davis. They’ve listed their Catalonia Lane home for sale, but the deal is this: while the new owners can build additions, they mustn’t tear it down.

“We're digging in our heels and trying to save the old stuff,” Andy, 74, says. “We’ve lived here so long and seen some charming bungalows torn down. They’re small and I understand the need for bigger sometimes, but when that happens, that charm is gone forever.”

“We see it as an old friend and we don’t want it hurt,” adds Skip, 76, a retired contractor.

In fact, they love the two-bedroom, two-bathroom home so much that they bought it twice. Once in 2004, then in 2016, for $620,000.

Due to wanting to be closer to their sons, the couple is headed out of state, but want “someone to love it like we do,” says Andy, the former director of volunteers and college interns at Mote Marine. 

During their first stint in the home, they spent roughly $85,000 when they added a caged-in pool with a slate deck and a heated pool with a spa. They also updated the bathrooms and kitchen, where they put in stainless steel countertops. And dare we say the pink cupboards are on point with the current Barbie craze?

Fun fact: During the pool installation, one of the workers uncovered a grease pit from a smoker buried deep in the backyard of the double lot and remembered going to the home as a child to buy smoked fish. 

Inside, original heart-of-pine floors run throughout the home. A limestone fireplace makes for a homey gathering spot and outside, the chimney, made of the same limestone, stands out against vintage cedar shakes. A detached garage located toward the back can be converted into an additional dwelling unit.

As charming as the home is, its almost 12,000-square-foot double lot and coveted location make it vulnerable to those with demolition and new construction on the mind. It's walking distance from Sarasota Bay and a minute’s drive from Siesta Key and downtown Sarasota.

The home attracted a couple looking for a short-term vacation rental, but once they learned of regulations requiring a seven-night minimum stay, they passed on buying it. Two former contracts also fell through when the potential buyers revealed their intentions to demolish and build new.

The Davis' home is in keeping with the rest of the homes on the street. It's almost a mystery as to how it hasn't seen a tear down yet. The street has just five homes, and lots of gnarled, fairy-tale oak trees. Somehow, it's resisted the new-build craze.

Located between Camino Real and Flores Avenue, Catalonia Lane has held out. "Since 2018, there have been significantly fewer vintage homes because people have been knocking them down. This is one of the last streets untouched West of Trail," says Liz Nason of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, who represents the owners.

As with most homes that have been around for more than a century, it comes with a little mystery. “We don't know where it came from," says Nason. "People used to move homes on barges and sailed them down the Intracoastal, so that’s probably what happened."

Lorrie Muldowney, president of the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation, did some research and found that the home had an original address of 472 Catalonia Ave. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps show the first appearance of the house on its current site between 1929 and 1953. Muldowney estimates that the home had been relocated to the present site by 1945, since "its style and method of construction is indicative of a home built prior to this date," she says.

In 1951, it was owned by Frank Coffin Martin, an architectural designer with Martin Studio of Architecture, known in Sarasota for its design of the Chidsey Library, the city's first public library, and the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium.

As for the neighborhood, the architecture there includes Mediterranean Revival, wood frame vernacular and Craftsman-style bungalows.

The Granada subdivision was platted in 1924 when the land was purchased by Charles Tyson, who came to Sarasota from Tennessee in 1924 and bought acreage amid the cabbage scrub and palmetto along Siesta Drive.

The Spanish designs of the homes are harmonious with the Spanish street names in the neighborhood, such as Flores (flower), Fortuna (fortune), Jacinto (hyacinth) and Catalonia (land of castles). The street names reinforce the romantic Spanish Revival style that was popular during the boom era of the 1920s.

For many years, the neighborhood had an active garden circle and bridge club. A neighborhood association was created that still exists today.

“West of Trail has those vintage charming homes, but unfortunately we are in a stage where people want larger homes that all look alike—lots of old trees get taken down," says Nason. "Ultimately, this home needs to be owned by someone who will enjoy a little local history and being surrounded by birds and trees and nature."