When Casey Key got a little too gawky—you know, with the key's showstopping homes and  resident celebrity—Michael Lombardo, his wife Carla, and his car collection headed to Manasota Key, where three acres afforded the pair all the privacy they craved. Now their almost 13,000-square-foot compound is on the market for $11.9 million.

Hidden roughly 250 feet from the main roadway that bisects the 11-mile barrier island, the Lombardos ensured all that frontage space imparted a grand first impression. They added an asphalt road, pavers, landscaped gardens with waterfalls, sculptures, pristine putting greens, winding stone walkways and a fish pond, all fringed in tall royal palms. “It has a cool zen feeling,” Lombardo says.

It all leads to the shady repose beneath a large porte cochere —and although there was already a set of gates, the couple put in a fence with pillars for that “sweeping feeling of pulling into a resort,” Lombardo explains.

Speaking of pulling in with style, Lombardo has a bit of a thing for cars.

For 35 years, he owned, operated and eventually sold a group of car dealerships in New Jersey. Then, in 2010, just six months into his Sarasota retirement, he started a new venture called Ideal Classic Cars, with 15 or so vehicles in a 6,500-square-foot space. Once he realized visitors were treating it like a museum, he made it official and opened the Ideal Classic Cars Museum in a former appliance store at South Tamiami Trail in Venice. It was free to visit.

The 27,300-square-foot museum housed everything from a 1920s Model A to a 1978 Trans-Am to a 2006 Ford GT. Lombardo eventually sold it Jenkins Auto Group when they “made me an offer I couldn't refuse,” he says. Plus, he adds, “I still had two businesses in New Jersey."  They're the reason the couple has decided to move back up north and sell what they once thought would be their forever home.

One thing is for sure: Lombardo's car obsession never subsided. With roughly 6,000 square feet of garage space here, he housed 28 cars in all, including a replica of the Batman Tumbler Bruce Wayne, a.k.a Batman, drove in the film The Dark Knight.

The car is able to driven—“it causes quite a stir when I take it out,” says Lombardo—but at 9 feet wide, it’s not street legal. He uses the $1 million ride in parades and comic con events, though. He has a replica of the 1989 Batmobile used in Batman, when Michael Keaton donned the batsuit. “The machine guns come out and fire propane and oxygen flames. It's a lot of fun and people love it,” Lombardo says.

Flames aside, his favorite car is his first. After saving up during humbler financial times, Lombardo paid $1,800 for a red and white VW dune buggy when he was 18. He can’t part with it.

Heads up, interested buyers: none of Lombardo's cars are negotiable in the sale of the home. Porcelain tile flooring was added to the garage, though, so it’s primed for the next owner’s rides. There’s also an elevator that goes to the rooftop.

Since the Lombardos moved in in 2022 for $5,225,000 million, they also added railings around the porte cochere and installed a new type of roofing to make it into an outdoor lounge spot. They renovated the kitchen too, updating a darker previous iteration to something more beachy and coastal.

There are six bedrooms and 10-and-a-half bathrooms, but the library is Lombardo's favorite place in the home. “It reminds me of an old country club,” he says.

The main bedroom has a screened-in terrace and fireplace, and connects to a sitting room with TV and surround sound. There’s also a massage table and a nearby butler’s pantry.

The home also has a media room, bonus room and gym.

Outside, there’s an extra 15,000 square feet with a saltwater pool, spa, full outdoor kitchen, dining and entertaining spaces, bocce and volleyball courts, and a dock with a boat lift. Plus, of course, deeded access to the beach and the Gulf of Mexico.

Sapphire, the couple's white Maltese who Lombardo jokes should instead be named “Princess,” also has a bespoke outdoor area with artificial turf to do her business. It’s stocked with antimicrobial sand, so there’s no odor. 

Lombardo envisions an older couple moving in, who wants their extended family to come stay and bring the dogs, too.

Manasota Key has an Old Florida vibe thanks to lots of native red cedars and ancient gnarled oaks. Many of the homes are hidden behind the foliage and aren’t visible from the road that cuts through the island. The key is also home to Sarasota County’s southernmost beach, Manasota Beach, and county zoning regulations ensure sprawling properties. Single-family home lots are a required minimum of one acre, and builds must not exceed a maximum of three stories.

It’s a destination for those who want an oasis getaway set on a big piece of land. The island has never really been developed beyond single-family homes. Adjacent to historic Englewood, the beaches there attract the largest number of nesting marine turtles on the west coast of Florida since the hot, dark sand incubates the turtles' eggs in a shorter timeframe. 

With local real estate prices stabilizing somewhat, the price tag for this home is on the higher side. However, it's a good deal when the price for the land is considered. A little more to the south of the Lombardos' home, at 6240 Manasota Key Road, a similarly sized three-acre empty lot is on the market for $7.9 million.

Interested? Call Joel Schemmel of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty at (941) 587-4894.