Meandering in Laurel Park

This "walk to town" neighborhood is a wonderful treasure in Sarasota. Narrow, canopied streets with jewel like cottages, sprinkled heavily with historic homes, invite a meandering walk while your thoughts drift back to yesterday’s Sarasota, then marvel at how much of this treasure still remains. See the pictures below.

You notice a gated courtyard surrounded by two-story, pinkish rowhouses with green sashes and red tile roofs over the doors. The courtyard is lush with tropical greenery and meticulously maintained with a fountain, flowers and settees. Just to the north is the accompanying carriage house that has been converted into apartments.

You pass a clapboard bungalow with a name - Laurel Place - off yellow in color with a porch and white rail across the front. Next you spot a Spanish style home framed with palms. Further on, you come across a number of brightly colored, small wood frame cottages sitting on cement blocks. Were these the homes built for the Doll family, the famous Ringling "little people"?

In this corner of Sarasota, no homes are more than two stories, the trees here still reach higher than the roofs. Canopy rules! You walk by a home surrounded by a modest sized wall, as you peer in the yard you are greeted by a view of the rain forest. Every square inch is covered with trees, bushes, vines, and all manner of growing, clinging greenery. A visual treat just a few blocks from the hard-scape of downtown.

Around another corner you see several wondrous, shiny, metallic sculptures nestled into the lush tropical foliage. An artist lives here! You pass by a sign that proclaims "For Sale - Thomas Reed Martin’s Own Residence", a look at the home shows a perfectly restored, modest sized, brick red stuccoed building, with tiled roof. White block frames the darkened doorway with a bright inviting presence. You wonder what is inside.

Back near where you started, you note a large cleared lot with a chain link fence surrounding it. The Kanaya, says your guide. Fourteen stories, 35 units, Feng Shui building. You take a deep breath, sigh, your shoulders droop. Your walk is over.