What is attracting attention, though, are the new infill homes. There’s also a large new swimming pool, somewhat of a rarity in the area. The home is spacious-over 2,000 square feet-and inside everything feels brand-new and high end. From the street it appears small and simple, but inside things open up thanks to an addition to the rear with a new kitchen, family room, and master suite. And for a super-deluxe renovation take a look at 2340 Hillview St. Here we have three bedrooms, three baths, a nicely redone kitchen, a caged pool and 1,881 square feet of living space. Michael and Laura Gilkey have lived here since 2002, and their two young sons ride their bikes there, exploring the paths and duck ponds.įor a more elaborate remodel, check out 2575 Hyde Park St. The park is an enormous plus for the young families in the area. It offers a 50-meter lap pool, basketball and tennis courts, an indoor gym with weight room and a dog park. “It’s like a country club but very much in context with the neighborhood,” says Hoffman. Sarasota has nice city parks, but none more successful and well-loved than Arlington Park. They’re all mixing with the older residents who’ve been here longer than I have.”Ī park across the street from the Hoffman-Meketon home, appropriately named Arlington Park, is the neighborhood’s crown jewel. “The absentee landlords are being bought out and great people are moving in. “I love the neighborhood,” Virginia says. Under the shade of big oak trees, native plants are grown organically, and the property merges an Old Florida aesthetic with modern eco-techniques. Virginia’s own back yard is one of the nicest in the area. Never one to back away from a fight, she served on the city’s Public Art Committee, and was a founder of CLUCK, an organization that lobbies for the right of local residents to keep chickens in their back yards. Over the years she’s developed quite a reputation as a political gadfly. Virginia, an artist who specialized in custom metal work for the town’s top decorators, now works mostly in photography. Virginia Hoffman bought the home she shares with husband Jerry Meketon, a psychologist, back in 1988. The Barger home, an anomaly for the area, is a 3,267-square-foot ranch that was redone in the Craftsman style and sprawls across three lots it’s currently on the market for $574,900. Other noteworthy residents include Ken Bowermeister, who just retired after many years conducting the Venice Symphony, and-until recently-architect Stuart Barger and his wife, actress Patti O’Berg, who, after decades in a sprawling ranch home on Hillview, have moved to New Mexico. “The neighborhood hasn’t changed much since I moved in,” Jay says. Jay Handelman, theater critic for the Herald-Tribune, has been there 23 years, in a solid bungalow from 1949, with an interior paneled in dark, glowing wood and decorated with lively modern art. MacDonald, lived on Hillview back in the 1960s and ’70s. Richard Glendenning, the well-known writer and a close friend of mystery author John D. But it’s also appealed to artists and intellectuals. Who, exactly? For many years the neighborhood has been home to the town’s middle class-the teachers and nurses and office workers. The nicest radiate charm and character, and the total lack of pretense gives them an honest quality that attracts many people. The passage of time has made many of them quaint, though. Many are 1,000 square feet in size or smaller. They are plain and modest, with no flourishes, no distinguishing architectural details, no open kitchens, no walk-in closets. Some are a bit older, some a bit newer, but they’re all basic housing. Here the houses started life in the 1950s as nondescript suburban homes. A whole army of people is combing the listings these days, analyzing everything in Arlington Park that comes on the market and trying to figure out how to make money off it.Ĭlassic Arlington Park, the “hot” part, is mostly north of Hyde Park. You can still get a nice little house in the low $200s if you look hard-“really hard,” as realtor Judy Nimz puts it. While that’s not entirely true, it’s close enough. Most realtors will tell you that Arlington Park housing is half the price of what you’ll find west of the Trail. Real estate’s second law, affordability, has also come into play. Sarasota Memorial Hospital, one of the area’s largest employers, is right across the street.Īnd all the activity to the south, all the shops and business that line Tamiami Trail, are equally convenient. From the northern edge you can actually walk to Main Street. Downtown and all its jobs are five minutes away. As commuting becomes a real issue in ever-growing Sarasota, it’s like a dream come true. Arlington Park is just too well situated. The logical answer is that real estate’s oldest law-location-has taken over.
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