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It's hard to pinpoint Sarasota's exact beginnings from the mists of legend and rich history that envelop our beautiful community.

Native Indians thousands of years ago fished and hunted from the camps they built along pristine Sarasota Bay. In the late 1800s, the area was rediscovered by waves of pioneering homesteaders, most notably a hearty group of Scottish settlers led by land developer J. Hamilton Gillespie, who built the nation's first golf links near what is now the downtown courthouse area. During the booming early 1920s, a colorful cast of characters-including circus impresario John Ringling and socialite Bertha Honore Palmer (of Chicago's famed Palmer Hotel family)-transformed the little fishing and farming village into a resort destination. And starting in the 1940s and continuing for several decades, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Mackinlay Kantor, John D. MacDonald of the best-selling Travis McGee mystery novels, sculptor John Chamberlain and other celebrated intellectuals established an artists colony here that formed the foundation of Sarasota's now-thriving arts community.

Today, Sarasota is writing a new chapter in its history as more and more new residents move here, drawn by the stunning natural beauty of its beaches and public parks; a wealth of arts and cultural offerings including its very own opera, symphony and ballet companies; and excellent educational and medical facilities. The numbers tell their own story: In 2003, Sarasota County issued 4,731 residential building permits; in the first three quarters of 2004, that number had already been exceeded by 189. And values are staying well ahead of the rest of the state; the median third-quarter 2004 home sale price was $274,000, compared to Florida's $190,000.

Come with us as we explore the diverse Sarasota neighborhoods of today. Undoubtedly, there's a neighborhood and a home perfect for you and your family.

The Barrier Islands

Hammocks of sand, palms and sea oats set against the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico, our barrier islands are among Sarasota's most enticing locales. Crystalline beaches bask in the amber glow of sunsets, while the eastern bayfront areas are covered with bright tropical foliage. In-between is some of the most coveted real estate in Florida. From bungalows and rustic cottages to Gulf-front mansions and elegant condominiums, lucky residents of Sarasota's keys survey the world from an enviable perch indeed.

Longboat Key

Despite its modest beginnings-homesteaded by a Civil War veteran and partially used during World War II as a target range-Longboat Key, Sarasota's northernmost island, today boasts great wealth and sophistication.

"We attract people who could live anywhere in the world," says Ann Runyon, manager of the Longboat Key office of Michael Saunders & Company. "Due to technology, they can work anyplace," and many choose Longboat.

The main road, Gulf of Mexico Drive, winds past impeccably manicured lawns, beautiful banyans and colorful oleanders, offering glimpses of gated single-family communities, beachfront condominiums and world-renowned resorts. Residents shop at the one-of-a-kind boutiques or dine at Zagat-rated restaurants. And the island's well-heeled residents can afford their luxuries: between January and November 2004, Runyon's office recorded 63 sales over $1 million each. At the north end, you can find condominiums ranging from $300,000 to $1.8 million for Gulf views, while a single-family estate on the Gulf sold in 2004 for $6.9 million. From mid to south key, condominiums range from $250,000 to $2.7 million for Gulf views and $250,000 to $1.5 million for bay views, and single-family houses range from $425,000 to $4.6 million. Longboat's newest addition is the luxurious 29-unit Positano on the Gulf, priced from $3.3 to $3.8 million.

St. Armands, Lido Key and Lido Shores

St. Armands Key, home to the upscale shopping and dining destination of St. Armands Circle, was platted in the 1920s by circus magnate John Ringling, who intended it as a vacation home locale to rival Palm Beach. Historical 1920s-era homes, gracious Mediterranean Revival waterfront villas and sweet cottages line streets named after a parade of past U.S. presidents. They're all within strolling distance of lively St. Armands Circle, where residents queue with tourists for Kilwin's homemade fudge, have dinner at any of a number of fabulous restaurants, or rub shoulders with the occasional celebrity sipping a sangria at Columbia's. As on other Sarasota keys, mansions are replacing older houses, with little available for less than $1 million.

"People from all over the world move here," says Judy Kepecz-Hays of Coldwell Banker International. "The Europeans love to walk to dinner on the Circle, walk to the beach. It's exciting. We're a small cosmopolitan city with everything."

A wave of new beachfront condominiums is rising on nearby Lido Key: Orchid Beach, with units priced between $1 million and $4.8 million; Azure on Lido Key, priced between $1.2 million and $3.5 million; and The Beach Residences, which start in the low $1 millions and go up to $4.5 million. Resales are already fetching up to $6 million, says Kepecz-Hays.

Bird Key

The enchanting 510-home bayfront enclave of Bird Key is located just off the Ringling Causeway on the way to St. Armands Circle.

"There's total privacy and no commercial development of any sort," says Audrey Singer, who, with her husband, Bob, has lived on Bird Key and sold homes here for 32 years.

Successful dot-commers, executives, entertainers, doctors and attorneys are buying Bird Key homes, and Singer says the community is getting younger; she now sees seven or eight school buses picking up children in the morning where in past years the population was comprised heavily of retirees. There's a bustling social life, too, anchored by the Bird Key Yacht Club, a relatively new Bird Key Women's Club and numerous thriving gourmet, dining and book clubs.

Bird Key is no steal, however. Prices range from about $669,000 for what Singer calls a "total teardown" to $6.3 million. The least expensive canalfront home would cost $1.6 million, and, says Singer, "It's a teardown."

Siesta Key

This laid-back island, with its sugar-white beaches, profusion of hibiscus and oleander spilling over the roads, and the funky shops and surfer hangouts of the Village, is perhaps the key dearest to locals' hearts. Bicyclists and joggers meander down shady streets, drum circles gather at twilight on Sundays at the public beach and residents congregate for daiquiris under tropical skies. Condominiums and single-family homes sit opposite the popular Siesta Key public beach, and Higel Avenue reveals lovely examples of traditional Sarasota architecture. Infill development has also resulted in many new grand mansions replacing older houses.

But history and ambience don't come cheap. Chad Roffers and Brandyn Herbold of Sky Sotheby's International Realty say a Sarasota School of Architecture home recently sold for $850,000, which falls within the overall range of between $750,000 and $10 million. A bayside condominium can be found for $400,000, but for a Gulf view, expect to pay more than $750,000 for an older unit.

Casey Key and Manasota Key

Family compounds of unpretentious beach houses once predominated on Casey Key, a quiet residential enclave of only 400 homes on nine lush miles. As with everywhere else, times have changed. Two 25,000-square-foot Gulf-front residences were recently built here; they're valued at $20 million each, says Tom Stone of Michael Saunders & Company, who's been selling property here for 14 years.

"You have no high-rises, no traffic problems; it's all single-family, except for a very few condos built before 1972 near the public beach," says Stone. "You really truly feel like you're on an island, but not remote."

And demand is only increasing for Casey Key properties, most of which spread from Gulf to bay. Homes here have an average price of $2.3 million and an average turnover of seven to 10 years.

Just to the south, Manasota Key straddles Sarasota and Charlotte counties. With views of Lemon Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, this island is relatively quiet and unspoiled, with single-family homes on the north end and some low-rise condominiums and commercial developments on the south. That's not likely to change soon: In November 2004, residents turned out to support a moratorium on new development while the Sarasota" target="_blank">Charlotte County Commission worked on tougher guidelines restricting building heights and setting architectural standards.

Older Manasota Key condominium units can be found for as little as $169,000 and as high as $700,000, but units in newer buildings will range from $750,000 to about $1.5 million, says George Bullock of Manasota Key Realty. A single-family teardown on the southern end can cost as much as $700,000, adds Bullock, while the highest listing is $6 million for a newer mansion on the north end of the key.

DOWNTOWN SARASOTA

The past year has been an exciting one for downtown Sarasota as new developments, redevelopment of older neighborhoods and an influx of new residents are shaking up the area. People love living in this urban bayfront paradise because they're within walking distance of the opera house, several professional theaters, world-class Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, and both a 20-movie cineplex and an art house cinema. Tens of thousands of square feet of new office/retail are on the books, too; a Whole Foods market opened in late 2004, and a Publix supermarket starts construction this winter.

Downtown condo living

Sarasota is in the midst of a back-to-city-living revival. A sizeable contingent of snowbirds always enjoyed bayfront sunrises from their Gulf Stream Avenue high-rises, but a wealth of new options, from Italianate townhouses to urban lofts, is attracting

empty-nesters and retiring boomers from all over the country.

Just in the downtown area, says Cheryl Loeffler of Prudential Palms Realty, 35 condominium complexes have either been built or are in planning, with units priced from $280,000 to $5.8 million. Intimate townhouse developments with 11 to 29 units each are also selling briskly, with buyers coming from other parts of Florida, larger metropolitan areas and even from the keys and east of the Interstate.

Broadway Promenade, for example, is adding 187 condominiums (originally priced from the high $100,000s to $600,000), 21,000 square feet of retail and 3,200 square feet of office space to the area just east of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall and Centennial Park; while the Plaza at Five Points, in the heart of the downtown district, is building 50 condominiums ranging up to $1 million (and up to $2.5 million for penthouses), mixed with office and retail space.

Downtown's single-family neighborhoods

For old-Florida ambience convenient to downtown's modern amenities, an excellent option is one of downtown's older neighborhoods. Laurel Park is one such hot spot, with heavily shaded streets lined by about 200 Craftsman bungalows and 1920s Mediterranean Revival cottages.

"The location is phenomenal," says Sky Sotheby International Realty's Chad Roffers. "It's the only single-family neighborhood within walking distance to downtown."

Older homes are being lovingly restored by empty-nesters and young professionals, and builders are creating plans to replace old apartment buildings with new houses that conform to the historical designs of existing properties. Gentrification, of course, comes at a price: Laurel Park homes now range from $600,000 to $1 million.

A few blocks away, Towles Court began as a golf course in the early 1900s, and later turned residential, blighted until the past decade when modern pioneers bought and renovated the cottages and bungalows and invited artists to live and work here. Now more than 30 artists occupy the brightly colored homes and galleries, and every third Friday residents and tourists flock to the Towles Court Gallery Walk. Rehab is spilling over to homes in the surrounding blocks, and they, too, are getting pricier; Michael Saunders broker Matt Orr says an Adams Lane house recently sold for $595,000.

Nearby Gillespie Park, a neighborhood of bungalows around a 10-acre park named for Sarasota's founder, may be a better deal, but not much longer: Orr recently sold a house for $250,000 that had new granite counter tops, but unfinished floors and a yard that needed a lot of work. A $129,000 listing is a complete teardown. But young professionals are buying and rehabbing, and Orr says more will be attracted by the area's promise of mixed residential and light commercial use. "It's going to be a really cool walking neighborhood, a live, work, play, kind of neighborhood," he predicts.

The Museum Area

Close to the nationally renowned John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, FSU Center for the Performing Arts, New College of Florida and the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus, the museum area includes two of Sarasota's oldest established bayfront neighborhoods: Indian Beach and Sapphire Shores. The popularity of this thriving enclave of restored century-old Florida houses and more glamorous waterfront estates makes finding a house here a challenge.

"The museum area is getting incredible interest because of larger lot sizes, treed lots and bayfront," says Prudential Palms' Cheryl Loeffler, describing one handsome 1926 estate with 100 feet of bayfront. "The uniqueness of the properties in the museum area is the draw there."

Prices are as diverse as the mixed bag of professionals and entrepreneurs who live here, from $225,000 for a two- or three-bedroom, one-bath house to $14.9 million for a bayfront estate. The eight-acre Houses At Indian Beach single-family development, which was just approved by the Sarasota City Commission in November, will soon add to the mix.

WEST OF THE TRAIL

With established neighborhoods, mature landscaping and the double cachet of being close to the water and downtown, west-of-the-Trail neighborhoods are some of the most in-demand places in town, says Michael Falkenstein, Re/Max Properties broker-realtor.

Harbor Acres and Paradise Shores

About half a century ago, families started moving to Harbor Acres, drawn to its waterfront locale and proximity to downtown and Sarasota Memorial Hospital. Starting in the 1990s, most of these modest houses met the now-common fate of waterfront homes, being razed or gutted to make way for grand new structures. There's still quite a range, though, with homes being sold in this neighborhood from about $525,000 to $5.9 million.

The "bird" streets of southern neighbor Paradise Shores (Sandpiper, Sparrow, Mallard, Blue Heron) see less turnover, with about three listings in a recent six-month period, as opposed to Harbor Acres' 10 listings and 10 sales in the same time period. Prices range from $749,000 to about $2.9 million.

Southside Village

Hip landmarks such as Morton's gourmet market and Fred's, a young professionals' see-and-be-seen restaurant, mark popular Southside Village. An eclectic mix of older and new homes surrounds the central shopping core, with a starting point of $350,000 going to $6 million. Surrounding neighborhoods draw buyers to the charming bungalows and ranches of Bungalow Hill; the flower streets of Clematis, Hibiscus and Bougainvillea; and the curving streets of leafy McClellan Park.

Cherokee Park, Cherokee Lodge, Bayview Heights and Grenada

Families love Cherokee Park and nearby neighborhoods of Cherokee Lodge and Bayview Heights because of the large houses on oversized lots, shady streets and proximity to Southside Elementary School. Very few homes change hands here, however, with recent sales ranging from $1.45 million to $1.64 for Cherokee Park and three sales listed in late 2004 for $535,000 to $700,000 for Bayview Heights.

Early residents of Grenada, just south of Siesta Drive, would be surprised to find that today their lovely, unpretentious homes are being snapped up for between $267,000 and $545,000, still a steal when you consider the neighborhood's proximity to U.S. 41, shopping and Siesta Key.

THE SOUTH SIDE

Oyster Bay and The Landings

In long-established Oyster Bay, the houses are large without being overwhelming and beautiful without being overly ornate, with listings ranging from $1.95 million to $2.5 million, although one recent sale was about $440,000. The Landings, developed nearly 25 years ago, projects a similar air of refinement and graciousness. The landscaping has matured into the perfect backdrop for the mixture of large and mid-size homes and condominiums that fills the gated community. Lots of professionals and their families live here. Falkenstein says recent sales reflect a range between $435,000 and $825,000.

Coral Cove and South Point Shores

Once a collection of about 250 waterfront and non-waterfront ranch houses, some on canals and some on the bayfront, these two neighborhoods are welcoming larger, glitzier new homes. Prices are hovering between $449,000 and $4.7 million for recent listings in Coral Cove, with one recent sale at $2.67 million; and $449,000 to $2.9 million in South Pointe Shores, with a recent high sale of $1.92 million.

"It's popular with families, people moving up," says Falkenstein. "A lot of these houses were built in the '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s, and the majority are being updated."

Southbay Yacht and Racquet Club

Boaters love this community, which offers about 350 custom homes on slightly larger-than-average home sites around a 172-slip neighborhood marina. Friendly neighbors often meet at the clubhouse, pool or lighted tennis courts, or at boating club meetings. Sales here are brisk, says Falkenstein, who recorded 19 sales ranging from $325,000 to $1.47 million over a recent six-month period, with a listing as high as $1.95 million.

EAST OF THE TRAIL

Families looking for suburban paradise often start their search in the wonderful established East of the Trail neighborhoods of Old Forest Lakes, Sherwood Forest, The Lakes, Hidden Oaks and Woodland Park. The architecture reflects the California contemporary wood and brick exteriors of the 1970s and '80s, and gardens are colorful and beautifully maintained. Prices are more affordable than west of the trail, with a recent Old Forest Lakes sale of $310,000. Sherwood Forest listings are in the high $300,000s with sales of between $228,000 and $361,000.

Southgate and Gulf Gate

Carved out of orange groves in the 1960s, the ranch houses of Southgate retain much of their old-Florida charm, with barrel tile roofs, terrazzo floors and Florida rooms. Affordable prices and proximity to Westfield Shoppingtown Southgate keep sales brisk here, says Falkenstein, with 48 sales between $169,000 and $415,000 over six months in 2004.

Nearby Gulf Gate is close to shops and restaurants, both chains and quirky independent places, as well as an excellent branch library, elementary school and the Siesta Key beaches. With listings ranging from $214,900 to $288,000, this is also one of the few neighborhoods where a young family can find a good home for less than $300,000.

COUNTRY CLUBBING

Buyers who choose a home in one of Sarasota's many luxurious country club communities buy more than just a house, they buy a complete lifestyle. Most of the master-planned golf course communities offer a wide range of homes, condos, villas and townhouses and plentiful sporting amenities. Many have on-site activity directors; abundant social opportunities provide new residents with a ready-made set of friends and activities.

The Meadows

The first of Sarasota's master-planned communities, The Meadows has grown over the past three decades to 3,400 residences, a mixture of single-family homes, townhouses, villas and condominiums, set amidst 100-year-old oak trees. Meadows residents are active; there are three golf courses, a thriving tennis complex and an activities center housed in a Tudor-style building with a lending library, card rooms and meeting rooms that welcome classes in everything from knitting to photography. Houses that developer Taylor Woodrow built in the 1970s have been lovingly maintained, and newer enclaves of single-family homes and condominiums such as Grande Oaks Preserve have popped up in the past couple of years. They give hope to those who want to move here but are faced with very low turnover.

"Every realtor I talk to has a client on The Meadows waiting list,

and the moment a house comes up, they swoop," says Paul Sullivan of ERA Mount Vernon Realty's Meadows office. "The Meadows offers a great deal more house for the money than new construction. Our pricing starts at $100,000 and goes up to $900,000, but you can have a beautiful, spacious home with a pool for somewhere in the mid-$300,000s."

The Oaks

When Chicago socialite Bertha Honore Palmer came here in 1910 and became an enthusiastic supporter of the town, she picked this idyllic oak-shaded bayfront spot in Osprey for her Southern winter estate. Mrs. Palmer's elegant style has been preserved in the beautiful estates that dot the heavily wooded 1,000 acres of The Oaks today.

Oaks I comprises 197 homes west of U.S. 41. The $800,000 to $12.5 million properties sit on at least one-third acre and abut preserves, creeks, lakes and the bay. Only 11 unbuilt lots remain, says Kathleen Meador of Osprey Land Company, herself a longtime Oaks resident; they range from $219,000 to $639,000. Immediately across U.S. 41, Oaks II encompasses 650 acres, two 18-hole golf courses and 12 tennis courts, with homes ranging from $800,000 to $2 million. Taylor Woodrow had tremendous success recently with its Oaks Preserve condominium towers, the fourth of which sold out almost immediately. Another two towers are scheduled to be built, and the Preserve also includes low-rise villas, some estate home sites and an additional 30 condominiums.

"It's out of the tourism loop, but everything is just two or three stoplights away," says Meador, who, with her husband, Robert, has sold property here for 20 years.

Other attractions include a community helipad, a suite of guest condominiums and proximity to the excellent public Pine View School for the Academically Gifted. Membership is mandatory in The Oaks Country Club, which Meador says ensures a welcoming and inclusive environment.

Palmer Ranch

Falling in love with a home in 10,000-acre master-planned Palmer Ranch is easy. Buying one might be a lot tougher. Michael Bower, who with his wife, Cynthia, has sold Palmer Ranch properties for Prudential Palms Realty for a decade, explains why: "The average time on the market is three days."

Homes in one of Palmer Ranch's gated communities range from townhouses that start at about $300,000 to elegant estates in Silver Oak or Prestancia that can run up to $3 million, says Bower. "Since 1995, the average yearly appreciation on homes was 15 to 19 percent," he says. "In 2004, it was closer to 30."

Palmer Ranch residents tend to be an active bunch, taking to the many nature trails, recreation centers, and, of course, the two championship golf courses. And families love the area for its proximity to some of the best schools in the state, a new YMCA with an aqua park, and a proposed teen center. "It's all right here," says Bower.

SOUTH SARASOTA COUNTY

Venice

More than 100 years ago, Venice was a sparsely populated rural area called Horse and Chaise. Its transformation into a retirees' paradise may have culminated when the Intracoastal Waterway was constructed in the 1960s, dividing a slice of land from the mainland and creating the Isle of Venice. Once considered a stepchild to bigger Sarasota to the north, Venice is rapidly growing and changing.

The older Spanish and Mediterranean homes on the island, some of which date to the 1920s, are very much in demand for their proximity to beaches and charming downtown Venice. Jan Keith of Charter Real Estate Services, Inc. says a 40-year-old teardown ranch on the island can easily fetch $350,000; $3 and $4 million waterfront mansions are replacing many of them-prices unheard of for Venice a few short years ago. Condominium projects, such as Waterfront on Venice Island and Beleza on Venice Beach, are also popular, with units starting at $500,000 and $1.25 million, respectively.

On the mainland, families are flocking to such subdivisions and golf course communities as Jacaranda Country Club, Plantation Golf & Country Club, Waterford Golf Club, Mission Valley Golf & Country Club, Calusa Lakes, Englewood's Boca Royale Golf & Country Club and Pelican Pointe Golf & Country Club. One of the most upscale new entries is WCI Communities' Venetian Golf & River Club, which includes a section of $1 million mansions.

Mainland prices, while less expensive than the island, have also markedly increased in value. Keith says the condominiums that line the Capri Isles Golf Course, for example, cost between $82,000 and $120,000 four or five years ago; today, the same units start at $180,000, while new units can fetch $300,000.

"People are looking for a smaller community with greater access to I-75 and the beach," says Keith.

Venice is on the cusp of more change: the massive Stoneybrook South project recently approved by Sarasota County will put 1,400 new homes in the Center and River roads area, and a 55-and-over community called Venetian Falls will add about 750 homes to the area.

North Port

Even a year ago, new single-family homes could be found for $150,000 in the fast-growing city of North Port, sprawling on either side of U.S. 41 on the Sarasota-Charlotte county line. Now, as more people and developers flood into the fifth-largest Florida town in land mass (at 103 square miles, it's even larger than Orlando), Michael Saunders & Company realtor Rosemary Powell has a hard time finding a resale at that price.

"It used to be, 'come to North Port and we can find you something for $100,000,'" says Powell, herself a North Port resident. "We can't do that any more unless it's a real fixer-upper. We're edging into the $200,000s, and for new product, well into the $200,000s."

North Port is a magnet for families. Parents tend to commute to work in Sarasota and Fort Myers. Children have three elementary schools, a new middle school and a high school with a professional performing arts theater, as well as numerous sports leagues and other youth activities. And people are moving here in droves: North Port's population increased 37.53 percent between 2000 and 2003, compared to a growth rate of 7 percent for Sarasota County.

New houses are the other big draw. Golfing communities such as Heron Creek, Sabal Trace and Bobcat Trail are drawing new residents, with Sabal Trace starting to build additional new villas. Lakeside Plantation is growing-one recent addition is The Townes of Lakeside, 1,273-square-foot townhouses priced from $167,000-and sales have begun at Talon Bay (starting in the $200,000s). Another new community, Charleston Place, is being planned.

With a population of more than 31,000, North Port is poised for even more growth. Pat Neal of Neal Communities, for example, is planning a 2,548-home community called Panacea on a 1,600-acre spread.

And Powell knows buyers will keep coming. "Prices are still reasonable here compared to a lot of things in this area," she says. "It's family-oriented; the schools are outstanding, and the facilities are new and great."