Lido / St. Armands

Glistening in the sun, Lido Key is a barrier island nestled just west of downtown Sarasota, like a singular jewel in a perfect setting. Hugging the Gulf of Mexico, Sarasota Bay and New Pass, its picturesque locale provides the perfect backdrop for a multitude of home types from modest mid-century ranch houses to dramatic, upscale residences and condominiums. Home to illustrious St. Armands Circle, exceptional restaurants, upscale boutiques, casual shops, and a mix of annual festivals create the ideal setting for delighting in the everyday. Residents savor the pristine, white sand beaches and recreation like deep sea fishing, bicycling, kayaking, spotting dolphins, and sailing. From the sands of Lido Key, no two sunsets are ever the same as they continuously paint a picture over the Gulf of Mexico that reminds you to savor each and every moment. Many of the homes fronting the Gulf are being remodeled or replaced and include private deep-water dockage. Bayside homes feature shimmering views across Sarasota Bay and spectacular after-dark vistas of Sarasota's twinkling skyline.

Lido Shores has a unique place in architectural history. Beginning in the early 1940s, a group of local architects embraced the visions of Ralph Twitchell and Paul Rudolph to create a regional modernism that came to be known as The Sarasota School of Architecture. Their designs incorporated new and native materials such as cypress, plate glass and terrazzo floors, as well as structures such as roof overhangs, louvered walls and shutters to provide ventilation in the subtropical Sarasota climate.Tim Seibert, Gene Leedy, Carl Abbott and Jack West are leading names of this regional style. In the early 1950s, the progressive developer Philip Hiss hired Paul Rudolph to design a colony of such climate-sensitive modernism creating Lido Shores. The neighborhood still contains several very important examples of the original Sarasota School of Architecture.

Today, Lido Shores continues to have some of the most architecturally significant homes in Southwest Florida, designed by well-recognized and talented current architects such as Jonathan Parks and Guy Peterson in a modernist style, as well as Clifford Scholz with his palladium designs.

The waterfront properties of Lido Shores have frontage on Pansy Bayou, Sarasota Bay, the Gulf of Mexico and New Pass, which provide direct deepwater boating access to the Gulf of Mexico or Sarasota Bay.

St. Armands Circle is an enchanting shopping, restaurant and nightlife district renowned for its continental flavor and graceful synthesis of past and present. Only steps from magnificent Lido Beach, its lush tropical courtyards and patios, antique statuary and contemporary architecture contribute to an international atmosphere of relaxed elegance, and timeless style. Visionary circus magnate John Ringling purchased St. Armands Key in 1917 and planned a development that included residential lots and a shopping center laid out in a circle. His crews labored at dredging canals, building seawalls, and installing sidewalks and streets lined with rose-colored curbs. In 1925, work began on a causeway to link St. Armands Key with the mainland.

One year later, the John Ringling Causeway and Ringling Estates development opened to the public, with Ringling himself leading a parade across the causeway. His circus band played in the center of the Circle even as free bus service brought prospective buyers and sightseers from downtown Sarasota to the Key.

Today, stylish residential neighborhoods are just steps from the famed shopping district and the azure shores of Lido Beach.