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Sarasota Herald-Tribune
May 27, 2001

Former bayfront estate carved into enclave for six upscale homes
By Dorothy Stockbridge-Pratt, Staff Writer

The 1950's William Montgomery family estate on Sarasota Bay will soon be an enclave of six upscale homes, four of them on the water. Two waterfront homes, priced at $2.95 and $3.5 million, are already under construction by Westwater Construction, Inc., headed by Mark S. Miller.

Miller and Terry Conti bought the 2.6 acres from attorney William Merrill III, who bought it from Bill, Dale and John Montgomery, brothers who grew up on the property while their father was a builder in Sarasota. Merrill donated a heart-pine log cabin, which predated the Montgomerys, to Sarasota County for use as a visitor center at the Carlton Preserve.

"I went to great lengths to save all the big oaks, put in the new road, central water and sewer and subdivide the property," said Merrill, who once had planned to build on one of the lots. "It's a beautiful site."

Located at 6220 Hollywood Blvd. in sight of the Stickney Point bridge to Siesta Key, Stillwater has new docks and a newly dredged channel to the Intracoastal Waterway.

"It's a beautiful part of the bay with good rowing in the cove and good fishing."

Conti said the construction crew takes fishing breaks, catching snapper, snook and trout.

Miller, who has been building homes and doing major renovations for more than 10 years, includes wood and marble flooring, crown moldings, custom columns and natural stone balusters and window and door surrounds. Clay-tile roofs will help carry out the classic Old World look of the homes.

Already taking shape is a 4,200-square-foot, two-story home, priced at $2.8 million. It has four bedrooms, five baths, library, elevator, formal living and dining rooms and family room. The kitchen features granite tops, Sub-Zero refrigerator, two Bosch dishwashers, six burner gas Dacor cooktop, double oven and food drawer warmer. A disappearing-edge pool and summer kitchen will be outside.

All the homes will have a hand-carved stone fountain, brick paver motor court, Andersen windows, gas water heater and dryer and central vacuum. Miller is building the homes to the highest energy-efficiency rating of the FPL BuildSmart program, and using high-efficiency heating and cooling with whole-house air-filtration system and antimicrobial system.

Fresh water hose bibs will be on all decks and on the docks. The waterfront homes will have lifts on their docks, and the two interior homes, priced from $1.2 million, will have an easement to a dock. The gated entry will feature royal palms. Homes only had to elevated about five feet.

The most expensive home, at $3.5 million, is being built on the lot that juts farthest into the bay. It will have five bedrooms, 4.5 baths and 6,400 square feet. Besides a formal living and dining room, it has a family room, library, office and game room.

The family room features a fireplace, French doors and cross-beamed coffered ceiling. The octagonal media room and dining room also have coffered ceilings. The master bedroom is in the octagonal room upstairs.

Design Work Included

Dan Ionescu and Roman Glezin of Design Drafting, Inc. have designed these two plans, and Brian Phipps is designing another home. Ten hours of interior design work also is included.

Landscaping includes the saved mature oaks, bamboo, bromeliads and palms. Buyers will receive six months of lawn service, pool service and pest control "so they don't have to go looking for good service people," Conti said.

Westwater Construction, Inc. : 1074 North Orange Avenue : Sarasota, Florida 34236 : (941) 366-9936
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