Villa Am Meer presentation takes place tonight

Joy Baker’s presentation on the historic Villa Am Meer property will take place at 7 p.m. tonight at Christ Church of Longboat Key, Presbyterian, during the Longboat Key Historical Society’s final meeting of the season.

Baker, a Minnesota resident who visits Longboat Key every March, began researching the property in 2010 and blogging about her findings.

A German immigrant named Dr. Hermann Kohl built Villa Am Meer in 1935. He went on to invest what different accounts say was either $7,500 or $15,000 for a 49% stake in what would become Tropicana Products Inc. in the 1940s.

Original John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art architect John H. Phillips probably designed Villa Am Meer.

BBC Key LLC currently owns the property. It is a private home that is not open to the public.

For more information, pick up a March 14 copy of the Longboat Observer.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].