Record home sale at $30.3 million closes for Longboat Key property

The sale of a Longboat Key beachfront property that closed Thursday set a Sarasota County price record for the second time after doing the same in late 2020.

Located behind the gates of the Longboat Key Club, the property at 845 Longboat Club Road — known as Serenissima, “the most serene” in Italian — sold for $30.3 million. The same property sold in November, 2020 for $16.5 million, then the top of the local market.

Realtor Rich Polese, who founded Compass Sarasota, was the listing agent. Judy Kepecz-Hays of Coldwell-Banker affiliate The Kepecz-Hays Team represented the buyers, who were not immediately disclosed. Documents on the sale had yet to be filed with Sarasota County on Thursday.

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When listed in June at $35 million, the property broke another record as the highest residential listing in Sarasota County history. The home’s furnishings were purchased at the time of the sale, Polese said, though priced separately and not included in the home’s reported price. Polese said once the sales price and the furnishings sale were considered together, the final price was close to the range he envisioned as appropriate for the property.

“To me, that says that even at this price point, on Longboat Key, buyers are looking for value,’’ Polese said. 

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According to the Business Observer, a sister publication to Your Observer, the Sarasota market has seen a handful of properties approach this price point of late:

• A home on Siesta Key called Crystal Waters was listed for $31.5 million earlier this year; the price has since dropped to $29,995,000
• A residence under construction on Longboat Key was listed for $25 million in January and is expected to be $40 million when the property is complete.
• A home in Harbor Acres was listed for $33.83 million in 2023; it sold for $20 million in 2024, property records show. That home had been the previous record-holder until…
• A Longboat Key condominium in the St. Regis resort sold last fall for $21 million, taking over the top spot. 

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With more than 19,000 square feet of living space and a 12-car garage, 845 Longboat Club Drive has few comparables in the region. Built in 2005 in a Mediterranean style, the home’s features stand out.

Among them:

• Six bedrooms, six full bathrooms, and two half-baths;
• A marble hall with a glass dome;
• A grand salon that can accommodate 100 people;
• Venetian murals;
• A 10-seat home theater;
• A chef's kitchen and sunroom overlooking the infinity-edge pool.

Situated on the Key Club’s shoreline, the property’s beach frontage extends 145 feet. The 1.18 acre lot sits between homes with estimated values of about $20 million and $12 million. Across the street, a home valued around $4 million — with the club’s golf fairways beyond.

Kepecz-Hays said the property’s buyers were already familiar with Sarasota and its barrier islands. She said she frequently passes along new listings to them, and this property simply resonated. She said the sale was the highest for a single-family home on the west coast of Florida, excluding Naples.