- April 2, 2026
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Lido Shores is famous, of course, for all its iconic Sarasota School architecture from the 1950s and ’60s. But just as interesting are many of the later homes by architects influenced by the style and showing off their best game on what is considered sacred ground. One of the more original is this home designed by the Swiss architect Hans Ritschard. Most modern homes are calm and serene. This one has an unexpected note of drama.
Centerstage is the remarkable living area. It’s an atrium-like space, 44 feet long, with a ceiling that rises to 16 feet. Three sides are glass, looking out onto a tropical garden enclosed by lush greenery. Because the house is already elevated, the effect is of living in the treetops. “It’s like sky art,” says Mark Davis, who owns the home with his wife, Hue Tran. “The sunrise, the sunset, the tropical rainstorms — you’re living right in the middle of a jungle.”
Until 2023, Mark and Hue were living in the middle of a different kind of jungle — Silicon Valley. Mark has been involved in a number of startups but is now backing away from tech. “It’s a young man’s game,” he says, looking much too young to be making such a remark. Hue is still deeply engaged in her work at Nvidia, focusing on artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
But it was time for a change of lifestyle. Their careers were becoming less important; what they wanted now was a calmer — and warmer — way to live. The Pacific can get very chilly.
Hue, who has always been fascinated with architecture, took charge of the search. Florida seemed the logical place. The east coast of the state wasn’t that appealing, she quickly decided. But Sarasota, even online, had the “calm energy” they were looking for. They knew no one in the area and had no personal connections here, but Hue showed her husband several possibilities she had discovered. When Mark saw the Ritschard house, he knew immediately. “I fell in love. I knew we should buy that house.”
Ritschard had built the house for his own use. A prominent architect in Switzerland and Germany, he began working in Florida in the 1990s and even became involved in Sarasota’s urban planning. Ritschard sold the house to a well-known tennis pro and in 2023, the Davises bought it from her.
Ritschard’s buildings, both commercial and residential, are characterized by their simple and transparent spaces. “We love the bones of the house,” Hue says. She describes the design as “international modern.” “We were trying to see architecture differently. We look for things that are interesting and different.”
The exterior of the home is simple and understated — white walls set on different planes, framed by carefully landscaped grounds. A wide flight of stairs leads to the entrance. Only inside does the home’s true character reveal itself. First comes the drama of the soaring, expansive living area, followed by an added surprise: a 50-foot swimming pool complete with a unique semi-circular stairway and seating area. This unexpected curve breaks the geometric order of the design and gives the home its distinctive personality.
There’s another curve in the home. It’s located in the primary suite and shows the architect’s bold thinking. Here, instead of embracing the tropical outdoors as the rest of the house does, the mood becomes more intimate and reflective. There is only one smallish window; the wall curves the way a seashell might, thus adding another note of natural design appropriate for the home’s location.
That location — a sophisticated sandbar famous for its seashells, Gulf views and important architecture — has many stories to tell and one of them involves the home. Years ago, this was where Joseph Hayes lived. His house, torn down around 2000, was a local landmark — a picturesque beach house built in a sort of 1950s Japanese style, with pagoda rooftops and other elements of Asiatic design. Hayes was a charter member of the artistic colony that made Sarasota so notable — the painters and writers who contributed so much to the country’s popular culture of the time. His play, “The Desperate Hours,” won a Tony award on Broadway in 1955. It was the play that made Paul Newman a star. (The movie, made a year later, had Humphrey Bogart playing the lead.)
The Davises still have a home in California, but their move to Sarasota has been a success. They’ve taken up boating and spend more time cooking, Mark in particular. They’re impressed with the tech scene in Tampa, which Mark describes as being full of young entrepreneurs who remind him of himself 20 years ago. And Hue, who was born in Vietnam and came to the U.S. as one of the “boat people,” delights in walking on the beach and people watching — when she can find the time.
There is only one problem with their home — at 2,800 square feet it isn’t big enough. Like most new Sarasotans, they find that they now have lots of relatives who love to come for a visit. In their large blended and extended family are five children and three grandchildren, and that’s just the start. So they are putting the Ritschard house on the market and have just bought a larger house nearby.
“We miss the modern vibe,” Hue says, for their new home is more traditional in style. But it has its compensations — more space and a waterfront view of the open bay with the city skyline in the distance. But best of all is the peace and contentment they feel in Sarasota. They were a little apprehensive at first.
“But we’re risk takers,” Hue says. And this was a risk that paid off just as well as any Silicon Valley startup.
