Longboat Key's Serenissima back on the market after temporary absence

“Serenissima,” a luxury home on Longboat Key built upon the ideal of Renaissance Venice, had been temporarily taken off the market, but now it’s back in time for selling season.

Even though the price has been discounted by $4 million from its initial listing, bargain shoppers need not apply: The home is listed at $22.5 million after its original $26.5 million. For people operating at this stratosphere, though, it could be considered a bargain in comparison to property somewhere like Naples, realtor Michael Moulton said.

“It’s an expensive number in Sarasota. The house would probably be, in the right neighborhood in Naples, twice the price,” he said.

While it was a difficult decision to lower the first listing number, Moulton acknowledged how it can be hard to determine pricing when dealing with homes like Serenissima.

The beachfront mansion is currently owned by Michele and Mike McKee. It’s the crown jewel of the numerous properties the McKees have held during their years on the island. They bought the property in 1998 for $2.15 million, and the home was built in 2005. It’s located in Longboat Key Club’s Regents Court at 845 Longboat Club Road. A different home in the same neighborhood represents the second-highest sale on Longboat this year – $7.5 million.

Moulton spoke to the motivation for selling the home: “They built their castle and used it and just don’t need the space anymore.”

“Simplifying their life is a better way of saying it,” he added.

A recent tweet from Michael Saunders & Company’s Twitter account targeted wealthy Northeasterners as possible buyers.

“For those on #WallStreet looking to move from #NY, #NewJersey or #Connecticut - This 6/6 Florida masterpiece on the Gulf Coast has just been listed,” the tweet reads.

So who exactly comprises the buyer pool for this home?

“We’re targeting everybody in the world with our network of national and international affiliations,” Moulton said. “A lot of the sales of the last year or so have been to people who no longer need to have an address in a high-state-income-tax place such as Illinois, California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut.”

At 19,300 square feet and three stories, with six bedrooms, six full bathrooms and two half-baths, endless marble, a private theater, a pool, a 10-car garage and 140 feet of beachfront, it’s not surprising colleagues of Moulton thought the place could be listed even higher than the once-$26.5-million asking price.

On the market since 2017, perhaps Serenissima will follow the Ohana estate as the next alluring Longboat home to make a splash on the market.

“It’d be the largest sale in the history of Sarasota,” Moulton said.