Siesta Key landscape Logo - Siesta Key - Sarasota Florida

Siesta Key & Sarasota, FL

941-379-3479

Siesta Key landscape Logo - Siesta Key - Sarasota Florida

Siesta Key & Sarasota, FL
941-379-3479

A Shore Thing

A Casey Key home we did the landcaping for was recently featured in an article for Detroit Home Magazine.

getting deep pool

A respectful innovation of an original 1940s Florida cottage honors the best of the past and present.

 
Location, location, location. That’s about all the 1940s cottage on Florida’s exclusive Casey Key had going for it when Bud and Donna Brian, Detroiters who now spend part of the year in Florida and another part on northern Michigan’s Torch Lake, purchased it in 2010. The couple had been living in a larger, three-story house a few doors away and decided to downsize when the 1,800-square-foot house, one of the last of the 8-mile-long key’s original bungalows, came on the market.

“They were all about the property,” says Grosse Pointe Park-based interior designer Kathleen McGovern, who has worked with them on other projects and was brought in to steer the renovation, along with Bloomfield Hills architect Mark Johnson.

The great room's original ceiling was restored and refinished as part of the project, making a dramatic backdrop for the oversized green lanterns.

“I seemed to always be on the wrong floor when I needed something at our other home,” Donna explains about their reasons to move to the one-story structure situated between the Gulf of Mexico and Sarasota Bay. Its strengths included the deep and private lot, and the fact that the house “was a true beach cottage,” Donna says. “When you walk onto the gulf side of the property, you can look north and south and not see any other dwellings. It’s pretty special, and quite unusual, on the island today.”

This space features the original display cabinets and paneling over the newly tiled fireplace. The taxidermy tarpon came with the house.

The cottage’s weaknesses, unfortunately, included “just about everything else,” according to the designer. Built in 1949, it had been “updated” in the 1970s, McGovern says, “a time that was not particularly good for renovations.” Photos taken after the first remodeling reveal cramped rooms with low ceilings covered in acoustic tile, dated materials and colors (pink vanity or blue toilet, anyone?), and an awkward floor plan, much of it with rooms that didn’t take advantage of the stunning water views.
 
The Brians’ wish list included a more open floor plan as well as a casual and comfortable elegance that would accommodate not only them, but their energetic dogs and cats. Goals for the renovation included “restoring what was possible, renovating without destroying character, and modernizing for a contemporary lifestyle,” McGovern says.
 
Continue reading
  5068 Hits
23 April 2025
Siesta Key Landscape Blog
We recently had the pleasure of collaborating with a homeowner on a truly transformative project, creating a grand estate entrance for a beautifully remodeled home. This wasn’t just a landscaping upda...
05 April 2022
Siesta Key Landscape Blog
Siesta Key Landscape is honored to have been selected as the Landscaping Contractor for this beautifully Reimagined Retreat, which was just featured in Home & Design Magazine Suncoast. Check out t...
23 April 2021
Siesta Key Landscape Blog
In what’s shaping up to be one of our best years ever, our team has expanded to continue offering the best all-around property maintenance in Sarasota. Owner John Butts, who has been an ISA Certified ...
20 February 2019
Siesta Key Landscape Blog
A Casey Key home we did the landcaping for was recently featured in an article for Detroit Home Magazine. A respectful innovation of an original 1940s Florida cottage honors the best of the past and p...
25 February 2019
Siesta Key Landscape Blog
For this unique project on North Lake Shore Drive in Sarasota we removed all the existing landscape in order to allow for renovations to take place. Then, once the new driveway was installed, we provi...
07 November 2016
Siesta Key Landscape Blog
Siesta Key Landscape provides expert landscape design for Sarasota Florida and the surrounding areas. We specialize in hardscapes and paver design. Here is an example of a Casey Key pool patio we rece...
14 April 2025
Siesta Key Landscape Blog
When our client came to us with a vision to bring new life to their old Lowcountry estate, we knew it would be a transformation to remember. The property, once beautiful but long overgrown and neglect...