The only single family home community with a 24-hour manned security gate on the Key, some of the most spectacular waterfront residences on Florida’s Southwest coast are nestled within The Sanderling Club. Many of the estate-sized homes are built on unique two-acre lots positioned on wide lagoons brimming with wildlife and amazing Gulf of Mexico views. Some of the residences date back to the late 1940s, when Elbridge Boyd, who wanted to create a Gulf-side membership residential community, began developing the area.

Paul Rudolph, a former Dean of the Yale School of Architecture and one of the most innovative modernist architects produced by the Sarasota School of Architecture, was hired to design cabanas, a clubhouse and an observation tower. Rudolph used curving roof lines to remind the viewer of the gentle waves of the nearby gulf. He experimented with economical materials and came up with a method for bending plywood across the building space, opening up the club house to nature using broad expanses of glass. He painted the ceilings of the cabanas blue framed in white.

The main consideration at that time was to maintain a commitment to sustainable ecology with an aesthetic feeling, and that commitment has been continually upheld. Now, seventy years later, the park-like setting of the Club is still honored and maintained.

Siesta Key Realtor Mark McCann attests to the success of this community, commenting: “There are few places in Florida that have such rich tradition, architectural integrity, and an overall ambiance that welcomes flip flops, understated sophistication, and respect for the incredible beauty that nature provides daily.”

The Sanderling Club’s obligatory membership for community residents provides many benefits, including deeded gulf access and usage of the club’s cabanas, which literally sit on the front-porch of the Gulf. The cabanas may be purchased by members, some staying in families for generations. Both the cabanas and the clubhouse have been fully restored and are now on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Sanderling Club offers a quiet, private and elegant existence, not often found on this high-spirited Key. Its affable members enjoy an informal lifestyle that includes a 15 slip marina located bayside, three tennis courts, and a myriad of recreational opportunities. Realtor Ellen Wells acknowledges the special sense of community here, with an active social calendar that includes potluck suppers, welcome-back parties and holiday events throughout the year at the beach-side clubhouse. In the late afternoon, people will gather at their cabanas or on the terrace of the beach house, set up their lounge chairs, cook out on the grills, sip cocktails and watch the sunset.

Men’s and women’s tennis groups play regularly throughout the week. The members’ popular annual tennis tournament, the Pinny Cup, named after a former resident, is held in November. “Three generations of families plan their vacations around it, so you have 10-year-olds playing with 90-year-olds,” Wells says. Presently, the resident population is getting younger; recent buyers have been in their 40s and 50s.

If you are seeking an inspired way to live a coastal lifestyle, The Sanderling Club is
a unique place… where membership truly has its advantages!

HISTORY

Anna Maria Island was discovered by the local Timucan and Caloosan Native American tribes and, later, by Spanish explorers (including Hernando de Soto) in the name of the Spanish Crown. Hernando de Soto and his crew entered the mouth of Tampa Bay, north of Anna Maria Island, in May 1539, passing the island by to make their landfall on the mainland.

Anna Maria Island was first settled in the beginning of the twentieth century by Tampa Mayor Madison Post who then named the island for his wife Maria and his sister-in-law Anna. As Cuban fishermen were the first visitors to the island at the southern mouth of Tampa Bay, the settlement was very soon dominated by nautical types. In 1892, George Emerson Bean became the first permanent resident on the Island, homesteading much of what is now the City of Anna Maria. After Bean’s death in 1898, the land’s ownership transferred to his son, George Wilhelm Bean, who partnered with Charles Roser, a wealthy real estate developer from St. Petersburg, to form the Anna Maria Beach Company in order to develop the area. The company laid out streets, built sidewalks and houses, and installed a water system.

Residents and visitors came by boat until the first bridge that was built to connect Anna Maria Island to mainland Florida began construction in the summer of 1921. After a heavy storm wiped out half the bridge, it was finished as scheduled in 1922. It crossed the bay to what now is Bridge Street in Bradenton Beach to the fishing town of Cortez. More people then began to visit the island, which caught the interest of several businessmen. Yet, somehow, communities here had more success than most in Florida in keeping out big developers. 

Nearly a century later, Anna Maria Island has become one of the most popular locations in Florida, visited by both locals and tourists. Its wildlife and nature has attracted many scholars of different sciences such as biology, and marine biology.

Fortunately, there’s little use for a car on the island and it’s more viable to use a bike, kayak, or flip-flops around the island. For your convenience, there’s even a free trolley, which circles every 20 minutes, shuffling up and down main Gulf Drive. Here, you’ll find the most beautiful beaches in the world; from Holmes Beach, stocked with restrooms, picnic tables and even a café on the sand, to Coquina Beach, where you’ll find plenty of shaded parking. 

Not far from the skyscrapers of Tampa, Anna Maria’s removal from hubbub makes it a quaint town both easy to reach yet unspoiled by the concrete and chain restaurants. Instead, what Anna Maria has to offer is an abundance of natural beauty and an array of colorful shops and local restaurants lined with swaying palms. It’s as if you’ve stepped back in time, into the Florida of decades ago, with one major difference: updated amenities. No malls to visit here, instead you’ll find a dozen delightful shops dotted across the island. Indeed, the dining is as tempting as the fishing that lures so many visitors. Options range from a classic grouper sandwich on the pier to world-class, upscale dishes using only the freshest catch. 

The waters surrounding Anna Maria are host to an assortment of wildlife waiting to be discovered, from wild dolphins to sharp-eyed ospreys. Here, you can experience one of the most abundant ecosystems on the planet. You’ll be amazed at just how much there is to see on this little island.

WHERE TO EAT

Serving exciting, sophisticated and exquisitely prepared Floridan Cuisine, Beach Bistro is an ideal spot to enjoy fresh fare, especially at sunset. Beachbistro.com

WHAT TO DO

To capture a quiet moment, head to Bean Point, a local secret that provides breathtaking views of the sunset on a pristine and serene beach. 

PLACES TO STAY

Tucked away on Anna Maria Island, Cedar Cove Resort & Cottages features a private escape amidst lush, tropical gardens and white sandy beaches. cedarcoveresort.com