The Magnolia House

When John and Leslie Korff decided to leave their bustling city lives in Manhattan to settle down and raise their family in the South, the couple set their eyes on Sarasota. Bridging the gap between small town and big city, Sarasota was exactly what they sought. Moving here in July 2013, the couple purchased a home in their favorite area of town, Southside Village, which is close to local dining, shops and schools, and began the remodeling process. With nine months of renovations, many setbacks and problems, the renovation to create their dream home in suburbia quickly turned into an almost yearlong project that surpassed the home’s purchase price.

Deciding to commit fully to the house and the remodel, the couple found that every challenge faced turned into an opportunity resulting in the perfect combination of New York and Sarasota in their new home on Bay View Drive.

The renovation turned demolition …

The established landscape, specifically the magnolia tress, is what initially attracted the couple to the home. After seeing the interior and the potential it had, they purchased the home and their plans for moving their life to Florida were in motion — but were quickly halted when they moved in.

“Nothing was functioning; it must have barely passed inspection because it wasn’t safe or habitable,” says Leslie Korff. “We were devastated. It was a complete loss and we had to decide if we were just going basically say somebody just take this or commit to this huge project.”

After the demo, the home was just a shell and the Korffs had the opportunity to design the home perfectly for their family.

“There was such a lack of maintenance and love,” says Leslie Korff. The family decided on the full demo, moved out, signed a lease two blocks away on Morris Street and waited for their home to be brought back to life.

“There are maybe 10 things that stayed the same,” says Leslie Korff. Everything else was rebuilt to be like it was when the home was built in 1938.

“We made a commitment to this property and were going to finish it from A to Z,” says Leslie Korff.

In her words …

How did you want to the house to flow?
I do like to have the separation of church and state, the concept of an open floor plan. In New York, we call that a loft. I really didn’t think that would work for me — I like having the living room, the family room, the rec room. It’s nice to have space, as well as the craftsmanship. It’s got walls, but it still flows.
When we were designing the first floor, we mimicked the openness of the foyer doorway to have a straight see-through from the kitchen into the family room. It was a series of small openings and it didn’t feel light-filled. So by expanding the perimeters of the doors, it would be easier than just knocking out walls. I like having rooms to go to.

How did you come up with the interior design?
In New York we had the pre-war look. I like pre pre-war and this home reminded me of that — it’s brick, it’s got the columns and the molding. I could picture my things in this space, but we brought in my interior designer from New York to kick it up a notch. We have this wallpaper in the built-ins — I don’t like animal print; it’s snow leopard, but it works. The little things make everything wonderful — mixing Buddhas with Keith Haring, mixing silver and gold and bronze, copper and textures; nothing is off limits. It’s not a precious place, it’s the place where we live. I didn’t want a house, I wanted a home, and that’s what we created.

What is your favorite thing about the house now?
The new deck — the pool has Versailles jets and I feel like I’m on a spa vacation, a retreat at my own home. Deck jets aren’t anything to people who are used to pools, but it’s a big deal for me to see water flow. You can’t put a pool on West 67th.