Jewfish Key home for sale

Living on Jewfish Key is not for the faint of heart.

Inaccessible by roads, to leave the Key, you must take a boat to the mainland.

“I just make it another part of the adventure,” said Nancy Nolin, owner of a Jewfish Key home. “You just have to think a little bit more about what you need when you’re on the mainland, which I was almost every day.”

Nolin’s two-bedroom, two-bath 2,336-square-foot home, at 7155 La Lenaire Drive, is now for sale. It's one of just six homes on Jewfish Key. Cedric Viquerat, of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, listed the home for $1.5 million on Aug. 31.

Nolin’s father, Bill Ross, built the home in 1989.

“He decided he wanted to do a little project and bought the land,” Nolin said. “He did it all by himself as a single-man project.”

Ross died in 2009 and willed the home to Nolin, who began to remodel it in 2010. Renovations included transforming the upstairs from a loft into an enclosed master suite, adding walls to the all-glass main level, adding a bedroom to the main level and renovating the kitchen and bathrooms. Nolin estimates she spent $300,000 remodeling the home.

“I pretty much took the house and made it private when it wasn’t private before,” Nolin said. “I tried to keep the feel of how it was when my dad built it back in the 1980s but totally updated for more comfort and privacy. When I look at it, I still see my father.”

“I feel like the reason I was there was to enjoy the house and to honor my father’s legacy,” Nolin said. “Now, I just want to move onto other adventures. My time here is done. This was my emotional journey getting over losing him, but it’s time to move on.”

Home exterior

The home is on the very northwest side of Jewfish Key and is one of only six homes on the key. The other five houses can’t be seen from this home.

“A lot of people like marble and granite and don’t care sitting right next to their neighbor,” Nolin said. “This is for people who want privacy and a beautiful view.”

Main-level bedroom

Before Nolin remodeled it, the main level of the home was a 40-by-40-foot open space with glass walls. She added a bedroom to the level.

“When my father passed away, the home looked more like a restaurant,” Nolin said. “It didn’t have any private rooms at all. My main thing was to make it more private, so I added the bedroom.”

Bathrooms

When Nolin began to remodel the house, the only bathroom provided no privacy.

“Before, it was just a toilet sitting in the middle of the floor,” Nolin said. “I knew that wouldn’t cut it in the remodel.”

Nolin updated and enclosed the downstairs bathroom and added a bathroom to the upstairs suite. 

Main level

The entire home was built to have a wooden, rustic feel. Nolin remodeled the home, which has 15-foot ceilings, with cypress wood.

“It’s definitely a non-traditional home in Florida,” Realtor Cedric Viquerat said. “It reminds you of the woods. It’s rustic and has a back-to-nature feel.”

Wraparound porch

A major feature of the home is its wraparound porch, which provides homeowners with 360-degree views.

“You have a killer view of the water in the back and the view of the beautiful, lush landscape from the front,” Viquerat said.

Master suite

Before Nolin’s renovations, the master suite was a lofted area, and Nolin added walls to further increase the home’s privacy.

“I knew I had to make the upstairs a private room,” Nolin said. “No one wants to be in a house that has no private bedrooms.”

View

Residents of the home can see the Sarasota Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, New Pass Bridge and Cortez.

“You get the best of everything,” said Terrance Cook, a Coldwell Banker broker. “It’s a special spot. You almost feel like a king out here looking out. Civilization is co close yet so far away.”

Beach

The land includes a 330-foot private beach, which faces west. There is also room for a private dock to be built.

“Who wouldn’t want a private beach of this size?” Viquerat said. “You can watch the sunset every night.”

Cupola roof

A unique characteristic of the house is its cupola roof in the master suite, which is Nolin’s favorite feature.

“It’s almost like the center of the house,” Nolin said. “When I lie there in my bed and look at it, I just love it.”

Kitchen

Nolin completely remodeled the kitchen and put in new appliances, cupboards and counters.

Walls

Before the home was renovated, the home was a 360-degree glass wall. To increase the privacy, Nolin added walls to most of the house with the exception of the sides facing the water.

“I couldn’t cover up the view,” Nolin said. “But adding walls to the other side really made it a home.”