The perfect setting

Many homes in Sarasota can lay claim to an important past, but this isolated Longboat Key mansion is in a class by itself. 

This is where novelist Stephen King first lived when he began to winter in the area. It was here that he got his bearings — and his creativity  — back as he recovered from a car crash that almost took his life. And it is here that the seeds were planted for his classic Florida novel “Duma Key.”

You sense you’re somewhere special before you even see the house. Located off an unmarked road that meanders off of Gulf of Mexico Drive, you proceed down an unpaved road, through an abandoned gate, and past 1,000 feet of scrub vegetation. And then suddenly you see it — bold, somewhat boxy, with a simple unadorned forecourt of shell and gravel. You relive that moment when King’s hero Edgar Freemantle first encounters the home he names Big Pink: “I wanted to listen to the house, to see if it had anything to say. I had an idea maybe it did.”

King and his wife, Tabitha, first began renting the home in the late 1990s. They came every winter for three years, paying the then-exorbitant rate of $100,000 per season. King quickly fell in love with the place and wanted to buy here special before you even see the house. Located off an unmarked road that meanders off of Gulf of Mexico Drive, you proceed down an unpaved road, through an abandoned gate, and past 1,000 feet of scrub vegetation. And then suddenly you see it — bold, somewhat boxy, with a simple unadorned forecourt of shell and gravel. You relive that moment when King’s hero Edgar Freemantle first encounters the home he names Big Pink: “I wanted to listen to the house, to see if it had anything to say. I had an idea maybe it did.”

King and his wife, Tabitha, first began renting the home in the late 1990s. They came every winter for three years, paying the then-exorbitant rate of $100,000 per season. King quickly fell in love with the place and wanted to buy it, according to the owner, a British businessman. But Tabitha King preferred the more extreme isolation of Casey Key, and that’s where they ended up, in an even larger and more secluded mansion that’s never been seen by the public.

Even without its unique literary associations, the mansion on Longboat would be an extraordinary piece of real estate. It is set on 2.5 acres, with an additional 1 acre available for purchase and development, thus creating the possibility of a family compound. The home itself is 6,000 square feet, constructed in 1997 and as solid as a fortress. 

The scale is extraordinary. The second level functions as the living area, with a space 48 feet long and 15 feet high. Though hyperglamorous, with glass walls and limestone floors, it echoes the famous living room in Big Pink. The view, facing east over the mangroves, reveals virtually nothing of other homes or human habitation. It’s almost primeval in its untouched state. 

Immediately to the north is a 30-acre nature preserve, adding to the privacy. Looking out over the low tropical vegetation you can’t help but be reminded of the mysterious jungle-like surroundings of “Duma Key,” where ancient secrets lurk. But only when you ascend to the rooftop deck do you get the full effect of the home’s location. It’s the tallest single family home on the key, and the 360-degree view encompasses the gulf, the Skyway, the city skyline — everything. 

The third level of the home contains four bedrooms, each with its own bath. The master suite features a delightfully incongruous touch — a heart-shaped bathtub. There’s also a glass enclosed sunroom that juts out from the house toward the view.

But of most interest to literary scholars is the home’s first level. Like many homes on Longboat, it’s designed not as living space — zoning laws requires homes be built a certain height above sea level  — but as parking, storage and recreation. Here things are a little different. King, not wanting to be distracted by the home’s spectacular views, did all his writing down here. He set aside one corner of the cavernous space and created an office with two smallish windows looking out at a wall of mangroves, blocking out the world so he could create the books and stories that so enthralled generations of readers.

“Duma Key” wasn’t published until 2008, years after King had moved on to Casey Key. But so many of the book’s themes and images can be traced back to Longboat Key: the thrill of a Northerner's first encountering the sunny languid Florida air, the power of the tropics to heal and rejuvenate, and yes, even the mysterious, supernatural elements that are hiding out there, everywhere.

At one point in “Duma Key,” Freemantle goes for a walk on the beach with his daughter. “Is this the most beautiful place on earth, Dad?” she asks.

“No, but you’re young and I don’t blame you for thinking it might be. It’s Number Four on the most beautiful list, but the top three are places nobody can spell.”

It’s a passage that perfectly encapsulates King’s continuing love affair with our beautiful, yet slightly enigmatic, corner of Florida.

5442/4 Gulf of Mexico Drive is listed at $5,442,000. For information, call Oliver Giesser of Coldwell Banker at 356-4818.