Sarasota architect Frank Folsom Smith dies at age 93

Sarasota architect Frank Folsom Smith died on March 25 at age 93, according to an obituary prepared for Toale Brothers Funeral Home, which is handling arrangements.

A member of the Sarasota School of Architecture, Smith was the lead architect for Sarasota's iconic Plymouth Harbor retirement community and a founding member of the Council of New Urbanism, whose emphasis on walkability laid the foundation for Sarasota's bustling downtown.

Known as a true gentleman of the South, Smith was born June 21, 1931 in Philadelphia but grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia. A 1959 graduate of the University of Virginia's School of Architecture, he fell in love with Sarasota's natural beauty during a vacation. 

Smith was then hired by Victor Lundy, one of the leading members of what would become known as the Sarasota School of Architecture. The "school" combined modernist architecture with designs that complemented the area's tropical environment. (Lundy died at age 101 in 2024.)

Working with architect William Zimmerman, Smith designed his first project, the Weaver House on Longboat Key, and then opened his own firm in 1960. During the next six decades, Smith designed homes, churches, commercial buildings and communities both in Sarasota and throughout the U.S.

His design for Plymouth Harbor, a 25-story tower with interiors that brought residents together in "colonies," was recognized by the American Institute of Architects with its Test of Time Award in 1991.

"Test of Time" was the title of a 2022 book Smith wrote chronicling his design work. In a review on Amazon.com, Sarasota author and historian Jeff LaHurd wrote, "Frank Folsom Smith's long and illustrious career as a leading modernist architect whose award-winning designs have brought him critical acclaim, is deftly interwoven with his rich and colorful life. A leading member of what has become known as the Sarasota School of Architecture, Smith's 'Test of Time' is a must-read not only for architects and historians, but also laymen interested in how the architectural 'system' works."

From The Terrace on Siesta Key to the renovation of the U.S. Garage and the nearby Burns Court area, Smith left an indelible imprint on the face of Sarasota.

According to Architecture Sarasota's website, Smith built the foundation for the Burns Court Historic District by acquiring and rehabilitating over 20 downtown Sarasota buildings from the 1920s. Several of these were later listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Smith was honored by Architecture Sarasota's predecessor organization in 2019 at the SarasotaMod conference for his contribution to the area's architecture in the 1960s. 

Southern Living Magazine featured Smith's Sandy Cove development on Siesta Key in a 1971 cover story. Smith also drew acclaim for his residential and mixed-use communities in Charlottesville, Virginia, home of his alma mater UVA, and for private homes in Florida and California that he designed.

In 2001, Coastal Living Magazine cited Smith's Conrad Beach development, a 27-home neighborhood on Longboat Key, as the Community Development of the Year.

Smith was a leading advocate of New Urbanism, which emphasized walkability, sustainability and human interaction. He took a leadership role in a 1983 design conference that helped shape downtown Sarasota. He also spearheaded the restoration of Sarasota High School's Paul Rudolph Wing and the overhaul of New College's Master Plan in 1995.

Despite his genteel manner, Smith didn't sugarcoat his opinions. Asked in 2006 what he thought of the former Herald-Tribune building on Main Street now owned by Sarasota Memorial Hospital, he said: “It’s an enigmatic building symbolic of 21st-century chaos. It’s an exciting bit of architecture, but to me it is not a Sarasota School of Architecture offspring. I think it lacks the clarity of purpose and structural order that mark the movement. ... Somewhere around 2030 we’ll be able to say whether it’s timeless.”

Smith met his future wife, Anne, in 1981 and married the next year. For 40 years, they lived in a restored 1890s farmhouse decorated by Anne, an interior designer who built a thriving business in Sarasota. They named their Indian Beach home Ventana, after the Big Sur inn of the same name in California.

Smith's great loves — besides architecture and his wife — included UVA, strong coffee, porches, beautiful cars, nature and travel.

Memorial arrangements are pending.