Looking for mid-century modern homes in St. Petersburg (Lakeland, Sarasota: real estate, insurance)

[Sailor Curt]

Hello St. Petersburg residents:

I am hoping that some of you savvy architect lovers can tell me which of the neighborhoods in St. Petersburg has the greatest number of mid-century modern homes?

Definitions of what a mid-century modern home is and examples of what the style is like can be found here: Mid-century modern, here: Retro Renovation and here: La Floridiana.

Here are some photo examples:



http://www.longbeachneighborhoods.com/Mid_Century_modern_3236_Lees.jpg (broken link)

My wife and I own all vintage furnishings from the same era and would love to find a great mid-century home in a great neighborhood in St. Petersburg.


Thanks in advance.

[gypsychic]

I don't live in St. Pete but love those mid-centuries. Great links you provided. Here in Lakeland, we have a good bit of that "Googie" style stuff, they are big on preservation here. There is a car dealership that restored their rotating neon sputnik style sign - it's one of only a handful of working ones in the country I believe. I couldn't believe all the vintage buildings and signage when we moved here. It's like parts of the city were frozen in time.

Hopefully someone from St. Pete can guide you to the right neighborhoods. Florida is a wealth of those nice little 50's homes, but finding one with the cool "modern" style is a little tougher, the best ones are big $$$$.

Good luck to you!

[Sailor Curt]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

I don't live in St. Pete but love those mid-centuries. Great links you provided. Here in Lakeland, we have a good bit of that "Googie" style stuff, they are big on preservation here. There is a car dealership that restored their rotating neon sputnik style sign - it's one of only a handful of working ones in the country I believe. I couldn't believe all the vintage buildings and signage when we moved here. It's like parts of the city were frozen in time.

Hopefully someone from St. Pete can guide you to the right neighborhoods. Florida is a wealth of those nice little 50's homes, but finding one with the cool "modern" style is a little tougher, the best ones are big $$$$.

Good luck to you!

Thanks for your reply. I love Googie style, too and that is very much in tune with the whole mid-century housing possibilities that I want to learn about in St. Petersburg.

From my online search, I see that St. Petersburg has quite a few examples of this styling, but I am hoping that someone who has good local knowledge of the area will chime in here. (FYI: I am not asking for any real estate help or referrals, only for someone to point me to any areas of interest).

[Angler]

I know there are some in the pink streets near the Southern tip of St. Pete- That area is near a not-so-good area, but has been on the upswing.

There are also many scattered about the west side of town- best bet would be to do a little driving.

[Sailor Curt]

Originally Posted by Angler

I know there are some in the pink streets near the Southern tip of St. Pete- That area is near a not-so-good area, but has been on the upswing.

There are also many scattered about the west side of town- best bet would be to do a little driving.

Thanks for your reply. A driving tour is something that we plan on doing. Now all I need are recommendations for the neighborhoods to put on the list of places to visit.

Re "not-so-good areas" in St. Petersburg: I've heard from more than one person on these message boards that the neighborhood located in south St. Petersburg is crime-ridden. (A couple of people even posted crime statistics to back those statements up).

Generally, the warnings are to avoid the section beginning from an area starting in downtown St. Petersburg to about 22nd Ave South. I've even read one post that claimed that all streets with a "south" on the end of the name are bad and also that anything west of I-275 "gets bad." But the person who posted that didn't say how far west that extends. I know that the Kenwood neighborhood is west of I-275. Does anyone know how safe the Historic Kenwood area is?

I'm not crazy about living in an area that has too high of a crime rate. But on the other hand, I've never lived in a city yet that didn't have at least one area that people say to avoid. My experience has taught me that sometimes people are right and then again, sometimes they are overreacting. Which is true of south St. Petersburg?

Thanks.

[Angler]

Historic Kenwood is average if you look at the crime stats- 10 years ago-different story. A lot of gays have moved into the area and fixed it up.

The pink Streets are located SOuth of 54th Ave S- more expensive area to live, consequently safer. The SOuth Central/Midtown area is the place to avoid.

ON the west side- try the Jungle prada and Jungle Terrace neighborhoods.

[modlifecrisis]

Originally Posted by Angler

Historic Kenwood is average if you look at the crime stats- 10 years ago-different story. A lot of gays have moved into the area and fixed it up.

The pink Streets are located SOuth of 54th Ave S- more expensive area to live, consequently safer. The SOuth Central/Midtown area is the place to avoid.

ON the west side- try the Jungle prada and Jungle Terrace neighborhoods.

I love Mid Century. I live in Historic Kenwood which is famous for its 1920's bunglaows and is charming but not mid century. Its safe and lovely. Everything on the south side is not a bad neighborhood. Esp the closer you get towards water.
Yes there are some hidden gem on the south side in bad neighborhood and a remarkable circle of mid century around a small lake I think its 9th Street or Ave South...birdcage homes...spectacular.

Better concentration across the bridge in Sarasota the home a major modernist movement. There is a realtor who specialized in them. Martie Lieberman?

If you are coming from outside FL, yes homes are really getting cheap. But taxes are not and nor is Hurricane Insurance. If you live close to water add Wind and Flood Insurance. These can run you 6K or more a year and then your taxes on top of that. These may not be issues where you are coming from.

St. Pete is a great city. So is Sarasota. The water is actually nicer there at the Gulf. The mid century homes are in nice neighborhoods and are middle income to amazing and yet not amazing prices compared to LA or Palm Springs at all. If you can spend 750- 1 mil you can get the cover of a book on mid century homes in Sarasota. But you can also spend under 200K as well with lots of design elements.

For some reason, so far, thank god, St Pete seems not to get hit with the hurricanes. I was told its the way it is situated on the gulf. Hope I can continue to report this.

I sell mid century things and I wish I had bought mid century when I first came here.
Good Luck
Also check out the website Lotta Livin.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by modlifecrisis

I love Mid Century. I live in Historic Kenwood which is famous for its 1920's bunglaows and is charming but not mid century. Its safe and lovely. Everything on the south side is not a bad neighborhood. Esp the closer you get towards water.
Yes there are some hidden gem on the south side in bad neighborhood and a remarkable circle of mid century around a small lake I think its 9th Street or Ave South...birdcage homes...spectacular.

Better concentration across the bridge in Sarasota the home a major modernist movement. There is a realtor who specialized in them. Martie Lieberman?

If you are coming from outside FL, yes homes are really getting cheap. But taxes are not and nor is Hurricane Insurance. If you live close to water add Wind and Flood Insurance. These can run you 6K or more a year and then your taxes on top of that. These may not be issues where you are coming from.

St. Pete is a great city. So is Sarasota. The water is actually nicer there at the Gulf. The mid century homes are in nice neighborhoods and are middle income to amazing and yet not amazing prices compared to LA or Palm Springs at all. If you can spend 750- 1 mil you can get the cover of a book on mid century homes in Sarasota. But you can also spend under 200K as well with lots of design elements.

For some reason, so far, thank god, St Pete seems not to get hit with the hurricanes. I was told its the way it is situated on the gulf. Hope I can continue to report this.

I sell mid century things and I wish I had bought mid century when I first came here.
Good Luck
Also check out the website Lotta Livin.

Nice post! I always love to hear from people who love the same things me and hubby do! St. Pete is definitely a great city. I agree with you about Sarasota. We lived there for 17 years, been away for 11, and now we just bought a second home there. It's not really a true modern, but it is "mid-century" - great little Florida ranch built in 1954 - smooth stucco, terrazzo floors - and it has this awesome huge open "great room" with soaring vaulted ceilings and massive beams - yet the house is less than 1400 square feet. It's also only 2 blocks from the bay - yet we got it for well under $200,000! There are some fantastic deals to be had in Sarasota right now. People coming from Cali would be stunned to see what their money can buy!

Anyway, mid-century is certainly alive and well in St. Pete and Sarasota, and as I posted earlier here in Lakeland where we live and will keep our home. Lakeland has the Florida Southern College, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright - the largest collection of his buildings anywhere in the world. There are buildings all over Lakeland designed by his proteges, as well as a lot of preserved "Googie" stuff as I mentioned earlier. Hope it all stays this way. Sarasota has lost a lot of it's great Googie and mid-century stuff over the years, sad to say, but I hope what's left can stick around. There are quite a few of the modest neighborhoods built in the 50's and 60's with some neat little MCM's mixed in there.

Sailor Curt, you will have fun exploring this whole area!

[Sailor Curt]

Thank you for all of the great replies so far.

Besides mid-century modern homes and Googie architecture, I am also a huge fan of those great 1950's ranch style homes that Florida seems to have so many of. The last time I was in Dunedin, we drove from there into St. Petersburg. I saw a great many 50's ranch homes in Dunedin, but didn't get the chance to explore St. Petersburg for any. That is next on my list, hopefully, sometime this fall or winter.

In the meantime, if anyone can suggest specific neighborhoods in St. Petersburg that I can add to my driving tour, please post them on this thread. I am going to map a driving tour and then bring along my camera.

[presres]

Temple Terrace is having a home tour this December featuring Mediterranean style and Mid-Century Modern homes.