Venice searches for historical perspective while looking to rewrite rules for future development

VENICE – In many ways, the ongoing effort to rewrite Venice's land development rules for the first time since the 1970s is an attempt to formulate a new perspective of how to best view the history of a city that will mark its 100th anniversary on May 9, 2027.

Historic preservation – both of homes built while the city was developed under the auspices of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Mid-Century Modern examples that were built after World War II – has been moving to the forefront as well.

The city of Venice Historic Preservation Board will discuss both the purpose and need for creation of a historic district in Edgewood, and the possibility of offering educational classes on Mid-Century Modern architecture, when it meets at 9 a.m. Friday, in Venice City Hall, 401. W. Venice Ave.

Earlier: Downtown building heights debated at Venice council meeting

And: Venice home built by Orbry Crowley placed on Venice historic register

Transplants, drawn to the area by the city’s small-town charm have seized on – among other things – a quest to preserve and codify a 35-foot height limit within the city’s downtown core.

Lisa Jarvio has an active petition available at https://www.savedowntownvenice.com soliciting signatures in support of that.

Former Venice Mayor Ed Martin, a vehement opponent of allowing for construction of new buildings taller than 35 feet in downtown Venice, fears that the taller buildings will detract from the downtown look that many visitors – including Martin and his wife Peggy – first found attractive about the city.

“I remember when Peggy and I first drove down Venice Avenue and stayed at Inn on the Beach, I thought, ‘This town is nice, there’s no big McDonalds or department store on the corner,” Martin said. “It’s different, it's on a scale that’s livable.”

The push to allow taller downtown buildings illustrates the clash between older aesthetics and newer ones that favor spacious ceilings.

It doesn't help that a hard cap makes it difficult to build a three-story building that’s architecturally interesting – something that Mark Beebe, chairman of the Venice Architectural Advisory Board, noted in February, during a joint meeting between the Planning Commission and City Council.

He noted that the roofline and windows are typically the most memorable aspects of a building, but in the downtown a three-story 35-foot tall building was, at best, a square box.

When Beebe designed the 27-foot-tall FourThough Private Wealth building at 310 W. Venice Ave., the original goal was a three-story building, but the result was a more elegant two-story one.

Venice Historical Resources Manager Harry Klinkhamer observed that another aspect of the 35-foot height limit is also about preserving the existing historic buildings downtown.

Earliest Venice homes are in Edgewood

Proponents of codifying a city historic district in Edgewood point out that the Edgewood Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Houses in the Groveland area date back to 1925 and are built on 50-foot lots, as platted by John Nolen as part of his Venice master plan.

Edgewood is generally located along several blocks on either side of Groveland Avenue, east of U.S. 41 Bypass.

The modest homes, meant for the working members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, predate the larger mansions constructed on what people now consider the island of Venice.

“They were the first buildings built and it was going to be for the pensioners whose entire pensions were lost in the Great Depression because of the" Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, noted Tommye Whittaker, a local preservationist who along with her husband Curt, owns a home on the Venice Historic Register.

In Edgewood, about 36 of the original 100 homes remain, Whittaker said, with only about 25 recognizable for their historic charm.

Others have been changed or modified over the years with new clapboard siding and modifications.

The many modifications are a main reason that Planning Commission Chairman Barry Snyder has said that it would be better for homes in Edgewood to be put on the city’s list of Historical Resources on a case by case basis.

While conceding that may happen, Whittaker noted that Edgewood has considerable significance as a district.

“That area was the first of John Nolen’s plan to be implemented,” she said. “It has boulevards – just like I have a boulevard on West Venice (Avenue) – it has these houses, the original houses built for the pensioners.”

One of those original houses, a two-bedroom, one-bath home with 1,395 square feet of living space, sits at the northeast corner of Groveland Avenue and Live Oak streets.

The four lots immediately to the east have been cleared, with similar blue-gray single-family homes either complete or in various stages of construction.

Recognition for the Post World War II boom

In case you missed it: Venice will allow renovation of home once owned by Black Stallion author

While the Mediterranean Revival architectural style of the homes first built during the era of Nolen and the BLE have become Venice’s signature style in historical areas, more and more Venice residents are pushing for a deeper appreciation of Mid-Century Modern – emblematic of the childhood homes of many now retiring baby boomers, and the post-World War II building boom.

It’s been tough to break through the mindset that the most significant portion of Venice’s history was its founding with the land boom, John Nolen and the BLE. But earlier this month a two-bedroom, two-bath home built by developer Orbry Crowley in the Gulf View section of Venice became the first 1940s era home to be placed on the city’s list of Historical Resources.

“Venice could probably be the poster child for the post-World War II land boom in all of Florida because of the construction that started going up in the late 1940s and into the '50s and '60s,” Klinkhamer said, adding that the Crowley house represents the second kickoff to the land boom in Venice.

Historical Preservation Board Member Carol Orenstein wants to develop an educational program on Mid-Century Modern and the role the Sarasota School of Architecture played in that style.

“We talk a lot about the Mediterranean style homes,” she said. “There are some real beauties from the Mid-Century standpoint.”

One of those beauties, the onetime home of “Black Stallion” author Walter Farley, was listed by the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation as part of “Florida’s 11 to Save” in the summer of 2020.

It was also on the History & Preservation Coalition of Sarasota County’s 2020 Six to Save list.

Craig and Julie Hoensheid, who purchased the home in January 2021, have pledged to save most, if not all of the original structure.

Plans are still being finalized.

Martin admits to having a layman’s appreciation of the simple Usonian house typified by Mid-Century Modern homes.

He noted that it’s important to protect “things that make Venice Venice” such as “the theme of history and architecture that runs through the town.”

Klinkhamer said that at one time, ranch houses and structures designed by Frank Lloyd Wright were viewed as prime teardowns, “and now they’re revered.”

“Just because a certain contingent in today’s society doesn’t think something’s worth saving, that’s not to say that the next generation isn’t going to love it,” Klinkhamer said. “That’s what we’re seeing with Mid-Century: It’s being discovered by a wider audience and appreciated by a wider audience.”

Earle Kimel primarily covers south Sarasota County for the Herald-Tribune and can be reached at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription to the Herald-Tribune.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Venice perspective on history reflected in land development rules rewrite