The Granada Apartments, one of the last remaining structures commissioned by John Ringling, circus magnate, for construction outside his bayside estate, was razed in 2008.

 

Mikki Hartig, Historical & Architectural Research Services, had taken a close look at these buildings prior to thier demolition. Following is a report prepared by Hartig, who has a personal affinity for the apartments, having lived nearby for many years.

 

 “The Granada Apartments was one of the few remaining examples of a Mediterranean Revival style multi-family building that survived from the Florida Land Boom of the 1920s.  Its architecture displays a variety of characteristics of the most popular architecture of that that decade including its flat roof, curved parapet, and rough textured stucco exterior.”

 

“In 1924, Charles Tyson came to Sarasota from Tennessee and bought large acreage to develop a new subdivision off the south side of Siesta Drive near the bridge leading from the mainland to Siesta Key. He named it Granada.  Sarasotans doubted the future of the project knowing that Tyson had bought large acreage, amid cabbage scrub palmetto for a substantial sum of money and it was located so far away from development of the city up to that time.  He ignored them and began to lay out wide streets with a park at the center adorned by a fountain.  He hired local prominent architect, Thomas Reed Martin to design many of the Spanish style homes in the subdivision. Martin designed many of the wonderful Spanish style buildings in Sarasota from the 1920s including Burns Court.

 

“Prominent Sarasota resident, John Ringling, of circus fame had for some time been buying up all of the land on the islands surround Sarasota except for Siesta Key which Harry Higel had been focusing on buying up for years ahead of Ringling.  Nevertheless, with the beautiful subdivision of Granada taking form and Ringling, who had long recognized the future of the outlying Sarasota islands for their resort potential, was at least able to purchase land on the main road leading to Siesta and immediately adjacent to Granada.

 

“He hired Martin to design an upscale apartment building for wealthy visitors and/or tenants to be designed in the Spanish style and to be fitted with the finest of interior appointments and adornment.  The four room one bedroom, one bath, apartments featured beautiful Spanish tile and wood floors, fireplaces with decorative stone mantles and pecky cypress ceilings. A separate building at the rear was constructed as a garage to provide covered parking for each tenant.  The center hall featured a central staircase with an ornate oak hand rail.  The main entrance of each apartment was accessed from the first or second floor. The first floor rear apartments had a wood frame entrance porch and secondary entrance to the apartment’s kitchen.

 

“Although written documentation does not exist, an early tenant in the building was told that Ringling used the building to house his out of town guests whom he welcomed but chose to not be housed in his mansion, Cad’zan, so that they were nearby but not too much so.  

 

“Over the years, the building had a large number of subsequent occupants and a few that lived there for many years.  The building began to deteriorate and the original steel casement windows were replaced with ill fitting aluminum awning windows. Lack of maintenance began in the 1970s, perhaps by owners who at one time speculated that Siesta Drive would eventually evolve into a commercial corridor and that redevelopment of the site would be profitable. In the 1990s, the owner of the property was approached to consider historically designating the structure with the intent that it would afford the building protection from future development. The owner declined to make the application.