4637 Hidden Forest Dr., Sarasota, FL 34235

Tucked into a two-acre Eden, this fully restored, award-winning home, designed by renowned architect, Carl Abbott, is minutes from Sarasota’s downtown and the UTC shopping mecca. The house is sited at the lot’s edge, shoulder-to-road, for quiet and privacy. Western Red Cedar siding, ceilings and walls; swaths of stairs; and lush foliage sweep through expansive glass, inside to out. Such ingenious design details as ceiling heights ranging from 8’ to 17’; varying room elevations; floor-to-ceiling Florida Keystone fireplaces; and long, light-filled galleries, create a home generous in scale, yet intimate in the right places. Adjoining public areas include a welcoming great room; a warm dining room; a kitchen and family room with a second dining area. The master suite, with custom closet and five-piece master bath, and a generous office share a level; and a large, covered, screened room with cooking fireplace leads to the separate, two-story structure, each floor with two bedrooms and a shared bath. Majestic live oaks, pines, flowering vines, stands of bamboo, fruit trees, a 50-foot, heated lap pool and extensive decking create gracious outdoor entertaining areas, visible from all interior rooms. This inland masterpiece, seeming to spring from the land, offers a stunning and abundant lifestyle that can be lived unburdened by staggering taxes, storm surges and insurance costs that accompany such architecturally prominent homes located on the Bay.