Three Siesta Key houses on the water sold for millions under their first asks

A landmark sold for less than half

Architect Tim Seibert reworked the Ness House, a 1961 Siesta Key landmark, in 1971, the Observer reported, and in August it sold for $2.56 million. It had first asked $5.3 million, so it went for less than half, by our arithmetic.

Why it matters: On Siesta Key's water, the first asking price was not the price. Three sellers took between $2.7 million and $9.6 million less than they first asked, by our arithmetic. Across Sarasota County, single-family sellers got a median 94.7% of their original asking price in August, the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee reports.

The landmark still sold for about 46% more than the $1.75 million a buyer paid in 2014, the county record shows, by our arithmetic.

A house built for the heat

Seibert, who died in 2018 at 91, was a leading figure in the Sarasota School of Architecture, the modern style that grew up around Sarasota. The Observer reported that he was the house's original designer and reworked it a decade after it was built.

The house was designed for Florida's heat, the Observer reported. Outlets in the roof let hot air escape, and north-facing walls help cool it. A rainwater collection system was part of the plan. It sits on nearly an acre with about 135 feet of lagoon shore, and it holds a 2011 historic designation, the Observer reported. Seibert also designed the Siesta Key home of the novelist John D. MacDonald, the Observer reported in 2014.

Two new houses, two big cuts

A buyer paid $26 million on Sept. 28 for a newly built house on 1.18 acres, the county record shows. It first listed in 2025 at $29,995,000, so it sold for nearly 87% of the ask, the Business Observer reported. A trust sold it. The trust had paid $3.9 million for the property in 2021.

A bayfront estate completed in 2024 sold in September for $21.95 million, the county record shows. It first asked $31.5 million in 2025, then $29.99 million from June. It sits on 2.78 acres with 217 feet on the bay. Sarasota Magazine reported the sale was all cash. Its seller had paid $3,125,000 in 2019.

The landmark's ledger

The county records the Ness House's qualified sales at $77,500 in 1971, $425,000 in 1994 and $1,055,000 in 2008. A buyer paid $1.75 million in 2014, and a buyer paid a trust $2,562,500 on Aug. 11.

Sources we read

Sarasota County Property Appraiser sale records for the three houses, read Nov. 5. The Observer, June 10, 2025, Aug. 28, 2026 and Dec. 9, 2014. Business Observer, Sept. 17 and Sept. 28, 2026. Sarasota Magazine, Sept. 18, 2026. Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee, August 2026 report. SRQ Magazine, Dec. 5, 2018, and Wikipedia on Tim Seibert.