By Libertina Brandt

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A waterfront property asking $31.5 million is the most expensive home in Florida's Sarasota County.

Located just outside the city of Sarasota on the barrier island of Siesta Key, the 2.7-acre property has a roughly 10,000-square-foot house and a dock on Little Sarasota Bay.

The seller, Crystal Lahners, and her late husband, ophthalmologist Dr. William Lahners, paid about $3.6 million for two parcels of land in 2019, she said. A specialist in Lasik and cataract surgery, William was a partner at Center for Sight, a physician group with offices across the Southeast. The company was sold in 2019 for an undisclosed amount. Crystal is still a shareholder.

When the Lahnerses found the land on Siesta Key, it contained an older home and a tennis court, Crystal said. They demolished the house and started building a new one, but William died unexpectedly in 2021 at the age of 53, shortly after construction began. Crystal decided to complete the house on her own, finishing it in 2024. Building the home they imagined together was "very rewarding," she said. "I'm glad that I finished it." She named the property Crystal Waters.

Crystal moved into the home, but said she has decided to sell it because it is too big for one person. The Lahnerses' two children are now in college. Moreover, she said, "after several years of working on it, I think it's time to close this chapter of my life."

The gated, West Indies-style estate was inspired by the aesthetic of Palm Beach, Crystal said. The main house has floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking an infinity pool and the bay. There is also a roughly 1,600-square-foot guesthouse.

Amenities in the main house include a gym and elevator as well as a club room with a vaulted Cypress ceiling, billiards table and bar. The primary suite has his-and-hers closets with custom cabinetry. The mudroom opens to a fenced outdoor dog run, which Crystal built for her Cavalier King Charles spaniel. Her favorite room is the kitchen, which has two islands and a La Cornue range, she said.

The pool is 52 feet long and 20 feet wide. It sits between a hot tub and a water feature, and is visible from the home's entryway, according to listing agent Roger Pettingell with Coldwell Banker Realty. "As you walk in you're surrounded by water views," Crystal said.

William was an avid tennis player, so the Lahnerses kept the property's tennis court, renovated it and added a tennis pavilion. The 90-foot-long dock has a 20,000-pound boat lift. A covered patio with a retractable screen has a summer kitchen, fireplace, bar and roll-down hurricane shutters.

Two large water fountains at the entrance feature shell-shaped pieces that shoot water into the basins.

Curved pathways made of seashell concrete run the length of the property. "You don't have to go out of the gates to get your exercise in, " said Crystal. "You can just go out and walk around the paths on each side of the home."

She declined to comment on the cost of construction.

The estate is one of the largest on Siesta Key, according to Pettingell. The current Sarasota County record was set by a home on just under an acre that sold for $20 million last year, according to Zillow.

Prices and demand for luxury homes in the Sarasota area have surged since the pandemic, though they still trail behind markets such as Miami, Naples and Palm Beach, according to Pettingell. In 2024, Sarasota County saw 106 home sales over $5 million, up from 18 in 2019, he said.

Write to Libertina Brandt at Libertina.Brandt@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 19, 2025 15:00 ET (20:00 GMT)

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