Here Today...Gone Tomorrow

Demolition workers walk through what's left of the former Salisbury house south of the Westway easement gate.

Rear view from the Bayou

If you've used the beach access lately, you've noticed a disappearing act just south of the main gate. If not, you're in for a surprise. By the weekend, the Carl Abbott-designed house, recently purchased from Bob Salisbury by Tom and Paula McInerny, was no more.

Demolition crews have been working for the past few days with heavy equipment, knocking down walls and trucking away piles of cinderblock and debris. The house featured a large "anchor wall" facing the easement to the north, and was open to the Bayou and estuary to the south. The 20-foot wide LSPOA easement now cuts through the center of the McInerney's property. They now own both lots bordering the easement to the south and the home at 1067 Westway Drive to the north of the easement.

Heavy equipment made quick work of the demolition.

It's the second of two Carl Abbott-designed houses south of our easement to come down (the other a few years ago at 1003 Westway Drive.) Both typify Abbott design — blank walls to the street, expansive glass walls to the view. Both houses had been neglected. The Putterman House at 220 Morningside Drive is the third Abbott-designed house in Lido Shores.  

On October 25th, members of the Sarasota Architectural Foundation and the American Institute of Architects requested a farewell tour and were allowed one last visit inside the home. 

SAF and AIA Members listen as architect Carl Abbott and builder Sam Dixon discuss the house.