3 More Houses Get Historic Designation in Lido Shores

The "V" House (1965), 315 Morningside Drive, Philip Hiss

We've all driven by it dozens, even hundreds of times.  You know the one.  The elegant, white 1960's home with a circle drive on the corner of Morningside Drive and Morningside Place. Now owned by Carol Bowen and Vic Bass... the house at 315 Morningside Drive was designed and built by Lido Shores founder Phillip Hiss in 1965. In the latter days of the Sarasota School of Architecture movement, as Lido Shores continued to fill in. It was renovated in 2017.

The "V" house, as it's called, is one of three neighborhood homes that have just recently received Historic designation from the City of Sarasota. The others are Anne and Bob Essner's Harkavy House at 113 Morningside Drive, designed by Paul Rudolph in 1957, with an addition by John Quinn in 2006.

Harkavy House (1957), 113 Morningside Drive, Paul Rudolph

And Carrie and Ken Cox's Goull-Chapell House, 1080 Westway Drive, another Philip Hiss home built in 1954. It was remodeled by Don Chapell in 1991.

Goull-Chapell House (1954), 1080 Westway Drive, Philip Hiss, Don Chapell

Congratulations to all for the designation.  Thanks to Janet Minker, who checked the Florida Master Site File, and found these other Lido Shores homes on the City of Sarasota Historical List:

Craig-Cook House (1955), designed by Tim Seibert, 2009 Addition by Guy Peterson

Hiss Studio (1953), architect Tim Seibert

Umbrella House (1953), Paul Rudolph

Arguedas Home, 1332 Westway Drive (1959), designed by Ralph Twitchell, Renovated 2019 Seibert Architects

I'll let LSPOA member Carol Bowen pick up her part of the story from here:

~BT

_____________

All three of us (Anne, Carie and I) worked with architectural researcher and historian Lorrie Muldowney to determine (and in my case verify) the origins of the houses. She really is incredibly helpful and interested in Lido Shores. She's presented to the Planning Department and the City Commissioners numerous times, so it's a smooth process.

For me, Lorrie actually tracked down the original owner (the wife of the couple that built the V House) who was a fashion model, beauty queen and interior designer. She came down for SarasotaMod Weekend last year when my house was on the tour. It was wonderful to meet her. She's still an elegant and fascinating lady. 

It was she, working with Philip Hiss, who included the rock facade, the interior rock wall, and the marble steps, as well as the original sunken bathtub (that I had to remove as the pipes were totally corroded). 

Sadly, she was a new bride when she built it in 1965 (her husband was a builder), but she only lived in the house for about a year. Her husband had an affair with her best friend! She hadn't been back to the house since she moved out (she lives on Treasure Island now). She said at the time people asked if she was building a country club, since the house was white, V shaped and large, compared to extant smaller, brown houses. 

The historic designation was a fascinating and amazing experience for me, and I was gratified to learn that my house was indeed late Sarasota School of Architecture, as I'd suspected.

Best regards,

Carol Bowen

Street view of the "V" House

Image by artist John Pirman, JohnPirman.com