Bird Key is a boater’s delight and is truly paradise, one of six barrier islands nestled along the Sarasota coast. Ideally located, it’s within minutes to downtown, St. Armands Circle, and Lido Beach.
There is no commercial activity nor condominiums. Instead, you will find luxurious homes, magnificent yachts, the Bird Key Yacht Club, elegant birds, spectacular sunsets, and abundant sea life. This 250-acre, gated community is one of the most prestigious residential communities on the West Coast of Florida, where the price of single-family homes ranges from $800,000 to the millions. Current homes for sale.
Bird Key is best known for its historical significance: In 1922, circus magnate John Ringling purchased the Edzell mansion and the entire island of Bird Key. Ringling intended to use the mansion and property as the Winter White House for his friend, President Warren G. Harding. The home was occupied by John Ringling’s sister Ida Ringling North until she died in 1950.
The Ringling Causeway bridge was erected in 1926, connecting the Bird Key and Lido Key to the mainland. In 1959, the Arvida Corporation. Purchased the Ringling Interests’ holdings on the key, dredged and filled in the island, expanding it to 250 acres. The mansion was demolished in 1959 by Arvida to develop Bird Key, which has become one of the most prestigious residential areas on Florida’s West Coast. The house’s contents were retained by John Ringling and later included in the Ca’ d’Zan of the Ringling Museum.