1716 Oak Street
Locally designated as historic, the one story craftsman style bungalow was built in 1927. It is known as “Ella Dual Westermann Tenant House”.
The structure has a simple rectangular plan. It’s structural system is a balloon frame, supported on masonry piers. Bricks laid in a decorative pattern form an under skirting for the building. The facade consists of a low pitched, front facing gable roof, which is mimicked by an identical roof line on the partial width front porch. The harmony of scale and materials of these two roof lines creates a pleasing architectural effort. Exposed rafter tails are visible at the open eaves on the side elevations. These add a decorative element to the sides of the house and are also typical of the Craftsman Bungalow Style.
The porch supports are fired brick piers below with sloping (battered) wooden columns above, also characteristic of Craftsman Bungalows. The piers extend to ground level without a break at the level of the porch floor. The double molding at the top of the columns and the single molding between the brick and wooden piers on the porch columns is a distinct and variable detail of the Craftsman Style.
In 1938, the Westermanns bought the lot in the Burns Realty Company subdivision and moved the house from Allendale Street in Bahia Vista Highlands to its present location. The practice of moving homes was fairly common in the constrained economy of the Depression and New Deal as it was more economical to move a newer home than to rebuild.
Betsy Sublette, who purchased the property in June 2004, added an owner’s suites, garage, and guest apartment, and an informal English garden with gazebo. Betsy worked closely with architect Christopher Wenzel and the City of Sarasota Historic Preservation Board to ensure that all the changes in the home would be consistent with the historic feel of the home and neighborhood. Ball Construction completed the project in January 2006.