In November 1996, at 3:30 a.m., a small Sarasota bungalow was moved under the cover of darkness. Sold for $1 and spared demolition, it was driven from Prospect Street along U.S. 41, Ringling Boulevard and South Osprey Avenue before being lowered onto an empty lot in Laurel Park.
Nearly three decades and multiple homeowners later, the house at 300 S. Osprey Ave. still honors its original character. And when Michelle and Paul van Deventer purchased the property in 2020, they weren’t just buying square footage—they were stepping into the world of restoring old homes.
“We walked in and thought, ‘This is the cutest house of all time,’” Michelle says. For her, it was the living room that sealed the deal: the original fireplace, the built-in bookcase, the proportions that felt intimate rather than cramped.
Paul was less certain at first. “When Michelle showed it to me, I said, ‘We’re not doing this,’” he says…