The family that intended to save it now says it is unsavable.
Original Air Date: June 10, 2026
Host: Half a year ago, a buyer spent more than $1 million on a historically designated home in the Hudson Bayou neighborhood near downtown Sarasota. Now they’re asking the city to allow a teardown. What gives? Noah Bookstein is looking for answers.
Noah Bookstein: A historic Sarasota home may soon be demolished—not by a developer but by a family who said they bought it specifically to save it. The Chadwick family purchased 908 Pomelo Avenue in December for $1.2 million from the previous owner’s estate trust. The property has been on Sarasota’s local historic register since 1994. It was the home of Augustus Wilson, Sarasota’s first postmaster. At a Historic Preservation Board hearing on June 9, Kinsey Chadwick, one of the owners, described how they came to buy the property.
Kinsey Chadwick: How we came upon this house was we fell in love with it. We were very excited to be in this area of Sarasota. We decided to tell the owner that we could restore it. She had already found a buyer, so it actually was bought, and we were super sad. We met Susan and asked her her opinion, and we become sad because we lost the house. Then it came back on the market, and we were so excited. We heard the deal fell through, but the owner actually took it off the market, and she said, “I’m not selling it. I’m going for a demolition permit because this house isn’t saveable.” That was the owner of the house. And we were like, “What? No. Give us a chance. We want to save it. So she did, so it didn’t go back on the market, but she did a deal with us because she knew our hearts.…