This blog focuses on the Laurel Park neighborhood—we are Laurel Park Management, after all—but more than a little attention should also be paid to our neighbor to the north, Gillespie Park. Gillespie is a funky, diverse, and affordable historic neighborhood featuring many beautiful old Florida homes. LPM has several rental properties in this often overlooked area. Here’s how gillespiepark.com describes it:
With many trees and spacious areas, Gillespie Park is truly the most beautiful of any of the City’s walk-to-town neighborhoods. In its center lies a ten-acre park boasting a grand pavilion, a large meandering lake with fountain, bicycle and walking paths which lead to a playground, tennis courts, and even a lakeside gazebo.
And here’s a quick history of the neighborhood, also from gillespiepark.com:
The name “Gillespie Park” honors John Hamilton Gillespie, first mayor of Sarasota. The Scottish-born aristocrat arrived in 1886 as agent for his father, Sir John Hamilton Gillespie of Edinburgh, a principal in the Florida Mortgage and Investment Co., which filed the Town of Sarasota plat in 1886. Gillespie laid out a golf course in 1886. He worked to fund dredging of a Sarasota Bay channel in 1888, and built a hotel on Main Street. When Sarasota was incorporated in 1902, Gillespie was elected Mayor. He died in 1923 and was buried in the town’s Rosemary Cemetery.
While we think the world of Laurel Park, for those of you who want to live close enough to walk to Main Street but would like an alternative to Laurel Park, we recommend exploring Gillespie Park.