Is it much of a surprise that A. Everett "Chick" Austin Jr., father of the Ringling Museum of Art—the first museum to celebrate the history of the American circus—and, according to the brokerbabble of this three-bedroom Sarasota, Fla., house, "the man who brought modern art to America," did not live his days in some modest, understated house? No, no it is not. The longtime museum director's home, appropriately dubbed "Villa Cirque," is—in a word—insane. On the market for $8.69M, the 1925 estate spares no eccentricity, finding room for a treehouse, a ballroom, a Japanese koi pond, a "Chinese Chippendale lanai," and, so far as the listing photos show, stained glass windows in nearly every room. It's also worth mentioning that scattered among the impressively bonkers art on display in this funhouse are multiple male torso sculptures, perhaps also available for the right price. Really, go ahead and look.
227 DELMAR AVE, Sarasota, Fl. [Estately]
Loading comments...