The Field Club. Sarasota, Florida.

The Field Club Estate is the setting for a Mediterranean Revival villa designed in 1926 by the noted Chicago architect, David Adler. The villa was conceived and constructed for Stanley Field, cousin of Marshall Field, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is sited to afford bay views and features a waterway that passes beneath the building structure.

In 1956, the estate was sold to become a private yachting and social club. Charter member Edward J. Seibert was commissioned in 1959 to execute a plan for future development and to design new dining and food preparation facilities.

Mr. Seibert called for the faithful restoration of the estate. The villa would serve as the Club House and would contain the main meeting rooms. Its rich, period architecture presented an appropriate, formal stage for social events and ceremonies. The dining would be a “Garden Pavilion” to be positioned where an earlier garden had existed.

The Garden Pavilion was designed as a composition of floating planes that define a progression of transparent spaces. The defined spaces provide a variety of apertures through which to view the villa and its rich surround. The result is architecture with an ethereal presence, transcending time in its ability to cojoin with disparate past style and setting. The modern strengthens the historical by serving as its foil.

Photographer: Von Guttenberg Photographic Studio

Year Built: 1961