A community of waterfront single-family homes on the bayside south end of Longboat Key — deepwater canals, sailboat-depth dockage with no fixed bridges to Sarasota Bay, and the Longboat Key Club & Resort directly across the road. Minutes to St. Armands and downtown, guided by Danielle Gladding and Alison Kanter.
If you want a boat at the dock and a single-story Florida life, this is usually where the conversation ends up.
We are Danielle Gladding and Alison Kanter. Danielle has been a Sarasota ealtor since 1981 and a Broker since 1987, and she lives a few minutes north of here, inside Queens Harbour at Bay Isles. The south end of Longboat Key is home ground. Country Club Shores is the neighborhood we send people to when the wish list reads “deepwater dock, one level, close to the Club, easy run to town” — because honestly, very few places on the west coast of Florida deliver all four at once.
Country Club Shores sits on the bayside of the island’s far south end. It was developed in the early 1960s by the Arvida Corporation — the company founded by industrialist Arthur Vining Davis that bought large tracts of Longboat Key from the Ringling estate and set out to turn the southern bay side into luxury residential enclaves. Arvida dredged eighteen parallel canals and laid nineteen streets in a comb-like footprint built to maximize waterfront, putting a private dock behind nearly every one of the community’s 369 single-family homes. Built in five phases, it was engineered as a boater’s neighborhood from the first shovel — and six decades on, that is exactly why the deepwater boating still works so well here.
The homes have evolved even as the canals haven’t. Most were built between the 1960s and the 1980s as single-story “Old Florida” ranch and mid-century modern houses in the 2,000-to-3,000-square-foot range. The neighborhood is now in a long, healthy cycle of renovation and rebuilding, so today you’ll see an original mid-century home next to a brand-new coastal-contemporary or Mediterranean residence of 3,500 to 7,000 square feet — sometimes on the same canal. What does not change is the water: deep, sailboat-depth canals with direct, no-fixed-bridge access to Sarasota Bay, and the Gulf a short run beyond through New Pass.
Country Club Shores was laid out for boaters, and that is still the whole point.
The canals here carry sailboat-depth water, and — this is the part that matters — there are no fixed bridges between these docks and the open Bay. That single fact separates a serious boating address from a pretty one. It means you can keep a sailboat with a real mast, or a larger motor yacht, at your own dock and run straight out to Sarasota Bay and then to the Gulf through New Pass without waiting on a bridge tender or ducking under a span. For buyers coming from the Northeast or the Great Lakes who have spent years dealing with mooring fields, bridge schedules, and seasonal haul-outs, the idea of walking out the back door to the boat is a large part of the appeal.
Not every canal in the neighborhood is identical, and not every seawall and dock is in the same condition. Some lots sit closer to the Bay with a faster run out; others are deeper into the canal system. We walk through depth at mean low water, seawall age, dock and lift condition, and bridge clearance on every waterfront home here — because those details, far more than square footage, drive both the price and the long-term enjoyment of the property.
One of the quiet advantages of Country Club Shores is what sits directly across the road, and it is worth explaining properly because buyers often get the geography wrong.
The Longboat Key Club & Resort operates two golf courses. Harbourside — the 27-hole course — is a little to the north of Country Club Shores. Islandside — the 18-hole course that fronts the Gulf of Mexico — is directly across the road from the neighborhood. So from a Country Club Shores home you are essentially across the street from the resort’s Gulf-front course and within very easy reach of the rest of the Club’s amenities: golf on both courses, the nationally regarded tennis program, pickleball, the marina, the spa, fitness, and the dining venues.
Here is the honest framing. Club membership is not automatic with a Country Club Shores home — it is a separate, optional buy-in. But a large share of owners here choose to join precisely because of how close they are: you get the deepwater dock and the single-family neighborhood, and then you opt into the resort lifestyle next door rather than paying for it inside your monthly costs whether you use it or not. The Club offers two membership types — a social membership, and a full golf membership that comes with golf, tennis, and the full run of amenities — and at this time there is no waiting list to join. For the buyer who wants the golf-and-Club life some days and the quiet-canal life on the others, that optionality is a genuine selling point, and we are glad to walk you through which membership fits how you actually plan to use it.
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THE THING NOBODY ELSE WILL TELL YOU The two questions that actually determine value on a Country Club Shores home are the dock and the water — and most listings gloss over both. Ask: what is the controlling depth at mean low water, how old is the seawall, and when was the dock or lift last permitted and replaced? Those answers, far more than square footage, drive the price and the long-term enjoyment of a waterfront home here. We get them in writing before you sign anything. It is not in the brochure, and it is not on Zillow. And if the Longboat Key Club matters to you, the choice is straightforward — a social membership or a full golf membership with golf, tennis, and the rest of the amenities, with no waiting list at this time — and we will help you weigh which fits before you make an offer. |
Country Club Shores sits at the very south end of Longboat Key, and that location is part of the value.
From here you are minutes from the John Ringling Causeway, which means a quick run to St. Armands Circle for dinner and shopping, and on into Downtown Sarasota for the Opera, the symphony at the Van Wezel, the galleries, and the restaurants. The south end is the closest part of Longboat Key to all of that — you get the quiet, low-density barrier-island life without the longer island drive that the north-end communities contend with. Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport is roughly twenty-five minutes away. It is, in our experience, the most convenient address on the island for people who still want to be in the cultural life of the city several nights a week.
Everyday life is close too, and that matters more than buyers expect. Publix and CVS handle the groceries and pharmacy runs without a trip off the island, the Longboat Key Town Hall and the public library are right here, and there is a solid roster of island restaurants for the nights you don’t feel like making the short hop to St. Armands. Honestly, this is the detail that separates a home you can live in full-time from one that only works as a seasonal retreat — and for a growing share of our buyers, full-time is the plan.
Country Club Shores is single-family throughout — no condominium towers, no high-rise assessments, no shared elevators. That is a deliberate choice for many of our buyers, especially those who lived through a building’s special-assessment cycle elsewhere and want a property they control end to end.
The building stock runs from well-kept original 1960s–1980s homes — often one story, often ripe for renovation — to substantial new construction built to current elevation and storm-code standards. Pricing tracks the water more than the house: original canal-front homes can start in the low millions, waterfront homes with sweeping bay views regularly trade above $5 million, and premium bayfront properties command upward of $10 million. A home on a wide, deep canal with a short run to the Bay and a newer seawall commands a real premium over an interior lot, even with a comparable house on it. For buyers thinking about a future rebuild, we will also talk candidly about lot value, current setback and elevation requirements, and what the neighborhood’s recent rebuilds have actually traded for.
Country Club Shores is a community of waterfront single-family homes on the bayside south end of Longboat Key, known for deepwater canals with sailboat-depth dockage and direct, no-fixed-bridge access to Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. It is one of the premier boating neighborhoods on Florida’s west coast and sits directly across the road from the Longboat Key Club & Resort.
Yes, Country Club Shores offers deepwater, sailboat-depth dockage with no fixed bridges between its canals and Sarasota Bay, which allows owners to keep sailboats with full masts and larger motor yachts at private docks and run directly to the Gulf of Mexico through New Pass. Depth at mean low water, seawall age, and dock condition vary by lot, so each waterfront home should be evaluated individually.
Longboat Key Club & Resort membership is not automatically included with a Country Club Shores home; it is a separate, optional buy-in that many owners choose to take. Because the neighborhood sits directly across the road from the Club’s Gulf-front Islandside golf course and close to its other amenities, a large share of Country Club Shores owners join to access the golf, tennis, marina, spa, and dining.
The Longboat Key Club & Resort operates two golf courses near Country Club Shores: the 27-hole Harbourside course sits a little to the north, and the 18-hole Islandside course, which fronts the Gulf of Mexico, is directly across the road from the neighborhood. This puts Country Club Shores within very easy reach of both courses and the rest of the resort’s amenities.
Country Club Shores sits at the very south end of Longboat Key, making it the island’s most convenient neighborhood for reaching St. Armands Circle and Downtown Sarasota via the John Ringling Causeway. St. Armands is a short drive, Downtown Sarasota’s arts and dining are minutes beyond it, and Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport is roughly twenty-five minutes away.
Country Club Shores is a single-family-home neighborhood with no condominium towers, which means no shared building assessments, elevators, or high-rise reserve concerns. Buyers who want to avoid the special-assessment cycles affecting some older Gulf-front condominium buildings often prefer Country Club Shores for exactly this reason.
Country Club Shores was developed in the early 1960s by the Arvida Corporation, which dredged eighteen canals and laid nineteen streets in a comb-like footprint to create 369 waterfront single-family homes, most with a private dock in the backyard. Built in five phases, it was designed as a boating community from the start, and its original mid-century homes now sit alongside coastal-contemporary and Mediterranean rebuilds of 3,500 to 7,000 square feet.
The Longboat Key Club & Resort offers two membership types: a social membership and a full golf membership that includes golf, tennis, and the full range of resort amenities, and at this time there is no waiting list to join. Membership is a separate, optional buy-in rather than something included with a Country Club Shores home, and many owners join because the neighborhood sits directly across the road from the Club.
Country Club Shores has everyday conveniences close at hand, including Publix and CVS for groceries and pharmacy, the Longboat Key Town Hall and public library, and a range of island restaurants — all without leaving the island. St. Armands Circle and Downtown Sarasota add a wider selection of dining, shopping, and cultural venues a short drive south over the John Ringling Causeway.
Pricing in Country Club Shores is driven primarily by the water, with original canal-front homes starting in the low millions, bay-view waterfront homes regularly trading above $5 million, and premium bayfront properties commanding upward of $10 million. Canal width, depth at mean low water, run time to Sarasota Bay, and seawall and dock condition matter more than the house itself. For an accurate, confidential read on current pricing for any specific street or canal, please contact Danielle Gladding and Alison Kanter directly.
If you are weighing a deepwater home on Longboat Key, the most useful next step is a confidential, no-pressure conversation. Not a pitch — a conversation. We will give you an honest read on which canal fits your boat, which homes are priced to the water and which are priced to the dream, and whether the Longboat Key Club membership makes sense for how you actually want to live. We live and work on this end of the island, and we are happy to share what we know.
Danielle Gladding & Co. Realty
Danielle Gladding, Broker · Alison Kanter, Realtor
DanielleGladdingCo.com · Sarasota & Manatee County Luxury Real Estate
If you want a boat at the dock and a single-story Florida life, this is usually where the conversation ends up.
We are Danielle Gladding and Alison Kanter. Danielle has been a Sarasota ealtor since 1981 and a Broker since 1987, and she lives a few minutes north of here, inside Queens Harbour at Bay Isles. The south end of Longboat Key is home ground. Country Club Shores is the neighborhood we send people to when the wish list reads “deepwater dock, one level, close to the Club, easy run to town” — because honestly, very few places on the west coast of Florida deliver all four at once.
Country Club Shores sits on the bayside of the island’s far south end. It was developed in the early 1960s by the Arvida Corporation — the company founded by industrialist Arthur Vining Davis that bought large tracts of Longboat Key from the Ringling estate and set out to turn the southern bay side into luxury residential enclaves. Arvida dredged eighteen parallel canals and laid nineteen streets in a comb-like footprint built to maximize waterfront, putting a private dock behind nearly every one of the community’s 369 single-family homes. Built in five phases, it was engineered as a boater’s neighborhood from the first shovel — and six decades on, that is exactly why the deepwater boating still works so well here.
The homes have evolved even as the canals haven’t. Most were built between the 1960s and the 1980s as single-story “Old Florida” ranch and mid-century modern houses in the 2,000-to-3,000-square-foot range. The neighborhood is now in a long, healthy cycle of renovation and rebuilding, so today you’ll see an original mid-century home next to a brand-new coastal-contemporary or Mediterranean residence of 3,500 to 7,000 square feet — sometimes on the same canal. What does not change is the water: deep, sailboat-depth canals with direct, no-fixed-bridge access to Sarasota Bay, and the Gulf a short run beyond through New Pass.
Country Club Shores was laid out for boaters, and that is still the whole point.
The canals here carry sailboat-depth water, and — this is the part that matters — there are no fixed bridges between these docks and the open Bay. That single fact separates a serious boating address from a pretty one. It means you can keep a sailboat with a real mast, or a larger motor yacht, at your own dock and run straight out to Sarasota Bay and then to the Gulf through New Pass without waiting on a bridge tender or ducking under a span. For buyers coming from the Northeast or the Great Lakes who have spent years dealing with mooring fields, bridge schedules, and seasonal haul-outs, the idea of walking out the back door to the boat is a large part of the appeal.
Not every canal in the neighborhood is identical, and not every seawall and dock is in the same condition. Some lots sit closer to the Bay with a faster run out; others are deeper into the canal system. We walk through depth at mean low water, seawall age, dock and lift condition, and bridge clearance on every waterfront home here — because those details, far more than square footage, drive both the price and the long-term enjoyment of the property.
One of the quiet advantages of Country Club Shores is what sits directly across the road, and it is worth explaining properly because buyers often get the geography wrong.
The Longboat Key Club & Resort operates two golf courses. Harbourside — the 27-hole course — is a little to the north of Country Club Shores. Islandside — the 18-hole course that fronts the Gulf of Mexico — is directly across the road from the neighborhood. So from a Country Club Shores home you are essentially across the street from the resort’s Gulf-front course and within very easy reach of the rest of the Club’s amenities: golf on both courses, the nationally regarded tennis program, pickleball, the marina, the spa, fitness, and the dining venues.
Here is the honest framing. Club membership is not automatic with a Country Club Shores home — it is a separate, optional buy-in. But a large share of owners here choose to join precisely because of how close they are: you get the deepwater dock and the single-family neighborhood, and then you opt into the resort lifestyle next door rather than paying for it inside your monthly costs whether you use it or not. The Club offers two membership types — a social membership, and a full golf membership that comes with golf, tennis, and the full run of amenities — and at this time there is no waiting list to join. For the buyer who wants the golf-and-Club life some days and the quiet-canal life on the others, that optionality is a genuine selling point, and we are glad to walk you through which membership fits how you actually plan to use it.
|
THE THING NOBODY ELSE WILL TELL YOU The two questions that actually determine value on a Country Club Shores home are the dock and the water — and most listings gloss over both. Ask: what is the controlling depth at mean low water, how old is the seawall, and when was the dock or lift last permitted and replaced? Those answers, far more than square footage, drive the price and the long-term enjoyment of a waterfront home here. We get them in writing before you sign anything. It is not in the brochure, and it is not on Zillow. And if the Longboat Key Club matters to you, the choice is straightforward — a social membership or a full golf membership with golf, tennis, and the rest of the amenities, with no waiting list at this time — and we will help you weigh which fits before you make an offer. |
Country Club Shores sits at the very south end of Longboat Key, and that location is part of the value.
From here you are minutes from the John Ringling Causeway, which means a quick run to St. Armands Circle for dinner and shopping, and on into Downtown Sarasota for the Opera, the symphony at the Van Wezel, the galleries, and the restaurants. The south end is the closest part of Longboat Key to all of that — you get the quiet, low-density barrier-island life without the longer island drive that the north-end communities contend with. Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport is roughly twenty-five minutes away. It is, in our experience, the most convenient address on the island for people who still want to be in the cultural life of the city several nights a week.
Everyday life is close too, and that matters more than buyers expect. Publix and CVS handle the groceries and pharmacy runs without a trip off the island, the Longboat Key Town Hall and the public library are right here, and there is a solid roster of island restaurants for the nights you don’t feel like making the short hop to St. Armands. Honestly, this is the detail that separates a home you can live in full-time from one that only works as a seasonal retreat — and for a growing share of our buyers, full-time is the plan.
Country Club Shores is single-family throughout — no condominium towers, no high-rise assessments, no shared elevators. That is a deliberate choice for many of our buyers, especially those who lived through a building’s special-assessment cycle elsewhere and want a property they control end to end.
The building stock runs from well-kept original 1960s–1980s homes — often one story, often ripe for renovation — to substantial new construction built to current elevation and storm-code standards. Pricing tracks the water more than the house: original canal-front homes can start in the low millions, waterfront homes with sweeping bay views regularly trade above $5 million, and premium bayfront properties command upward of $10 million. A home on a wide, deep canal with a short run to the Bay and a newer seawall commands a real premium over an interior lot, even with a comparable house on it. For buyers thinking about a future rebuild, we will also talk candidly about lot value, current setback and elevation requirements, and what the neighborhood’s recent rebuilds have actually traded for.
Country Club Shores is a community of waterfront single-family homes on the bayside south end of Longboat Key, known for deepwater canals with sailboat-depth dockage and direct, no-fixed-bridge access to Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. It is one of the premier boating neighborhoods on Florida’s west coast and sits directly across the road from the Longboat Key Club & Resort.
Yes, Country Club Shores offers deepwater, sailboat-depth dockage with no fixed bridges between its canals and Sarasota Bay, which allows owners to keep sailboats with full masts and larger motor yachts at private docks and run directly to the Gulf of Mexico through New Pass. Depth at mean low water, seawall age, and dock condition vary by lot, so each waterfront home should be evaluated individually.
Longboat Key Club & Resort membership is not automatically included with a Country Club Shores home; it is a separate, optional buy-in that many owners choose to take. Because the neighborhood sits directly across the road from the Club’s Gulf-front Islandside golf course and close to its other amenities, a large share of Country Club Shores owners join to access the golf, tennis, marina, spa, and dining.
The Longboat Key Club & Resort operates two golf courses near Country Club Shores: the 27-hole Harbourside course sits a little to the north, and the 18-hole Islandside course, which fronts the Gulf of Mexico, is directly across the road from the neighborhood. This puts Country Club Shores within very easy reach of both courses and the rest of the resort’s amenities.
Country Club Shores sits at the very south end of Longboat Key, making it the island’s most convenient neighborhood for reaching St. Armands Circle and Downtown Sarasota via the John Ringling Causeway. St. Armands is a short drive, Downtown Sarasota’s arts and dining are minutes beyond it, and Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport is roughly twenty-five minutes away.
Country Club Shores is a single-family-home neighborhood with no condominium towers, which means no shared building assessments, elevators, or high-rise reserve concerns. Buyers who want to avoid the special-assessment cycles affecting some older Gulf-front condominium buildings often prefer Country Club Shores for exactly this reason.
Country Club Shores was developed in the early 1960s by the Arvida Corporation, which dredged eighteen canals and laid nineteen streets in a comb-like footprint to create 369 waterfront single-family homes, most with a private dock in the backyard. Built in five phases, it was designed as a boating community from the start, and its original mid-century homes now sit alongside coastal-contemporary and Mediterranean rebuilds of 3,500 to 7,000 square feet.
The Longboat Key Club & Resort offers two membership types: a social membership and a full golf membership that includes golf, tennis, and the full range of resort amenities, and at this time there is no waiting list to join. Membership is a separate, optional buy-in rather than something included with a Country Club Shores home, and many owners join because the neighborhood sits directly across the road from the Club.
Country Club Shores has everyday conveniences close at hand, including Publix and CVS for groceries and pharmacy, the Longboat Key Town Hall and public library, and a range of island restaurants — all without leaving the island. St. Armands Circle and Downtown Sarasota add a wider selection of dining, shopping, and cultural venues a short drive south over the John Ringling Causeway.
Pricing in Country Club Shores is driven primarily by the water, with original canal-front homes starting in the low millions, bay-view waterfront homes regularly trading above $5 million, and premium bayfront properties commanding upward of $10 million. Canal width, depth at mean low water, run time to Sarasota Bay, and seawall and dock condition matter more than the house itself. For an accurate, confidential read on current pricing for any specific street or canal, please contact Danielle Gladding and Alison Kanter directly.
If you are weighing a deepwater home on Longboat Key, the most useful next step is a confidential, no-pressure conversation. Not a pitch — a conversation. We will give you an honest read on which canal fits your boat, which homes are priced to the water and which are priced to the dream, and whether the Longboat Key Club membership makes sense for how you actually want to live. We live and work on this end of the island, and we are happy to share what we know.
Danielle Gladding & Co. Realty
Danielle Gladding, Broker · Alison Kanter, Realtor
DanielleGladdingCo.com · Sarasota & Manatee County Luxury Real Estate
715 people live in Country Club Shores, where the median age is 74 and the average individual income is $125,398. Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Total Population
Median Age
Population Density Population Density This is the number of people per square mile in a neighborhood.
Average individual Income
There's plenty to do around Country Club Shores, including shopping, dining, nightlife, parks, and more. Data provided by Walk Score and Yelp.
Explore popular things to do in the area, including The Lounge at element, Le Mans, and Camilyn Beth Studio.
| Name | Category | Distance | Reviews |
Ratings by
Yelp
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dining | 3.6 miles | 10 reviews | 5/5 stars | |
| Dining | 4.42 miles | 7 reviews | 5/5 stars | |
| Shopping | 3.27 miles | 8 reviews | 5/5 stars | |
| Active | 3.24 miles | 8 reviews | 5/5 stars | |
| Active | 3.2 miles | 36 reviews | 5/5 stars | |
| Active | 3.73 miles | 6 reviews | 5/5 stars | |
| Active | 1.57 miles | 6 reviews | 5/5 stars | |
| Active | 4.74 miles | 5 reviews | 5/5 stars | |
| Beauty | 4.08 miles | 8 reviews | 5/5 stars | |
| Beauty | 3.54 miles | 15 reviews | 5/5 stars | |
| Beauty | 3.61 miles | 12 reviews | 5/5 stars | |
| Beauty | 4.16 miles | 6 reviews | 5/5 stars | |
| Beauty | 3.77 miles | 5 reviews | 5/5 stars | |
| Beauty | 3.41 miles | 8 reviews | 5/5 stars | |
| Beauty | 4.73 miles | 14 reviews | 5/5 stars | |
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Country Club Shores has 224 households, with an average household size of 2. Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. Here’s what the people living in Country Club Shores do for work — and how long it takes them to get there. Data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Total Population
Population Density Population Density This is the number of people per square mile in a neighborhood.
Median Age
Men vs Women
Population by Age Group
0-9 Years
10-17 Years
18-24 Years
25-64 Years
65-74 Years
75+ Years
Education Level
Total Households
Average Household Size
Average individual Income
Households with Children
With Children:
Without Children:
Marital Status
Blue vs White Collar Workers
Blue Collar:
White Collar:
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