Historical Perspective


THE BYRD AND KATHERINE KICKLITER HOUSE


Location

The Byrd and Katherine Kickliter House is a 1925 Craftsman Style bungalow located 1205 Cocoanut Avenue in Sarasota, Florida.  It is located approximately 1 mile north of the historic downtown core of the city.  The property is located within the Cocoanut Avenue National Register Historic District to which it is a contributing structure.  This is the largest historic district to date in Sarasota county.


The house is architecturally significant as it displays  characteristics of a distinctive subtype of the Craftsman Style Bungalow, an Airplane Bungalow. 


The  dining area with the kitchen through the French doors to the left and full garden views out the double french doors forward.  

 

          

Airplane Bungalows

The Airplane Bungalow dates from the early 1900s and became very popular in California in the mid-teens.  It is a residential style that grew out of the Craftsman movement.  The Airplane Bungalow has characteristics of and is similar to the Craftsman Bungalow but a “pop up” second floor, usually of one or two rooms, characterizes the Airplane Bungalow.  Both have a low-pitched gabled roof, over sized with exposed rafters and bands or windows.


Historic Context

During the 1920s, residential subdivisions were platted throughout an expanded Sarasota city limits. Cheap land prices and the promise of quick profits swept the city into a spiral of unparalleled growth.  Sarasota downtown development was coupled with expanding suburban residential areas. Sarasota was fast replacing the fishing village image that it had with that of a developing resort community.  Construction following World War I, produced what would become a modern city.

            

Byrd and Katherine Kickliter

Floridian by birth, B.C. “Byrd” Kickli(gh)ter came to Sarasota in 1922.  His wife Katherine Alderman Kickliter was born in DeSoto Florida and arrived in Sarasota in 1924 from Tampa.In 1926, Byrd Kicklighter built the subject residential structure and established the Kickliter Hardware Store in Sarasota in a building he had constructed on Main Street.

The George A. and Julia T. Cladin family owned the house form 1963 until 1999.In 1999, the Cladin’s son, John sold the property to the current owner, Katherine Kelly,   In the same year, the property was designated under local ordinance by the City of Sarasota as a Historic structure by Ms. Kelly.  The house located in the Central Cocoanut National Historic District, is two blocks from the Intracoastal Waterway and a short stroll to the fabulous and vibrant  Historically designated Downtown Sarasota.