BELLE HAVEN APARTMENTS

By  Mike Miller October 7, 2025

Belle Haven Apartments, also known as El Vernona Apartments - Broadway Apartments, is a historic building in Sarasota, Florida, at 1133 Fourth Street.

The three-story Mediterranean Revival structure overlooks Sarasota Bay. Built in 1926, it now serves as offices.

The site marks the northern edge of the Quay Sarasota Waterfront District. Visitors can view its stucco facade and cast stone details.

It represents early 20th-century architecture and stands out amid the  modern developments that surround it. 

Belle Haven Apartments

The building opened as the Broadway Apartments in 1926. Architect Dwight James Baum designed it for developer Owen Burns.

Burns named it El Vernona after his wife, Vernona Hill Freeman Burns. It formed part of the Broadway Development, a planned upscale area with the El Vernona Hotel and Burns Realty.

The project used Mediterranean Revival style for unity. Sarasota's 1920s land boom fueled construction. The 1926 hurricane and real estate crash followed soon after.

In the late 1920s, Elmer Whittle bought it and renamed it Belle Haven to avoid confusion with the hotel. It operated as apartments through the 1970s.

Converted to offices in 1984, it joined the National Register of Historic Places that year. The city of Sarasota also designated it locally.

In 2018, GreenPointe Communities adapted the interior for temporary offices during Quay Sarasota's development. 

Belle Haven Apartments is at 1133 Fourth Street, Sarasota, FL 34236. It sits between the Hyatt Regency and the Ritz-Carlton Residences.

The building functions as private offices, so interior access requires an appointment. View the exterior anytime from the street or Quay Commons pathway.

Street parking is available nearby; check signs for limits. Walk the waterfront for bay views.

The site is open during business hours Monday through Friday. Contact the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation at (941) 955-2656 for guided walks.  

• The building's original apartments included maid service, roof garden, and dumbwaiters for each unit.  

• Dwight James Baum also designed John Ringling's Ca' d'Zan mansion and the Sarasota County Courthouse.  

• Owen Burns, the developer, built many Sarasota landmarks and donated the courthouse to the county.  

• The 1926 hurricane ended the land boom just months after construction, leading to vacancies.  

• Belle Haven is the last surviving structure from the 1920s Broadway Development.

HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SARASOTA CO

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