Modern Beach House in Florida

Our house is a couple of minutes walk from the bay in a small, funky little arts town within the larger city of St. Petersburg. The house was completely renovated top to bottom earlier this year and is 3 bedroom, 2 bathrooms, large open plan kitchen/diner/living room and a sunroom we use as an office/workout/kid area. Our focus was on peaceful, relaxing colors and living to lower stress. We also love cooking and so the kitchen is large, sunny and a joy to be in. The yard is large and fenced and very safe for children and pets.

The internet/wifi is very fast as I work online and have gamers! We have televisions in multiple areas and video game systems plus treadmill and some weights. There are also bikes available as this area is a popular one to cycle in. We also have a kayak and it’s a 2 minute drive to put it in the water.

Gulfport is a wonderful little arts town nestled closer to larger cities. It has a small town feel to it with most of the focus around the beach-front road and main street. Along both of these are independent (no chains) restaurants of all types, pubs, small shops, and convenience store. Our house is 5 minutes away from main street and about 5-7 minute walk to the bay beach. Within easy walking distance there is a local theater with pretty good productions frequently produced, a nice library, shop with all basics, plenty of restaurant choices, book store, bars and pubs, playgrounds, tennis courts, dog parks, museum, fishing pier, kayaking, recreation center, and of course the bay beach.

Every Tuesday the main street has a farmer’s market and twice a month there is a big evening celebration called Art Walk with booths, food and music of all types. And usually each month there is some kind of additional city activity or celebration going on. Food and art are important in Gulfport and currently the city is one of the six finalists in the Rand McNally Best of the Road competition vying for “Best for Food.” Grocery stores and department stores are all available with a 10 minute drive.

Also within a very short drive (10-15 min) there are many pristine beaches (Fort de Soto was named America’s Top Beach for 2009 www.pinellascounty.org/park/05_ft_desoto.htm ). There are also plenty of fishing spots from piers and off shore charters, hiking trails, boat and jet ski rentals, and basically all water sports.

If you happen to want more than beach and local restaurants then St. Petersburg is about 7 minutes drive away (pleasure.stpete.com/ ). Here there is a lovely art museum and the Dali museum which is amazing. The restaurants and marina are lovely to walk around at night with outside dining and people watching. There is also a nice new movie theatre.

And slightly further afield is Tampa with Bush Gardens theme park, a lovely zoo, and of course more big city activities. Orlando with its mass of themed activities such as Disney parks, Sea World, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and more are about one hour and 45 minutes. All the major cruise lines are close (Tampa, Port Canaveral, and Miami). The Kennedy Space Center is 3 hours and the Everglades National Park 4 hours. The Florida Keys are about 5 hours drive.

We are looking to house swap anywhere in the world really. We do have a dog (30 pound beagle) and so may need to have him with us.
We have swapped once already from this site to Saffron Walden and it was a great experience.
Current focus is summer 2018 to UK.