From Rugged to Regal: Sarasota's Ringling Museum

By Jon Wilson
Published: June 7, 2011
Last Updated On: June 9, 2011

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Ringling Estate in Sarasota features mansion, museums, the Asolo Theater and Florida’s oldest rose garden.

On a good day, giant schools of mullet crashed into Sarasota Bay like massive, seagoing battering rams. Pursued by hungry sharks or porpoises, the frenzied fish fled from the Gulf of Mexico in armies a mile long and hundreds of yards wide. Their leaping and splashing en masse made noise like waves pounding ashore, the old-timers said.

Pioneer fishermen like Bill Whitaker could make a living. They caught mullet by the thousands, salting and selling them to Cuban traders cruising Florida’s west coast. Fish nets spread to dry looked like baleful spider webs splayed on the pale and empty sand of 19th century bay beaches. Perched on hot wood fires, big cauldrons bubbled as the bay water boiled to release its precious salt. At night, hungry hunters stalked the shore, prowling for turtles or their eggs.

A century and a half ago, the dominion now graced by Sarasota’s John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art offered a raw and wild conjunction of land and sea.

A century and a half ago, the dominion now graced by Sarasota’s John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art offered a raw and wild conjunction of land and sea. It also was a place of remote intrigue: Bill Whitaker gave a 16-foot yawl to Judah P. Benjamin, helping the Confederate secretary of state escape Yankee agents in pursuit after the Civil War.

The realm’s character began to change in 1911, when the Ringlings bought 20 acres of Sarasota Bay waterfront property. John Nicholas Ringling, famed worldwide as the circus king of Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey, was one of many attracted to the nascent Florida real estate rush. A director of New York’s famous Madison Square Garden – and partner of big-time boxing promoter Tex Rickard – Ringling made the property his winter home in 1912. John and Mable moved into a house built by one of Buffalo Bill’s circus managers.
              
By the 1920s, the Florida boom was humming, and the Ringlings joined in. They bought more land, created development companies and eventually owned about 25 percent of Sarasota’s total area.

But their showcase was the opulent Ca’ d’Zan – meaning house of John – an opulent Venetian Gothic mansion built between 1924-26 for what was then the stunning sum of $1.5-million. Soon to follow was the 21-gallery Museum of Art, built in Florentine style to house works by such masters as Velazquez, Rubens, Pouissin and van Dyck. Meanwhile, the Ringling circus headquarters moved to Sarasota in 1927.

Today, the mansion and the museum are but two of the attractions on a gorgeous 66-acre estate, which includes Mable Ringling’s rose garden, Florida’s oldest, with more than 1,000 plants. Millions of visitors have explored the diverse property, which also includes two circus museums, an exquisite theater, restaurants, a gift shop and a book store. During the past few months, more than 200 trees and more than 40,000 plants have been added to the grounds. The entire package has consistently ranked the Ringling Museum Estate high among Florida attractions.  

Florida State University now oversees the estate. During the past several years, millions of dollars have restored all the existing buildings and added four new ones: the Tibbals Learning Center and the John M. McKay Visitors Pavilion – housing the Historic Asolo Theater, the Education/Conservation Building and The Ulla R. and Arthur F. Searing Wing, which offers traveling exhibitions from around the world.  

If You Go

Ringling Museum Estate
5401 Bay Shore Road, Sarasota, at the end of University Parkway. Accessible from U.S. 41 or I-75 (exit 213.)
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (grounds 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.), seven days a week daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s days. Thursdays include Art After 5 with the Museum of Art and Circus Museum open until 8 p.m.
Admission: Adult, $25; 65-plus, $20; students 18-plus with ID, $10; children 6-17, $10; Florida teachers with ID, $10; active U.S. Military, $10; children under six and members, free. General admission allows guests to visit all venues currently open and most daily tours.

For general info, call 941-359-5700.
For a recording about events, hours and programs, call 941-351-1660.
For advance ticketing information, call 941-358-3180.
For Historic Asolo ticketing, call 941-360-7399.
For membership, call 941-360-7330.
For Treviso Restaurant, call 941-360-7390.
Website: www.ringling.org

VISIT FLORIDA contributor Jon Wilson is a former editor and reporter for the St. Petersburg Times. He works for the Florida Humanities Council and lives in St. Petersburg.