SARASOTA, Fla. – (April 23, 2008) – Veteran Realtor® and Casey Key property expert, Tom Stone—a broker-associate with the Siesta Key office of Michael Saunders & Company—has listed and sold what is now credited as the largest sale of the year on Casey Key. It was listed on February 20th, went under contract in less than 2 weeks (on March 3rd), and closed on Tuesday, April 22nd. Listed at $4.75 million, the home sold for $4.5 million, or 95 percent of its original asking price.The property, an important beachfront residence, previously belonged to the estate of the late philanthropist Rhoda Pritzker, who died in 2007. Besides being an accomplished journalist in her own right, Pritzker was the widow of Chicago lawyer and businessman Jack Pritzker, whose family founded the Hyatt hotel chain in the 1950s. Born in Manchester, England, she embarked on a journalism career as a teenager and wrote for several newspapers and the British Broadcasting Corp. before immigrating to the United States in 1939 while in her 20s. She was a foreign correspondent for the Associate Press of Great Britain when she met her future husband in New York while he was serving in the Navy. They married in 1943.Custom designed by the noted Chicago firm of Binkley Associates, the Pritzker’s Casey Key home was completed in 1970, has remained in the Pritzker family for four decades and had never been on the market before. With approximately 293 ft of prime Casey Key beachfront, the home is a masterpiece of classic modernist design whose discreetly walled exterior betrays none of the splendid design within. Entering the lushly landscaped courtyard and veranda through a beautiful set of mahogany doors, one immediately senses the magnitude of the home’s design and heritage.Its 4,028 square feet of living area includes 4 bedrooms and 4 full baths. Noteworthy features include a spectacular great room with vaulted ceilings, a double-sided stone fireplace as its centerpiece, and a unique skylight above. The house and its large beachfront terrace commands a sweeping view of the Gulf of Mexico from a rocky promontory overlooking a magnificent strand of Casey Key Beach.Contact Information: For additional details on this important sale, contact Tom Stone at (941) 356-1700 or by email at TomStone@michaelsaunders.com.