Like old wine, older homes can indeed be better
A colleague of mine just listed a very interesting property at 1360 13th St in Sarasota that is declared a historic property. This tickled my curiosity and after a bit of research, I recommend that anyone interested in purchasing an older home in Sarasota might want to check out the historic registry at http://www.hsosc.com/. There are some great tax incentives to owning a property that has been designated as a historical property. And you can also get free design assistance. There are ;imitations to what you can do but you will see that if you plan on preserving history, the restrictions are not outlandish.
Here are 3 links that will provide detailed info about questions you might have.
Info about the historic registry
http://www.sarasotagov.com/Planning/HistoricPreservation/DesignationInfo.htm
Tax incentives you could benefit from:
http://www.sarasotagov.com/Planning/HistoricPreservation/Apps_Procedures/CountyTaxExemption.htm
How to apply for bringing about modifications to an historical property
http://www.sarasotagov.com/Planning/HistoricPreservation/Apps_Procedures/COA%20Process-new.htm
Have fun preserving history. Your children will be thankful.