Kitchen Remodeling in Venice Gardens, FL

Postwar block ranches around Center Road's lakes and lagoons

Venice Gardens was one of the first postwar mainland subdivisions east of the Venice island, filling the land between the Tamiami Trail, Jacaranda Boulevard and Center Road with single-story block homes set around man-made lakes and lagoons. It grew as Venice shifted from a seasonal resort to a year-round town.

Kitchens from that era share a pattern: eight-foot ceilings, boxed soffits over the upper cabinets, a closed wall between kitchen and family room and a single window over the sink. Many were updated once in the 1990s with laminate boxes that have since sagged. Block exterior walls mean outlets and plumbing stay where they are unless a licensed trade cuts into masonry, so our layouts favor changes on the interior partitions.

Wiring is the other inheritance. A kitchen wired around 1965 usually has fewer circuits than today's code expects behind a countertop, so when the counters change a licensed electrician typically adds circuits and updates outlet protection near the sink. We hold outlet positions open in the drawings until the electrician confirms the panel can take the load.

Removing a soffit often frees enough height for taller uppers or a stacked glass cabinet, and opening the partition to the family room is a frequent goal in homes of this age. Our post on updating a mid-century Sarasota kitchen covers what to keep and what to change.

County permits and neighbors along the Venice Bypass

Venice Gardens is outside Venice city limits, so most addresses permit through Sarasota County; parcels close to the city line can differ, so we confirm jurisdiction before drawings are final.

For unincorporated addresses, Sarasota County's Planning and Development Services lists the Robert L. Anderson Administration Center at 4000 S. Tamiami Trail as one of its locations, a short run down US 41 from the neighborhood. On a county parcel, the licensed contractor files there rather than with the City of Venice. Inside Venice Gardens, streets curve around the lagoons off Center Road, and many back yards face water and a screened lanai instead of a fence. The jobs we expect on these streets are an opened wall to the family room, soffits taken out and a pantry where the broom closet stood.

We reach the neighborhood by US 41 or I-75 and the Jacaranda Boulevard exit, and it sits beside Plantation to the east and South Venice across the Intracoastal.

Get directions to the Lewis Ave shopRead customer reviews

From measured soffits to installed cabinets

1. We measure the kitchen, check ceiling height above each soffit and note which walls are block and which are frame.
2. Working drawings and a 3D model arrive showing the soffit removed or kept, with door style and wood species applied.
3. Cabinets are built at our Lewis Ave shop with dovetail drawer boxes and mortise-and-tenon face frames.
4. We deliver, set and level the cabinets, then bring in the stone fabricator to template the tops.

If the partition comes down, a licensed general contractor handles framing, drywall and the permit, and our install follows their inspections. Our kitchen design and 3D renderings page shows what the drawing set includes.