Owen Burns in Rosemary Cemetery

Owen Burns died Aug. 28,1937 and was buried in Rosemary Cemetery.  The two acre cemetery, platted in 1886 was donated to the town of Sarasota by the Florida Mortgage and Investment Company in 1903. The cemetery is located on Central Avenue between 8th and 9th Streets and is the resting place for nearly all of Sarasota's pioneers. The cemetery is both a National Register and locally designated historic site. 

Owen Burns Kick-off Reception and Book Signing at Mattison's City Grille

Just Announced! On Monday, November 8th the Owen Burns Celebration will have an opening reception and book release party at Mattison's City Grille in downtown Sarasota, Florida.

Owen Burns stepped off the train in this very location 100 years ago, catching the first glimpse of the town he would make his home. Join us as we kick-off the week of events in his honor and celebrate the release of Jeff LaHurd's new book, “Owen Burns, The Man Who Bought and Built Sarasota”. Free Event. Cash Bar.

November 8, 2010
4:30 - 6:30pm
Mattison's City Grille
1 N. Lemon Avenue 
Host: Chef Paul Mattison, Mattison's™ Restaurants & Catering

The El Vernona Hotel: Spanish Architecture at its Finest

The building of the El Vernona Hotel in1925 brought national fame for Owen Burns. The fanciful, six-story, 150 room hotel was touted as the purest example of Spanish architecture in Florida. It was designed to look as if it had been standing for centuries and the details were exquisite: the rough honey brown stucco walls showed snatches of brick; antique barrel roof tiles were imported from Seville; and colorful, hand-painted tiles from Europe decorated stair risers, walls, fountains and footpaths.

The El Vernona Hotel on Sarasota Bay

Owen Burns's Pineapple Apartment Building

NEW Event Added: On Sunday November 14, 2010 there will be a second floor apartment tour in the Pineapple Apartment Building, 540 S. Orange Avenue at the intersection of Orange and Pineapple Avenues. It is interesting to note that the intersection park was officially named Owen Burns Square in 2000. See the Event Calendar page for more details.

"On a humorous note, It may have been a daring venture to build that building where twice daily the steam locomotive came by belching black coal smoke into the open windows. And where was the clothesline for the lady of the house to dry the family's clothing?" — Pete Esthus

Pineapple Apartment Building 1960

El Vernona Hotel Opened in 1926

Owen Burns built the El Vernona Hotel in Sarasota, Florida that Dwight James Baum designed. It opened with a grand ball December 31, 1926. The hotel was later sold to John Ringling and renamed the John Ringling Hotel.