Anne Essner's Appreciation for Architecture and the Arts

When Anne and Bob Essner first arrived in Sarasota in 2009, they decided to get involved in the community right away. At one point, though, that ended up being 31 evenings of events in a row. While they still keep busy, they’re a bit more focused now on where they spend their time and energy.

Like so many others, Anne and her husband, Bob, came down from the Northeast because of Sarasota’s weather, its culture, and its booming arts community. She loves ballet and served on the Women’s Board of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; Bob loves opera and served on the Lincoln Center board. Sarasota was an instant match for their interests. But what Anne didn’t expect was to develop a deep love for architecture.

“Initially, I had zero appreciation for midcentury modernism,” Anne confesses, “and here I am, living in Lido Shores, one of the biggest enclaves of that style.” As she learned more and more, the interest grew into a passion and then a profound commitment to the point that the Essners bought Umbrella House, created by Paul Rudolph, the most important architect of the Sarasota School of Architecture movement. The previous owners had begun to restore the umbrella shade structure that gave the house its name before deciding to put the house up for sale. Anne and her husband were interested, but first checked to ensure the permits were all set. “And we found that the City was totally behind us,” she says. “They were excited that we wanted to finish the project.” So they bought it and now Umbrella House is back to where it was before it lost the structure fifty years ago.

Umbrella House has been described by Architectural Digest as “one of the most remarkable houses in the mid-twentieth century.” Thanks to Anne and her husband’s generosity, it’s open for showings and available to architecture lovers as part of our area’s growing architecture and design tourism. Just the other day, in fact, a trio of women were staring at it from the street. Anne’s husband noticed them while walking by. He asked if they wanted to go inside for a quick tour. All three were from Prague, and two were architects. They’d come all this way just to see the house, so they were ecstatic at the unexpected offer. “This neighborhood just attracts fans of architecture and design,” Anne says. “You can see them in their cars, crawling along, looking at all the houses.”

Anne now serves on the board of the Sarasota Architectural Foundation, which seeks to advocate, educate and celebrate Sarasota’s unique architecture and design heritage. To that end, SAF presents an annual weekend festival, SarasotaMOD. This year, it’s November 9 through 11, and will feature lectures, film screenings, and exhibitions centered on the works of Paul Rudolph, including an interior tour of Cocoon, Revere Quality, and Lamolithic houses on Siesta Key, and exterior tours of Sarasota High School and the Cohen House on Siesta Key. There will also be parties each night, with a dinner “Under the Stars” at Umbrella House on Saturday night.

Anne’s husband is equally busy in the philanthropic community. “There were so many opportunities to do things when we first got here that I often just said, ‘Talk to Bob,’” Anne says with a laugh. But Bob’s pharmaceutical career at Wyeth made him a great partner for Mote Marine Laboratory—he’s quite taken with Mote Marine’s shark research, particularly in the field of medicine. He also chaired their recent successful $50 million campaign—the first major campaign in Mote’s history. “He’s taking retirement well,” Anne says, “but he keeps finding more and more things that interest him.”

A crucial partner in all that the Essners do is Gulf Coast Community Foundation. “Gulf Coast knows what’s happening and who to work with,” Anne says. “They seem to know everything. They’re really plugged into the community.” Anne’s a big proponent of their philanthropic model, too— how they’re an initiative-creating organization that seeks partners to solve issues like homelessness, child hunger, and drug abuse. “They really go after the big items that will make a difference in the community,” she adds. The Essners now have a donor-advised philanthropic fund with Gulf Coast, and a year back, Anne joined the Gulf Coast Community Foundation board.

The Essners wanted to pass on the spirit of giving to their children, so they recently created the Essner Family Foundation. “Each of our three kids was given a specific amount of money that they could direct as they wished. Then the whole family collaborated on choosing one organization to receive the largest amount of our disbursements,” Anne explains. She knows that jobs and family keep people busy, so it’s understandable that young people may not think much about philanthropy and ways to give back.

This was a chance to change that. “We chose South Bronx United, based in New York City, because that’s where two of our three kids live. SBU uses soccer as a means of connection with disadvantaged youths to build character, leadership skills and educational achievement so they can succeed in high school, college and beyond.”

Despite all their other activities and interests, the Essners remain quite active in the arts, as well. They are annual Sarasota Opera co-producers at the highest level and hold a season subscription for the Sarasota Orchestra. “[President and CEO] Joe McKenna is great. The orchestra is so lucky to have him,” Anne adds. And they attend the ballet and other events with great regularity, though not at the everynight-for-weeks pace they once tried!

One thing that Anne is increasingly concerned about is climate change. “Everyone down here is quite aware of it. We can’t just wring our hands and say, ‘Oh, we shouldn’t have built here,’” she says. “I think we could use a 1960s space program approach. We need that kind of concentrated effort. This is a problem that needs to be solved—and fast. We need partnerships with private citizens and organizations like Gulf Coast to put it on their agenda.” Surely Gulf Coast is already doing exactly that.

Back when the Essners were thinking about moving, a friend of theirs who lived in Lido Shores became a one-person chamber of commerce. “She fired off 5 or 6 emails in a row, saying how great this area was,” Anne recalls. “She was right. We love it here. Now we’re the ones telling all our friends to think about moving here to be part of this amazing community, too.”

BY RYAN G. VAN CLEAVE | PHOTO BY KELLY KEARNS