McAnsh Park is one of those neighborhoods where many of Vero’s founding families made their homes. Large trees line the streets and homes surround Troy Moody Park, where families walk and parents push children on swings. During the winter holidays, neighbors band together to put on a festive night of luminaries. People open their homes to each other and many people not from the neighborhood, who come to bask in the good cheer.
Caroline and Will Barker have lived at 2125 Buena Vista Boulevard since 1998, shortly after their wedding. Their sturdy, handsome house has grown along with their family, with the couple updating the home as each of their children arrived. They are only the second owners of this house, built in 1950.
The house they live in is known to a couple of generations of people in town as the Gunther place, where the Gunther children sold green tomatoes on the front lawn in the 1950s. That is how it goes in a town like ours. You can live in a place for a long time, and people will still refer to it as the original owner’s.
The roots of Will Barker’s family tree go deep in Vero Beach, while Caroline, who is principal of Beachland Elementary School, moved down here from New York 20 years ago to take a job as a teacher with the school district. The couple met when they were living in the same apartment building not far from where their house is now, just around the corner from the school district’s administrative offices.
Will was working for the Gunther family when they put the house on the market, and the couple looked at it, and then at other houses, but always came back to the house on Buena Vista, with its mature landscaping and strong structure. They moved in 1998, two months after their wedding.
“This is a true period home,” said Lilly Pease Ellis, a realtor with Norris & Company. “Everything is updated, but the Barkers stayed true to the character of the house.”
“It’s a really deceiving house,” said Caroline. “It looks small from the front yard, but it goes on and on.”
The house sits on a good-sized lot, and the inviting red front door welcomes visitors. Inside the entryway is a formal living room painted a deep red. The room is carpeted while the rest of the common area is a durable, cool tile. Caroline always wanted a formal parlor, and this room lives up to her dream. The dining area is open and in sight of the very efficient and updated kitchen.
As the cook in the family, Will loves the kitchen because everything is right at hand. There is the same amount of storage as in kitchens with more space, but the storage has been made to fit a smaller area. The white wood cabinets and tile floors that look like wood give the kitchen a clean, modern feel. There is a stove, a microwave and a cook top. The counters and backsplash are tiled in clean white. A pass-through window leads to a bar in the family room, and this is where Caroline sits, relaxing with a glass of wine, and telling Will about her day, while he cooks.
A huge, comfortable family room is where everyone gathers for homework, television watching and relaxing. Wood cabinets along the side of one wall make for amazing storage. Windows along the other wall let the light in and make the room feel spacious.
Keep walking back and there is a wood-paneled office/den with another television, because families are not always in agreement on what they want to watch.
The sunny master bedroom has windows on three walls and enough space for a king-sized bed, with any wasted space. The bathrooms have sturdy wood cabinets, granite counter tops and attractive floor tiles that look like wood planks. Two cozy guest or children’s bedrooms make up the rest of this wing.
Walk out to the covered patio and relax in the pool, added in 2009. The tile floors and wood paneled roof make this a year round indoor/outdoor space. The pool is private and respite from a hard day’s work. The yard is large and there are two structures for storage.
“We love this house,” said Will Barker. “You are five minutes from everything here.”
McAnsh Park accessible from Route 60 or 26th Street. Low speed limits and stop signs keep the neighborhood quiet and safe. The Vero Art District is a walkable distance, as are restaurants, shops, and churches. This a home that would suit a growing family that wants to live in a peaceful, well-established neighborhood in one of the nicest small towns in Florida.
Lilly Ellis will be hosting an open house on Sunday, May 5, from noon until 3 p.m.
