Built from wood imported from Maine and paid for by money raised through bean suppers, the Phillippi Crest Community Clubhouse at 2421 Burlington Lane has been a focal point of social gatherings for generations. The development of the Maine Colony on Phillippi Creek was front page news in Sarasota's newspaper twice during the year of 1916. A group of Maine residents announced plans to build winter homes and a community clubhouse. They were going to call it the New England Yacht Club. The property was purchased from the Palmer family, but World War I delayed construction of the clubhouse facilities until the mid 1920s.

David Wade was one of the original buyers of the land in this area, representing a group of Boston and Maine railroad retirees who had grown unhappy with their property in Pinehurst, NC. They learned of the land in Sarasota from Doctor Fred Albee, who ran a sanitarium in Venice, FL.

These plats of land were some of the first recorded after Sarasota became a county in 1921, and can be found on page two of the first Sarasota plat book. Early aerial photos show many homes on Ashton Road by the 1920s, as well as some of the other streets such as Portland and Damariscotta, named after hometowns of the area residents. The development of Apache and Arapaho Roads did not take place until the 1950's.

When originally built in the 1920's on land deeded to our neighborhood, the Phillippi Crest Clubhouse was a natural extension of the Maine Colony community, who understood the importance of having a central meeting place for its residents. Beyond social gatherings, the clubhouse provided a place that signified a sense of communal pride and unity. To this day, the clubhouse remains a shared place for neighbors to connect with one another.