MANATEE COUNTY – Add the star of “Happy Days” and “Charles in Charge” to the long list of celebrities who live in Sarasota and Manatee counties.
Scott Baio bought a home in Bradenton under his wife’s name, Renee Peaches Baio, according to Manatee County property records. It’s a 1,819-square-foot condominium located in the gated community Vizcaya near the famed sports training facility IMG Academy.
Vizcaya contains 256 units “constructed between the mid- and late 1980s,” according to Sarasota Bay Real Estate. “Each building has been inspired by the captivating Spanish architecture of the Mediterranean,” states the Vizcaya website. “With four lakes on property, along with beautifully landscaped grounds filled with tropical palms and majestic oaks, Vizcaya truly is a wonderful place to call home.”
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Vizcaya promotes its proximity to downtown Sarasota and downtown Bradenton, St. Armands Circle, “and the white sandy beaches of Anna Maria Island, Longboat Key and Siesta Key.” It notes that “shopping, dining, banking, professional and community theaters, education centers, art centers, golf, museums, and medical facilities are only minutes away.”
Baio paid $390,000 for the condo in August 2022.
Scott Baio makes headlines by leaving California for Florida
On April 20, the 62-year-old retired actor posted a photo of himself and wife, Renee, at the beach on Twitter with the caption “Living our best life in Florida” and it received 180,000 views. Earlier this month, though, his tweet about leaving California for Florida received 1.3 million views and prompted stories by various media outlets including Fox News, CNN and our sister publication, USA TODAY.
“A longtime California resident, the ‘Happy Days’ and ‘Charles in Charge’ star announced on Twitter last week that he was moving out of California, due to what he described as the state’s homelessness issue,” USA TODAY reported May 10. “Baio confirmed his family’s move to Florida to Fox News’ Jesse Watters on Tuesday.”“After 45 years, I’m making my way to finally ‘exit stage right’ from California,” Baio wrote May 3 on Twitter, citing statistics from a 2022 report by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. “The most recent survey…found approximately 69,000 people experiencing homelessness in L.A. County and 41,000 in the city in 2022.”
On May 3, Baio also tweeted that he has two homes in Florida and wrote “love them both!” The Herald-Tribune has only been able to confirm the purchase of the home in Manatee County.
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Baio joins Mick Jagger, Stephen King and other celebrities with homes in Sarasota-Manatee
Baio’s departure from Tinseltown doesn’t mean he won’t occasionally still bump into fellow celebrities here in Southwest Florida.
Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and his ballet dancer girlfriend Melanie Hamrick bought a Manatee County house in The Lake Club in Lakewood Ranch in 2020. In neighboring Sarasota County, rock stars Brian Johnson of AC/DC, Joe Perry of Aerosmith and Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers Band have homes, along with famed author Stephen King.
Jerry Springer — the famed daytime talk show host, who died last month — was a longtime resident of Sarasota. He lived on Bird Key where Johnson has a home and where celebrated author John Jakes (“North and South”) resided before passing away earlier this year.
Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Florida Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Support local journalism by subscribing.
