Pictured: Founder and CEO Tammy Hauser in front of the current Discover Sarasota Tours cottage. Photo courtesy Tammy Hauser.

Next year, Discover Sarasota Tours and four other cottages will move to the new Tuttle and Fruitville intersection as part of the new Sarasota Bungalow Village.

“The developer has offered to sell the cottages to us,” says Tammy Hauser, founder and CEO of Discover Sarasota Tours. “No money to move and no money that he would have paid to demolish them as contribution toward moving costs.”

Hauser says she always knew that moving the cottages was the end goal of the landlords, the Lancasters. The buildings are projected to relocate next April or May, and Hauser is hopeful they will be open to the public in October 2027.

In its eighth season, Discover Sarasota Tours offers 18 different trolley tours–all on one trolley–that focus on Sarasota’s history, arts, culture and neighborhoods. The 90-minute sessions involve themes ranging from murder mysteries and ghost tours to sunset cabaret shows.

“It’s really a smorgasbord of areas of interest,” Hauser says. “I lead the architecture tour, and we have our circus experts and art experts, too.”

Wendy Lee Goldberg, owner of The Breakfast House, purchased a plot of land on Fruitville Road for the new retail village that will house her business, along with four others–Discover Sarasota Tours, The Cookie Cottage, The Artful Giraffe and Siegfried’s Restaurant and German Biergarten.

“Once the cottages move to the new location, there are renovations that need to be done,” Hauser says. “They will all be painted with even brighter colors. We have a lot of landscaping to do and will put in about 45 new parking spaces.”

Hauser says once funds are raised for this $2 million project, Discover Sarasota Tours will be the first cottage to be moved. There is a donation area on her website, sarasotabungalowvillage.com, to help move and preserve the five historic bungalows.

“We would also love to add an ice cream and coffee shop in the new village, and possibly another retail shop,” she says.

The move was a no-brainer for Hauser when Goldberg approached her. Hauser is excited that people visiting the bungalows for breakfast or lunch will now be inclined to go on a tour with her company afterward.

“This is really about being able to collaborate with other businesses that make sense in creating experiences for customers,” Hauser says. “It increases the potential for each business to do better.”

Hauser believes that the future of small businesses is rooted in collaboration, and having her business and restaurants be visible on Fruitville will help promote full-day or half-day experiences for tourists and residents.

“We love these cottages,” she says. “We chose to have our businesses there because we love history, and we love old Sarasota.”

Discover Sarasota Tours, 1826 4th St., Sarasota, 941-260-9818, discoversarasotatours.com

Pictured: Founder and CEO Tammy Hauser in front of the current Discover Sarasota Tours cottage. Photo courtesy Tammy Hauser.