Credit: Photo via Zillow

An estate that belonged to Tampa Bay’s most award-winning and influential musician of all time is now for sale in Clearwater.

Located at 2124 Laurence Dr., the home was purchased by fusion jazz pianist and composer Armando “Chick” Corea in 1997 for $825,000. The home’s previous owner was John M. Donovan, the former CEO of AT&T, property records show. 

“Music still seems to linger in the air, and every room carries its own chapter,” says the listing.  “This space has hosted legendary recording sessions, and you can feel that musical history the second you walk in.” 

Corea, founder of the fusion group Return To Forever, recorded nearly 100 albums with various ensembles, and was a member of Miles Davis’ band in the late-’60s, helping the trumpeter experiment with electric jazz. He collaborated with a holy grail of musicians including Christian McBride, Stan Getz, Béla Fleck, Willie Bobo, Mongo Santamaria, Herbie Mann, Herbie Hancock. and more. 

Before his death in 2021, Corea, a 29-time Grammy-winner, was a welcome fixture on the Bay area jazz scene. He regularly engaged with Creative Loafing Tampa Bay to tell corny jokes ahead of shows like an intimate 2018 St. Petersburg College gig with Akoustic bandmates John Patitucci and Dave Weckl. He even appeared on the 1982 Space Jazz album from Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, and talked about his relationship with the church in a 2018 interview with CL.

One of the last shows he ever did was an intimate 2020 set at Ruth Eckerd Hall’s new Kate Tiedemann and Ellen Cotton Cabaret Theatre.

Despite all the accolades, at the end of the day Corea told CL that he has one simple mission.

“My purpose onstage is to make people smile,” he said. “You know, inspire them, let people throw their troubles away for a bit. Plus I’ll be honored to create my own music and have them listen to it.”

Built in 1985, the 8,134-square-foot home comes with five bedrooms and nine bathrooms, as well as custom woodwork and stained glass windows throughout, multiple fireplaces, a library, Viking and Sub Zero appliances, a walk-in steam shower, a pool and sauna, a two-bedroom guest house, and more. 

The Corea house is currently asking $2,499,000, and the listing agent is Terri Novitsky of Lauren Michaels R.E. Partners.

Every house has a story, and our mission is to tell Tampa Bay’s story through the lens of our community’s historic and colorful homes. Creative Loafing Tampa Bay’s real estate features are not ads, and are strictly operated through our editorial department. But we love public input. Do you know of a unique Florida home that we should highlight? Let us know, and email cwolf@cltampa.com.

Photos via Zillow

Credit: Photo via Zillow

Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.

Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.

Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook BlueSky


Colin Wolf has been working with weekly newspapers since 2007 and has been the Digital Editor for Creative Loafing Tampa since 2019. He is also the Director of Digital Content Strategy for CL's parent...

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...