Support for this program is provided by Edison National Bank.

There's something special about embracing the history and the character and charm of a building that's been standing one hundred plus years.

We're renovating and one hundred and eleven year old building in downtown Fort Myers We're taking the existing structure and leaving as much of it in place as we can.

We're implementing new pieces to it to bring it back to life.

We're replacing siding windows as needed, putting a railing on the front porch, replacing the back deck, putting a brand new metal roof on it.

On the inside, we're going to paint the entire structure and refinish the floors.

Basically bring it back to life as best we can while embracing the character and charm that is there.

Our history as a city doesn't go back as far as other places in the country.

And so this house being one of the original house in that time period is very special.

My connection to the House is is a little unique.

My grandmother owned the house from nineteen forty three to nineteen seventy nine and use the house as her residence for many of those years, as well as the boarding house.

My grandmother purchased the house for six thousand dollars in nineteen forty three, and most recently we purchased it for two hundred and eighty five thousand dollars.

So slightly higher than what my grandmother paid for it.

This is a piece of our family history, although I only had about 10 years in the house before she sold it.

It meant a lot.

And we as a firm have been trying to move downtown.

And this was just a great blessing for us to be able to do this.

From the standpoint also of a redevelopment of a downtown area, to have these different areas of architecture and building materials still represented.

I think there's a tangible benefit to a downtown like downtown Fort Myers is in the process of remaking itself and really popping to life.

Each one of those buildings has a story to tell.

And, you know, you feel it when you walk downtown.

You feel it when you're inside the buildings.

I know.

I feel it when I go into our property on Jackson Street.

You feel the history and everyone that goes through there also feels the history.

And it would be just a travesty to see that kind of gem of a property torn down.

It went great.

It took about five to six months to complete.

We were able to do really everything that we set out to do.

From restoration of the original heart pine flooring to keeping most of the original windows.

We're touching really every surface on the property.

We were able to restore the outside of the property to its former glory.

Obviously we brought a lot of life to the inside and we're able to take some things inside and make them a little bit modern as well.

So we really were able to do everything that we set out to do.

Thing that's most striking about the house is when you first come in, the foyer opens to the stairs that you can go upstairs to offices and to the back to different offices.

It's kind of a grand old style foyer that you don't see anymore.

And probably the conference room with the old fireplace would be the thing that I would point to, to say that that's kind of the coolest element in the property to me.

We've had fantastic reviews on this, a lot of almost on a daily basis.

We have people stopping in, wanting to take a look at the building and have watched the construction of the building.

So it's been really neat.

A lot of historic folks in the area really have been focused on the building and are excited to see it restored in the state that we did.

And I think it's actually going to sit as a testament to some of the really great history that exists in downtown Fort Myers.

Our goal is to kind of make this tell a story.

And we want people to walk in this house and and once they walk through it and after they leave to know a little bit about the Pavese family, a little bit about the Hendry family, a little bit about the attorneys who were in there, and a little bit about our firm, too.

As time goes on, I hope that this property is still here.

Another hundred and eleven years down the road that, you know, my kids and my grandkids that are great grandkids will still be able to be a part of every house has a story.

It's embracing our history.

Having that building sitting there in the middle of the downtown area is a reminder of where things started and where the city and town have come from.

It's good reminders to have right there in front of us instead of tearing down everything that's old.

Embrace it.

I hope we make our own history in this house.

We think of history as the past.

But, you know, we are all making history as we sit here today.

And I hope that we're able to preserve this home and hopefully we are preserving it.

So that goes another century.

Support for this program is provided by Edison National Bank.