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Wooden cottage might be on the move - again

The home is part of a $3.5-million parcel for sale in St. Pete Beach.

By LORRIE LYKINS
Published July 12, 2006

ST. PETE BEACH - One of the county's oldest structures is up for sale as part of a $3.5-million listing that includes three waterfront lots in St. Pete Beach.

The eventual sale will not threaten the wooden cottage built in 1886 by Zephaniah Phillips, the first person to homestead on Long Key, now known as St. Pete Beach. It does mean that the Phillips home that sits on the southwest corner of Seventh Avenue and Pass-a-Grille Way could be moved again.

In fact, local preservationists and city officials are already shopping for a new site.

"We had hoped to maybe move the house near the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum but now we're looking at maybe the city park nearby," said John Anderson, Pass-a-Grille resident and chairman of the St. Pete Beach Historic Preservation Board.

The house was first moved in 1919 from 612 to 608 Pass-a-Grille.

"In saving it, we need to make it a viable entity that is usable by the community for events. If we want to keep it as a building you maybe tour or peek in the windows of, that's not going to work," he said. "The city is behind us and the owner of the property is committed to preserving the cottage so we're looking at all of our options."

Kenneth and Margaret Herman, the owners of the property known as the Fairhaven Estate, put it on the market in March.

"Three-and-a-half million dollars, that's why I'm selling," said Kenneth Herman. "And besides, I'm 70 years old. That's too old to be in the hotel business anymore. In fact, I think there's a law against it."

He said the main two-story building on the property includes five one-bedroom suites that rent to guests for $675 per week in season. Guests can rent the cottage behind the main house for $1,110 a week in season.

But Herman said he and his wife are tired of the rigors of hotelier life and want to travel.

"We've seen a third of the world and we intend to see the other two-thirds of it," he said.

But Herman wants the cottage to be preserved after the property is sold and said he intends to donate it to the city.

Karl Holley, community development director for the city of St. Pete Beach, said that the first estimate the city has gotten for moving the cottage is around $30,000.

"We have had an architect who has expertise in historic preservation assess the cottage. It's been added onto over the years, but the architect assured us that the additions are of an age and character that they are judged to be historic in their own right, so we want to keep the structure as is," said Holley, who said that the ideal situation would be to preserve the cottage in place. But that depends on what the future owner chooses to do with the property.

Holley said that property costs in Pass-a-Grille are such that the city cannot afford to purchase land to move the cottage to, so preserving it in place or moving it to Pass-a-Grille Park are two scenarios being discussed.

"It's a very important part of the community's history and the city wants to do everything we can do to preserve it," Holley said.

"But we don't want to jump the gun. We need to see what happens once the Hermans have a buyer. Then we can make some decisions."

No matter who the buyer is, the "cottage will not be demolished," said Realtor Pat Kelly of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, who has listed the estate. "It's 100 percent protected."

She added that the buyer will have two options: preserving the cottage where it is or allowing the owners to move it to another location.

The listing underscores the importance of establishing standards for new residential construction, said Anderson, adding that the St. Pete Beach community's Historic Preservation Board, with the help of the city, is researching options for establishing such codes.

He said they plan to talk about Pass-a-Grille's designated historic district along Eighth Avenue and the possibility of adding street lights that say it is a historic district. They also are studying what other communities have done.

[Last modified July 11, 2006, 22:49:56]