Out with old, in with ...
... the old. One house is torn down, so a 1910 Victorian can live on.
By TERRI BRYCE REEVES
Published April 14, 2007
DUNEDIN
On Friday, Sherry-Lee Cook found a new tool to love as a trackhoe demolished the little green cottage she'd bought in 2004 at 419 Scotland St.
"You know I'd love to own one of those," she said as it chomped through the roof and part of the kitchen.
"No way - you'll terrorize the neighborhood," chuckled neighbor Brita Finlayson, one of a group of onlookers drinking coffee, waving to cars, and chatting about the future of the neighborhood - all as the little cracker box was being ripped to shreds. One man strummed a guitar.
On April 25, if all goes as planned, the green cottage will be replaced with a Dunedin landmark from a half-block down the street - the quaint yellow Victorian, the Zimmerman-Boyd-Honey House, that sits at 362 Scotland St.
And what about the hulking four-story concrete structure attached to the Victorian home? The thing that has been called a body snatcher, monstrosity, and cancerous tumor? The appendage that nearly ate Dunedin?
Well, the horror show will soon be over.
Cook is getting the Victorian under a deal struck with the city, and Dunedin Station Development LLC, a group of investors that acquired the house after the addition had been built. Dunedin Station Development is contributing $7,000 toward Cook's moving expenses, which will total about $98,000.
Dunedin Station Development plans to demolish the remaining cinderblock tower within three weeks of the move, said the group's attorney, Michael Boutzoukas. Preliminary plans for the site call for a 50-room, suite-style hotel with 6,000-square feet of retail space.
"The owners are eager to get on with the next phase so they can develop the property," he said.
Cook, 57, has a background in banking, real estate, interior design and construction. And she hopes to renovate the Victorian into a four-bedroom, five-bath single-family home with a media room, new kitchen and a dumb waiter that travels from the garage to the kitchen.
"So you won't have to carry all your groceries in," she said.
But getting the Victorian to its new home won't be easy. Utility lines will have to be moved. And because the home's veranda can't clear all the trees on its half-block journey, the old porch was removed and a new one will be built.
The front entryway will shift to one side; the house will be repainted a sage green.
The cost to return the home to its former grandeur will top $500,000, Cook said.
She acknowledges she could build a new home for less, but said she's tired of today's disposable mind-set.
"If we continue, there won't be any heritage left for anyone," she said. "And isn't that the reason we all love to live in Dunedin - because of its character and quaintness?"
Cook has lived in the city for four years and said she has developed affordable homes in Hawaii, lofts in London, and schools in Arizona. She grew up on a farm near San Jose, Calif., where, she said, her favorite toys were building blocks. And she wanted her parents to read her travel and architectural magazines at bedtime.
Her idea of a great shopping spree is filling up her cart with power tools. It's something she'll likely be doing a lot of soon.
The Victorian with heart-of-pine floors was built in 1910, said Vinnie Luisi, executive director of the Dunedin Historical Society. The Zimmerman, Boyd and Honey families owned it over the years.
Robert Boyd was a stationmaster for 34 years when the railroad passed through Dunedin , Luisi said. The Boyds raised eight children there.
Neighbor Jackie Chalk used to babysit for the Boyds' burgeoning family. She worries the new house will overwhelm the lot and says she'll miss the tiny green cottage. "I'm too old for change," she said.
But other neighbors appeared more receptive.
"We were the laughing stock of the area for 23/4 years," said Michael Meadows, a neighbor. "Now we are just grateful that the yellow home will be saved and moved."
The Honey HouseThe Zimmerman-Boyd-Honey House, 362 Scotland St., was built in 1910. The Zimmerman, Boyd and Honey families owned the Victorian over the years. It will be moved to Sherry-Lee Cook's lot at 419 Scotland St. so she can restore the home.