Construction Moving Along on Historic Building to House Arts & Eats

We're happy to report that there has been some progress on our renovation converting 1114 12th Street West into a full service restaurant with outdoor dining.

Our house was built in 1925 and was evidently one small building at first. All cooking was outside, as was the bathroom, aka outhouse.  The bathrooms, dining room, bedrooms, and kitchen were added on over the years. We've been told that bathrooms weren't installed in these homes until the 1950's.  

We received approval from the State of Florida for our architectual plans and are now waiting for permits from the City of Bradenton. We hope these will be issued this or next week. Pray with us for those permits to arrive soon!  

Our contractor, Mike Lynch has been adding supports to the floors in the meantime. We have a new re-purposed fence in the front of the house now, and have removed a tree that would obstruct the construction of the handicap ramp on the right side of the house.

I've been working on the backyard, experimenting with plants that grow in the shade, since that's all we've got back there!  Peace Lilies love it, as do the Wandering Jew plants that I've been told might take over the garden.  Our buddy, Steve White has given us 300 pavers to use in the front of the restaurant for outdoor seating.

Jim is now selling his fabulous flatbreads at King Farm in Bradenton and will be at Old Main Street Farmer's Market until it closes at the end of the month.  This week, Donna will be selling her jewelry and mosaics at Mainly Art at the market. As always, Jim is sitting in front of the house at 1114 12th St. West on Fridays selling bread and schmoozing with the passersby.

Look for updates on restoring this old house as construction begins.