BRADENTON, Fla. — A piece of history in Bradenton has slowly been coming back to life.
The home of Bartholomew “Tole” Fogarty and his wife was saved from demolition a couple years ago, when retired veterinarian Dr. Hall Ott purchased it.
The Fogarty Brothers, John, William, and Bartholomew, founded the town of Fogartyville—in what today is part of the westside of Bradenton.
“I used to drive by every day and saw, you know, saw the trees growing out of the roof and, and I saw a for sale sign, and I knew somebody's going to buy it and demo it, and we're gonna lose an important part of history.”
The 152-year-old home will soon grace Riverview Boulevard with its elegant grace and modern upgrades – such as hurricane impact windows and a master suite.
It’s not your average remodel. The biggest challenge mixing modern technology into a primitive house.
“Marrying those two together and making them look like they belong together, that's the trick,” local contractor David Windham said. “Anybody can put them together but making them look like they ought to be there. It's a different thing.”
Windham specializes in historical renovations and was hired by Ott to restore the home located at 3101 Riverview Boulevard Blvd. in Bradenton.
“I've seen a lot of different styles of construction over the years, and one of my favorite things to do is historical renovation,” Windham said. “When you start reflecting on the quality of their work in that day and time where they didn't have the tools and the resources that we have. We really appreciate that level of detail.”
That’s because the Fogarty brothers were shipbuilders. Windham tried to learn as much about the brothers and Fogartyville in preparation for this remodel.
Windham says that despite the home’s age and the tropical environment, the wooden joints in the house are still so tight that you can’t even slide of piece of aluminum foil through it.
The original floors and staircase have been refurbished, and neither give or creak when someone walks on them.
Windham suspects that the Fogarty brothers repurposed wood from damaged boats when building the home.
Project Manager Karl Erickson came up with a unique way to showcase this craftmanship. Two windows salvaged from the home now offer a peak into this repurposed wood inside the living room wall.
“The house is 152 years old, and if you look, you can see this is used wood,” Erickson shared, pointing to the different colored panels of wood. “So this was built, something previous to that. But I thought would be nice to be able to see some of this.”
Work on the home is expected to be done by the end of the year.
For Dr. Ott, saving the home was an important way to give back to the community.
"I'm just the steward, I'm the present steward of it. It belongs to the community. And I'm just somebody passing through,” Ott said.
Only two of the Fogarty brothers' homes stand today. The former home of William Fogarty and his wife was renovated several years ago. The third Fogarty home had already been torn down before Ott's purchase. The house has been listed as a "tear-down."
But during what will be a 2-year project, Ott has fallen in love with this house and can’t bear to part with it.
“I can’t wait to move in,” Ott said.
