Copyright Times Publishing Co. Mar 19, 2004
The dream house made its debut on a paper napkin at
the Village Inn.
Over coffee and pancakes one morning, Roy and Mary
Hernandez talked about what they wanted in a home: An old-fashioned
"gazebo" front porch, a kitchen big enough for some serious
cooking with friends, and a built-in bar where Roy could whip up
cocktails at parties.
But most of all, they longed for a traditional
design, Victorian perhaps, energy efficient, but with a rambling
farmhouse feel. They also wanted to live in the city, in an old
neighborhood thick with trees and historic houses.
What to do?
Roy whipped out his pen and started scribbling.
Three years later, that dream stands at the corner of
Ola Street and W Palm Avenue. The two-story, sage-green house, featured
on the ninth annual Tampa Heights Tour of Homes on Saturday, stands as
proof that two people at midlife can build a house they truly love. This
year's event, a bargain $5 tour of 11 homes, two churches and a garden,
features mostly older buildings. The Hernandez home offers an eclectic
touch to a tour of a largely historic urban neighborhood, because it
looks so old it fools the eye.
At the time, the couple was living in Providence Lake
in Brandon, "in a very nice Centex home," Roy recalls. But
subdivision life just wasn't for them: Roy, 54, grew up in a
Cuban-Italian family in Palmetto Beach, where his grandmother lived in
an early 1900s bungalow that still stands today. He couldn't forget the
way the house looked, particularly the graceful arched doorways that he
rarely sees in newer homes. Mary, 55, was raised in Ybor City. Her
Spanish-Cuban family had also lived in several older homes around the
neighborhood.
"We had moved out to the suburbs at different
points in our lives, but found we were always coming back in to see our
kids or go to church," Mary says.
They knew they eventually wanted to live in Tampa
Heights or one of the surrounding neighborhoods. They were also savvy: A
746- square-foot bungalow they restored in 1999 in Riverside Heights
sold in five days.
So, when the Hernandezes paid $38,000 in 2001 for
their corner lot in Tampa Heights, they knew it was more than the going
rate at the time - then about $19,000, Roy recalls. But the lot had many
oak trees and a handsome historic home next door.
"We've even heard that Ray Charles grew up in a
house along the alley across the street," Mary says.
The couple designed the house and then built it as a
family. Roy, a former sales manager with a company that builds
prefabricated airplane hangars and other buildings, had a lot of
experience in the business. He was also good with his hands. He thought
his two grown sons might enjoy the work, too, and they did, so much so
that when the house was completed, one son, Steven Hernandez, 27, got
his general contractor's license. And Bryan Hernandez, 31, now serves as
chief financial officer of their new family company, Traditional Homes
by Hernandez.
"I can tell you that a lot of sweat equity and a
lot of love went into this house," says Mary, who jokes that she
served both as interior designer and food runner.
Even Mary's Great-Aunt Dora - now 86 - got into the
act. She came by every day to remark on the progress and to question
some of Mary's ideas, like hanging a chandelier in the powder room.
"She went with me everywhere, to the plumbing
company, to Home Depot, to look at light fixtures," Mary recalls.
"Roy used to call her the Inspector."
When the 6,200-square-foot house was completed after
13 months (it was built evenings and weekends), people took notice. The
three- bedroom, 2 1/2-bath Victorian, with its breezeways, porte
corchere - a traditional, partly covered driveway - and generous front
porch with comfortable wicker furniture looked like it had been nestled
in the same spot for 100 years. The house also features a 946-square-
foot garage apartment with a private balcony.
Visitors can't miss it because of its visible
location and its cool green palette - colors the Hernandezes spotted on
a house in Celebration. Roy now has 12 similar traditional homes under
contract, most in Tampa Heights. They have 1,600 to 4,000 square feet.
All are sold.
"I think people want the ambiance of the
traditional look, but with conveniences," Mary says. "This
generation has grown up with microwaves, remote controls and garage
doors that open with the push of a button."
Mary, a contract negotiator for Progressive
Insurance, also works as interior decorator on many of Roy's new homes.
Over the years she has cultivated formidable shopping skills. On a
recent trip to a furniture warehouse in Orlando, she snagged a solid
mahogany fireplace mantle, a hand-painted china hutch, several ornate
frames for paintings and a large decorative mirror - for a grand total
of $1,500.
When she wanted to connect a breakfast table to the
kitchen island, she needed a sturdy, attractive three-legged table (she
was willing to break off a leg), but winced at the cost of ones she
liked. She found one minus a leg at a Rooms to Go warehouse and
persuaded the saleswoman to part with it for $50.
The kitchen is the most inviting room in the house
because of the oatmeal-colored tile counter tops, the granite island and
hardwood floors. Around the corner is what Roy calls "my place, a
little room just for me." It's his built-in bar with its own
refrigerator, sink and plenty of preparation space. He also resisted the
idea of a traditional "pass-through" and designed the space so
that guests can mill around and talk while he's shaking cocktails.
The couple plans to entertain often. They held a
large wedding brunch for their daughter recently, complete with waffle
stations and steaming platters of Roy's famous, buttery grits that he
learned to make years ago at social events at their church, St. Joseph's
Catholic in West Tampa.
In his new house, he has plenty of room to cook and
visit.
"We had 110 people at our Christmas party and we
could easily have fit 50 more. That's how perfect this house is for
entertaining," Roy says.
The guests can mingle indoors and out.
"We love it," says Mary.
Just ask her to show you the Village Inn napkin.
They've since had the drawing transferred to better paper, matted and
framed.
Seeking something more substantial than a new home in
a subdivision, Roy and Mary Hernandez designed their 6,200-square- foot
traditional home with garage apartment and then built it as a family in
Tampa Heights. With a new family business, Roy now has 12 similar homes
under contract, most in Tampa Heights.
