Helene, Milton were too much for a vintage Florida cottage

Hurricanes don’t care about historic preservation.

Nestled in the shadows of a 10-year-old, three-story, 4,750-square-foot Gulf-front home, less than a 40-yard walk to the beach, is a 1954 cinder block cottage that looks like a Florida time warp.

The street: Whittier Drive on the southern tip of North Lido Key Park. Fact is, few people know the street exists. Which may explain why this historic Florida cottage has withstood the test of hurricanes for 50 years and the test of redevelopment the past two decades.

But its days look to be over.

Photo by Staff photo

At least that’s the assessment of its owners Deb Mackiewicz and her husband, Ed Mackiewicz.

“I don’t think we can save it,” Deb Mackiewicz said Friday as she escorted a tour through the classic Florida beach cottage. She and her husband call the home the Flamingo home — named that because of pink flamingo paintings that have been on the walls through previous owners. The parking sign in the driveway says, “Flamingo parking only. Violators will turn pink.”

Photo by Staff photo

Hurricanes Helene and Milton didn’t care about the Flamingo’s charm. They did more damage penetrating the wood and cinder block home than it could withstand and more than all the previous storms over the previous seven decades.

“The appliances are fried,” Mackiewicz said. The HVAC system — fried. Helene’s flood waters rushed into the house through the screened-in porch and front and back doors. Milton’s winds damaged the home’s classic jalousie windows.

It pains Mackiewicz to think of the home going away and becoming the site of yet another towering mansion that is spreading across Lido Key like kudzu.

Mackiewicz and her husband bought the Flamingo and the 1963-era cottage next door five years ago precisely to keep them alive as vintage Florida vacation homes.

Since then, they have been careful to rent the homes to the same families again and again. “These aren’t party homes,” Mackiewicz said, taking a break from hauling soaked Tikki hut wood from the back to the curb.

As she walked through the Flamingo, Mackiewicz pointed out the original (now mud-covered) terrazzo floors; the pristinely preserved pecky Cypress wood cabinets and walls throughout; the vintage windows; and, of course, the two bathrooms — one with original bright yellow tile, the other pink tile.

It was a walk back in time.

As the Mackiewiczes assessed the damage to the Flamingo, the cost of repairs began adding up quickly to being more than insurance would cover.

Next door, the Pelican, a four-bedroom, three-bath cottage, may have a better fate. It sits higher than the Flamingo and didn’t have near the water damage that the Flamingo did. Its HVAC system went undamaged.

Can it be preserved? “We’re hopeful,” Mackiewicz said.