Family pushing for historical Estero home restoration

Feet behind one of Estero’s busiest roads is a quaint, quiet street named Highlands Road and on it, a century-old home.

“This house has been through Hurricane Donna, Hurricane Charlie, Irma- it’s still here. It’s in very rough shape,” said Jeff McCullers whose great grandparents built the home.

The home hosted events from wedding receptions to funerals and remained in the family for decades before they finally had to sell.

“This was the old place, the old home, where everybody gathered,” said McCullers.

A developer flipped the house to the village in January.

“Al of the stories of America, all the stories of Florida, all the stories of Estero could be told through this,” said McCullers. “This house was built in a time when everybody grew their own vegetables, had their own livestock, shared with all of their neighbors, to have different things on the table.”

He is now pushing for Estero to restore the home and preserve it for generations to come. But the historical value is worth an estimated cost of $200,000 to $300,000?

“It’s a lot of money,” he said.

Marlene Fernandez from the Estero Historical Society believes its roots in our Citrus industry is the real value.

“In our psyche, there’s something to know about our ancestors and our past and helps us to identify who we are in this life,” she said.

“The whole history of Estero…can be captured in this house and it’s one of the few left where you can do that,” said McCullers. “This was the center of citrus.”

But now, the Village will have to decide: How much is a piece of the past worth to the future?

“We have so little natural Florida left that it would be nice to be able to preserve a little here and there,” said Fernandez.