Post #549516 by uncle trav on Sun, Aug 22, 2010 3:26 PM

The hut property is up for sale again after a short run as The Hot Spot. They tried to turn the hut into a sports bar with tons of TV screens and a bike night. Didn't last long. Here is a copy of an article from the Ft. Myers News Press and some photos. A big thanks to Kabuddhabuddha for doing the ground work.

From the Ft. Myers News Press
"The Hut Restaurant & Peace Tropical Gardens have always had a mystique deep in the Buckingham community.
Located off of Buckingham Road just north of Peace Road, the landmark 5.22 acres has a long history surrounding the 10,000-square-foot restaurant and gardens that rival those at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates.
It's like a tropical oasis in the midst of rural farm land. Yet today, after almost a decade of owning his own piece of paradise, property owner Dennis Henderson is ready to sell.
The local shrimping business mogul owns a number of shrimp boats as well as a well-known restaurant on U.S. 41, Skip One Seafood Market in south Fort Myers.
"It's going to take someone really special to run this place," Henderson said. "It was too far out for me, and didn't work. When I bought it we had a few extra dollars. It's a nice, beautiful place, dug the pond out and had the waterfalls redone."
Henderson said he's invested at least $2.5 million in the property. He closed it briefly for renovations, redoing the kitchen in 2004. He and his partner continued the tradition of bringing The Hut back to its roots, as a tropical Polynesian restaurant, with luaus and authentic cuisine.
Established in 1973, the restaurant has drawn guests for decades due to its off-the-beaten-path outside tiki lounge setup, with a boardwalk that leads around the gardens.
In the 1920s Thomas Edison visited the gardens that belonged to horticulturist German Edwin Peace and his wife, a Tahitian princess by the name of Ramira Staphagee.
They met when Peace was working in the coconut plantations in Tahiti and oversaw the production of Danish butter.
Local real estate agent Tom Woodyard of Woodyard and Associates said it's a tough time to sell such a property, which is listed at $1.3 million. It's been on the market since the end of July.
"In its former years, it was always used for weddings, corporate office parties, birthdays and anniversaries," Woodyard said. "The property backs up to a little tributary off the Orange River. We've got hundreds of calls on it, but the biggest challenge is they can't get the bank to finance it."
"That's really been the holdup, there's a tremendous amount of interest."
Woodyard said after Henderson's substantial remodeling the building is in good shape.
"It really is a landmark - everyone knows where it is, but nobody wants to pay full price," Woodyard said. "Everything is negotiation or lack of financing by the banks."
The property was most recently a club called the Hot Spot.
"It's been a loss for four years now," Henderson admitted of the property. "It's costing $10,000 a month in payments and all the other stuff that went with it."
Nevertheless, the gardens are too appealing to stay empty for long, said neighbor Kara Alfaro. She owns Elata Natives, a landscaping and design company.
"We would like to see it opened back up as The Hut restaurant," Alfaro said. "There's limited commercial allowed in Buckingham."

From this

Too this.

The side door with a vintage carving.

Views of the garden.