Post #739506 by Jungle John on Tue, Mar 17, 2015 8:14 AM

March 17, 2015

Charles A. Bisol 90, long time resident of Lake Park, Florida, still resides in the house that once featured his Polynesian inspired "Nani Lanai" backyard that was detailed in an August 18, 1968 article in the Palm beach Post newspaper. That date just happened to coincide with his birthday.

"The Mai Kai was the inspiration. I lived in Ft. Lauderdale, and used to go there a lot and really enjoyed it, so when I moved here I wanted my own south seas paradise," Bisol said.

After the article, "people would come out by the thousands, maybe hundreds, and look at what I had built," he said. Bisol noted that the article helped generate some business and he replicated the tiki-strewn tropical look for seven other clients. He retired from construction and home maintenance six years ago.

Bisol no longer has any vestiges of his Nani Lanai. "The whole thing died down a few years after the article." The article also alerted the local municipal code enforcement officials about his project. He admitted nothing was permitted, and about two years after the 1968 article he took everything down.

"They said the thatch was a fire hazard." He went on to say he had been contacted by people in Alabama who wanted to build a Polynesian themed restaurant. "They came down here with a big truck and bought every single tiki God I had."

Asked if he and his wife ever made the trip to the south seas, he said he remains fascinated by the idea, but as of now he has not ventured to the places that fueled his dreams nearly fifty years earlier.