BRAZIL, IND. —
It’s 20,000 square feet of work, but the new owners of a historic building have energy one can take to the bank.
The whirring sound of working saws spilt downward on marble steps. Up on the second floor of the D.H. Davis Building Sunday afternoon, Tony and Lee Lewis blasted away at no project for the faint of heart.
“We’re newlyweds,” Lee said happily inside the 103-year-old building at Meridian Street and West National Avenue. The couple, who wed in September, are renovating the second floor into living quarters, while converting what used to be a bank into a coffee shop and deli.
Built in 1909 by Clay County businessman Daniel H. Davis, the two-story building once housed the Davis Trust Company Bank, in addition to professional office suites and retail space.
An example of Neoclassical architecture, from Florentine glass to brass fixtures, the building was definitely built to impress, remarked Tommy Kleckner, director of Indiana Landmarks’ western regional office.
“The building’s been neglected for years though,” he said, explaining it was eventually donated to his organization in 2003 by surviving members of the Davis family.
While conducting an extensive feasibility study on the property with Ball State University, Indiana Landmarks began what would be a long search for a buyer. The upstairs offices had been empty for years, and the most recent downstairs tenant was a furniture store which went defunct shortly before the building’s transfer, Kleckner said.
Over seven years, the building’s listing price crept down from $110,000 to $25,000, which is where it sat in November of 2010 when Lee and her father, Perry Stakes, happened to drive through Brazil and see it for sale. The attraction was instant, and Lee began calling about the property.
“Everything I love is in this building,” the professional painter and restoration contractor said Sunday afternoon. Marble walls and hardwood trim tickled her imagination, and despite the obvious cost and work required, she decided to plow forward.
In addition to professional painting, Lee owned a bakery and antique store in Veedersburg. Recently single and most of her money tied up in unsold property, she approached a number of banks about the building, but none would loan money against a vacant property in need of so much work.
However, a retired engineer and World War II veteran living in Rockville, Leighton Willhite, got interested in the project. After volunteering his services to inspect the building’s structural quality, he decided to back her on the purchase, she said.
In addition to Willhite, Indiana Landmarks was also very helpful once officials saw Lee’s professional portfolio of past restoration projects, which range from museums to restaurants.
“This isn’t my first project, but it’s certainly my biggest,” she said, admitting that the scope had her a little nervous at first.
Recalling the final days before closing on the property, she laughed at how she imagined a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other, each making their case for and against such an undertaking. But eventually the angel won, she said, explaining how she wondered at the worries which must have faced Noah before he built the ark.
“This is the size of an ark,” she chuckled, arms spread toward the ceiling’s steel beams. “And he didn’t have power tools. I thought, I have power tools.”
After purchasing the property that November, she began to move in, finally establishing a base “camp” on the first floor by April. During those first few months, late at night, all alone in the old building, Lee recalled hearing what she thought were the sounds of many people walking around the upstairs. Whether it was the ghosts of old dental patients, or raccoons seeking shelter, she laughed she’ll never know for sure.
“I don’t know. It sounded like people,” she said wryly, noting her father is a retired minister and owned a funeral home during part of her childhood. “If you grow up in a funeral home, you’re not scared of anything anyway.”
While launching into her work there, Lee Stakes met Tony Lewis, a facilities maintenance specialist at Indiana State University who was moonlighting at Sears. The professional painter and the plumber with electrical skills hit it off immediately, and soon both were up to their ears in work.
“Do I know how to pick ’em or what?” Lee said Sunday afternoon inside the building as Tony continued working. Paint splattered on her clothes, she said neither she nor her husband watch much television. “We’re never bored. We don’t run out of things to do.”
The two married Sept. 5, 2011, and currently reside in the 680-square-foot office suite still bearing signage as the “Modern Beauty Shoppe” on the building’s second floor.
Tony said he also enjoys the work and looks forward to opening Lee’s coffee shop and deli.
“I can’t wait for it to be finished,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun. I have a good partner.”
“I paid him to say that,” Lee chuckled.
Lee said the sale of her other properties is nearing, and with that, she hopes to have the coffee shop and deli opened late this spring.
“It all depends on the money,” she said, adding she wants to call the coffee shop “Cool Beans.”
Her bakery in Veedersburg was named “The Tacky Apron,” and in addition to power-washing walls and blasting plaster, the grandmother of two makes homemade breads and soups from scratch.
In the meantime, there’s plenty to do.
“If you have an old building, you’re never done,” she said, recalling how both of the building’s two basements were filled with trash 5 feet deep.
The Davis Trust Company Bank went out of business during the Great Depression, and the second floor offices were closed by the 1970s, she said. Everything from old paperwork to hairpins filled the 20,000 square feet, and the marble steps were dirty at best.
“How many people walked up and down this stairwell?” she remarked, pointing to the natural wear-marks on the marble steps of a suspended iron staircase.
The building’s elevator shaft bears the signatures of office workers who scrawled on the walls between 1909 and the 1970s. The steel beams that support the roof were actually manufactured in Brazil, Lee said, and the history of a small town is soaked into the 3⁄4-inch maple flooring.
“Everybody in this town loves this building,” she said, explaining how excited Brazil officials were when they learned someone was going to restore property. In addition to the bank and retail stores, the 22 offices upstairs contained dentists, physicians, insurance brokers and economic development officials, she said. Older residents stroll into the building while the couple works to share stories, and Lee said she’s very interested in learning more about the different professionals who occupied the property.
According to information provided by Indiana Landmarks, the building’s founder immigrated to America at the age of 17 from Wales. Working his way west as a coal miner, Davis taught himself English on the road, marrying a New Jersey woman, Margaret Jones, and eventually settling in what is now Knightsville. There he opened a general store and eventually became a coal operator with interests in banking and real estate.
One can imagine he appreciated hard work.
And Kleckner said the couple’s ability to do the labor themselves will be key to their success.
“It’s always great when a historic building finds the right owner,” he said.
Lee said the sounds of people walking through the building stopped shortly after she and Tony moved upstairs.
“I guess they decided we’re here for good,” she said.
Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com.
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