Another Historic Building from the Island is to become part of the Historic Green Village

We are delighted that with the Anna Maria Preservation Trust, we have been donated another historic building from the Island. The Angler's Lodge is now be the third building that we will be re-developing to become part of the Green Village.

As well as already featuring an 1935 cottage called The Rosedale, which will soon open as the Green Village cafe, and a beautiful 1915 Sears Cottage, that we literally and carefully 'picked up' and moved from its original site on the Island, The Angler's Lodge, a much larger building, will now also undergo the same treatment. And in April, it will be moved from its current home, and become another important and historic part of our exciting new Village on Pine Avenue.

Mr and Mrs J R Wood of Ellenton built The Angler's Lodge in 1913. Mr Wood was a vegetable broker and owned several packing houses and farms. He subsequently become the Mayor of Ellenton. The family used to travel from Ellenton by steamship to enjoy days on Anna Maria, and they named the house 'Thelma by the Sea', after their daughter. Thelma was a beautiful young woman and modeled for many publications, including the first ever tourism brochure for Anna Maria Island.

Two brothers Edward and Robert Scott purchased the Lodge in 1972 as a holiday home for when they wanted a get-away from their home in Tampa. And in 1992, they sold it to Mrs Agie Hebebrand, who as the last owner of The Lodge, recently donated it to the Anna Maria Preservation Trust, to ensure that it was protected and become part of the legacy of the City of Anna Maria Island.

Sissy Quinn is the President of the Anna Maria Preservation Trust and was instrumental with us in the re-development of the Sears and Rosedale Cottages and now of course The Angler's Lodge. She said to us "we [Anna Maria Preservation Trust]are dedicated to preserving and celebrating Anna Maria's living past. Often, the wonderful buildings that are donated to us, are completely run down or derelict and therefore, finding funds or partners willing to help re-develop them can be hard. I call Mike and Lizzie my fairy godmothers! With their own money, their incredible vision and unsurpassed passion to support our histor, they are now developing two beautiful buildings, one of which was moved at great expense, and will now do the same with The Angler's Lodge. I know it will be sensational when it's completed. I can't thank them enough"

We are thrilled to be able to bring The Lodge to the Green Vilage site. We are so passionate about Anna Maria and the wonderful community here. We are dedicated to creating useful businesses in appealing buildings, run by green energy with an end vision to pass them onto the local people here to own and run. The Angler's Lodge is another beautiful building that we felt deserved a place in our Historic Green Village. Being twice the site of the Sears Cottage, moving it will be a major taask, but we think worth every effort to ensure that it remains part of Anna Maria's future history!

Take a look at our Gallery for some wonderful pictures of The Angler's Lodge and the Wood family through the years...