RENOVATION321
FALL 2022: 69
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resumed our search; however, this time
we started thinking of a house or a lot to
build on.
We looked as far south as Cocoa since
the only riverfront home on the market
in Titusville was a beautiful for-sale-byowner
in the historic area. But with four
bedrooms and four baths it was really
more house than we were looking for plus
it had a pool we felt we didn’t need. The
fact the master bedroom was upstairs was
another negative. Yet it had one major
thing going for it, it was situated on the
bank of the Indian River and had a direct
drop-dead gorgeous view of both the
river and the Kennedy Space Center.
Surprisingly, we discovered this
home was owned by a Betty Hopkins
Eigenmann, a former classmate of
Connie’s from Astronaut High School.
When we went to look at it, Betty’s first
words alluded to the fact that Connie had
edged her out for freshman homecoming
princess in 1973. I have to mention
that Connie went on to be chosen
homecoming queen of Astronaut High
School, class of ‘77. Fortunately, Betty did
not hold a grudge and agreed to sell us
the place. We closed in August 2020.
As part of our agreement, Betty stayed
in the house for up to nine months while
her new home was being built just down
the road and while we were getting our
Gainesville move in order. This also gave
us a lot of time to think about what we
wanted to do with the house. It quickly
became evident that what we thought
was too much was, in fact, not enough.
LONG LIST OF PROJECTS
Our list of desirable additions included:
rebuilding the undersized seawall;
adding a backup solar power system
with battery storage; burying the
unsightly power lines leading from
the street to the house; renovating the
kitchen; overhauling the driveway and
landscaping; and adding a conservatory.
As for the house itself, we needed
to create the space we wanted by a
combination of renovation and addition
while preserving as much of the original
house as possible. This included
CHRISTOPHER BROOKS PHOTOS
Connie Maggi and Christopher Brooks dress for
a 1920s ballroom dance routine. The couple are
planning to have a ballroom dance floor as part of
their home renovation/addition.
This is how the back
of the house and the
dock looked in 2019
when the property
was purchased, a far
cry from when the
postcard was created.