Nov. 23--She was the first one on the block. No neighbors, just her and the unbroken wilderness. 

A South Dade matriarch, she pioneered the homesteading of South Flagler Avenue, surviving hurricanes, fires and a recent near-death experience with a demolition crew. 

Today -- nearly a century after her birth -- the Redland Hotel is indeed what she used to be. After years of neglect, Homestead's first commercial building is back in business sporting a major facelift. 
 

The historic inn, at 5 S. Flagler Ave., was closed by the state in 1995 for 250 code violations. Four years ago, neighbors Jerry and Nancy Gust and Rex and Katy Oleson decided to return the landmark hotel to its heyday.  "This place was in such bad shape when we got it, it was condemned and ready to be bulldozed," said Rex Oleson, who is also the chairman of the Homestead Historic Preservation Board. "It housed the first of everything that went on in Homestead. I don't know that anybody else would have saved it."  The Florida East Coast Railway was making its way south in the early 1900s in Homestead. Only the

-- The Redland Hotel  5 South Flagler Avenue Homestead, Florida  Phone: (305) 246-1904 [email protected]

In 1905, Horne rode his bicycle eight miles from Black Point to Homestead carrying the beginnings of the city's post office in a locked leather pouch. He later became the postmaster and his boarding house the post office. In 1913, the place caught fire. Within two hours, the hotel, a barbershop, the Mercantile Company, a real estate office and a house were all severely damaged. Losses were valued at $6,000. 

After reconstruction, it was owned by the Evans family and was renamed the Hotel Evans. The hotel changed hands several times over the years. The Women's Club of Homestead was organized there in 1914. The 15 women met at the hotel the first Saturday of every month. 

"Historically it's Homestead's most important property. It was a hub for the community and the heart of the old town," said Bob Jensen, president of the Florida Pioneer Museum Association. "It really took a lot of courage on the part of the owners to restore it." 

The city's first library opened in Hotel Evans in 1915. The library was open Saturday afternoons. Checkout fee: five cents per book. Decades later, the library is back, but offering no books, just brew. Fittingly, the hotel pub has been christened The Library. 

Outside, a hotel sign offers: Lodging, Dining, Spirits. Under a green metal roof much like the one it boasted in 1913, the outside porch harkens back to another era with its paddle ceiling fans and wicker furniture. "It reminds me of the Old South. The good old days when people just visited," Katy Oleson said. 

Inside, the original Dade County pine staircase leads guests up to their rooms, which are named for the city's early pioneers: Horne, Charles T. Fuchs -- founder of Fuchs Bakery in Homestead, which later became Holsum Bakery -- and others. 

The cozy quarters, with cherrywood armoires, matching floral bedspreads, drapes and shower curtains, look more like the guest room at Grandma's than a hotel room. 

"I'm tickled to death with how it's turned out," said Rex Oleson. 

It didn't come easy. 

"We thought," Rex Oleson said, "six months and a couple hundred thousand dollars and we'd be up and running." 

Not even close. 

While the property cost the two couples only $44,000, the renovations were finished fours years and a million-plus bucks later. 

"It took two years to find a bank who shared our vision and was willing to lend us the money," Rex Oleson said. 

When the partners took over the city-designated historic site in 1997, it had 36 rooms and 10 bathrooms -- none of them private. They gutted much of it to the outside walls, salvaging what they could and saving its crowning glory: the wooden staircase. Today there are 13 rooms with their own bathrooms. 

The Olesons and the Gusts wanted to remain true to the building's 1904 architectural style. Rex Oleson went all the way to Tallahassee to research the archives on the hotel to make it as close to the original structure as possible. 

"We're hoping we'll be one of the catalysts who invest in bringing Homestead back to life," Katy Oleson said. 

The hotel is now running at about 20 to 30 percent occupancy, but is booked solid during much of December when the NASCAR races come to town. Rates start at $89 a night. 

Most of its visitors are overnighters making a pit stop on the way to the Keys or tourists who have come to see the Everglades. Locals stop by for a taste of the hotel restaurant's home cooking. On the menu: chicken noodle soup, coconut cake and Key lime pie. 

Ah, the well-mannered South: "Cursing and swearing will be cause for removal," a notice reads on the office door. 

"People are looking for that life again," Katy Oleson said. "They're tired of fast-paced living. They want the Southern comfort." 

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(c) 2001, The Miami Herald. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.