Ybor Houses: A Treasure Rediscovered


 by Lauren Jones
 Imagine Ybor City one hun-
dred years ago. Imagine what
the streets looked like with
houses lined next to one an-
other. Imagine the wood pan-
els and the strong stucco that
held them together.
 If you go to 9th Ave. and
22nd St. in Ybor today, it will
look somewhat different than
in those days. The houses in
the area are painted in bright
colors and the fences sur-


rounding them are wrapped
in sprawling bougainvilleas.
These houses are now some
of the most sought-after vaca-
tion homes in Tampa.
. Pat Torrence, the owner
and "fixer-upper" of Ybor
Houses, said his original idea
was just to see how it goes.
 "So far so good," Torrence
said. "You see revitalization all
around more and more. And
not just because of what I'm
doing. You see it everywhere."
 Torrence set up a web-


site after purchasing the first
house 15 years ago. He said
there was no marketing re-
quired. People from all over
the world responded with
email requests, wanting to
vacation in the house. "This
thing couldn't exist without
the internet," Torrence said.
 The neighborhood is an
urban one. But Torrence still
saw character. He took the
iron bars off the windows. He
said he knew that if he re-
modeled well enough, people
IMIK- '. -


A close-up showing the historical scalloping, columns
 and a popular favorite, the porch.


T he Casa Bella house is tull of character and one of the


would come.
 He describes the experi-
ence of vacationing here as
a surprise to people. What's
important to Torrence is that
people don't shy away because
it is an urban neighborhood.
He said the city has cracked
down on crime problems.


 "The philosophy starting
out was that you're going to
drive in after booking one of
the houses and say to your-
self, 'What have I done?' But
when you open that door, you
go Wow,' and then when you
close it, stay for a while and
 (Continued to page 20)


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BETTY REED
 State Representative District 59
Political advertisement paid for and approved by Betty Reed. Democrat State Representative


ChappelRoberts
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 ChappellRoberts.com


LA GACETA/Friday, February 27, 2009/Page 19