By Deborah L. Bauer
Society for Historic Casselberry
The first phase of construction at the historic Brightwater Estate in Casselberry has begun. On March 28, 2024, the Casselberry City Commission discussed a proposal by City Manager Randy Newlon to approve a vendor to replace the main house's roof at a regularly scheduled meeting. The estate, purchased by the city in July 2021, has required a new roof for many years. While the city has worked to maintain the property since its purchase, the house had retained its original roof from when its first owner and town founder, Hibbard Casselberry, built it in 1952.
Over many years, the roof deteriorated substantially to the point that water incursion had begun to destabilize the physical structure. In late 2021, city staff identified that the first step to mitigating further damage and stabilizing the property required removal of the old roof and installation of an appropriate replacement. The process became complicated when consultants discovered the original roof consisted of asbestos shingles. These shingles needed to be carefully removed and any impact remediated. The city also knew that any substantial alterations to the house needed to be handled carefully so as not to disrespect or negatively impact the home's significant architectural design history. Hibbard Casselberry hired famed Winter Park architect James Gamble Rogers II to design the home in 1951. Rogers did so creating a house representative of the Neoclassical Style. The city consulted with volunteers from the Society for Historic Casselberry, like Dr. Deborah Bauer, to make certain the replacement roof materials chosen would maintain the integrity of the structure's historic design.
At the March 28th meeting, city commissioners voted unanimously to approve the city manager's recommendation that United Roofing be chosen as the vendor to replace the roof, remediate any asbestos contamination, and replace any deteriorated or damaged wood roof trusses.
The vendor began work demo-ing the old roof in early April 2024. During the initial construction phase, Lilian Casselberry, daughter of the city founder, had a chance to visit the site and view the progress. "It's so exciting to see work finally begin at Brightwater," Casselberry said. "I'm so excited and so happy! It's been a very long time in coming. I'm very pleased with the progress that I've seen so far."
Work continued over the next three months on the project. The vendor completed the installation of the new roof in early July 2024. At a budget work session held by the city on July 15, 2024, city commissioners discussed the completion of the roof. Mayor Dave Henson commented that he thought the roof looked fantastic and complimented staff on the final product. Henson said, "The tile shingles should last as long or longer than a metal roof, and it has kept the original look."
At the workshop, the city manager acknowledged that he believed the historical society's assistance in choosing the appropriate roof tile played a major role in achieving the pleasing outcome of the final product.
Henson also said, "We still have a long way to go, but this is the next big step to preserving the structure. When the city purchased the property, we saved it from being knocked down for new development, and now we're saving it from the dangers of Florida weather."
Newlon asked the commission for further direction as to how it would like to proceed with the next phase of work at the Brightwater property. After additional discussion, city commissioners asked the city manager to schedule a work session in the near future to determine the next steps the city will take to implement aspects of the master conceptual plan it approved in August 2022.
