Latest / Watts Up with Bowling Green Winlectric / Built to Last: Reviving Historic Buildings in Downtown Glasgow, KY
Transcript
- Savannah Gillispie: Hey guys, today we're joined with Simple Life Properties, Mike and Beth Wagner. They have a couple of locations, short-term rentals and event venues that we're going to talk about today in the Glasgow area, mostly around the square. And we're also going to be talking about ⁓ reviving historic buildings in the area and kind of the, I'll say troubles and tribulations that come along with doing that. Guys could you guys can you talk a little bit about yourself and your business? Maybe did you grow up around Glasgow? I grew up in Glasgow We're actually about five miles out past the high school On a farm farmed all my life from a farm girl moved to Nashville met him and brought him back with me. Oh Yeah, so she brought me back here and I didn't know what I was getting into but I've been here with which 36 years 36 years Like I've always been here, so I just love it. And I'm glad we can participate in a growing community. Oh, that's awesome. So you're the owners of Simple Life Properties. As you mentioned, you're the builder and she's the designer. I to make that clear. I think he might be a little worried about claiming the designer as well. Oh no, am definitely not the designer. cannot see colors and she's done a wonderful job. Most of the properties that we have, people come in and say, who was your designer? Who was your design architect? I was like, it was my wife, Beth. She is, 99 % of it's her. So yeah, it's really cool. ⁓ I remember the the first project that we worked together on ⁓ I was just like blown away when you sent me some of the the finished things that this the Some of the different seem like you had a bike in Like just some of the little things that you put together. I was just like that's crazy in Glasgow. This is Glasgow Thank you. Every one of them has their own personality. Yeah, there'll be something that will peak interest. ⁓ It may be a, like you said, a bike that's a table actually in Balcony on Broadway or a picture that we find or a piece of artwork or some of the architecture in the buildings. And then do you just kind of build the theme around that individual thing? That's really cool. So what got you into this type of a thing? Because I can't imagine somebody just goes, you know what I want to do? I want to revive historic buildings. We used to travel a lot. Well, we still do some. travel quite And we love to stop at little towns. look at the buildings and go in the boutiques, the local owned restaurants, versus the big box stores and things. enjoy the small towns. And we found that we were looking at the architecture of the buildings more than we were the... gizmos or gadgets that they had to sell. Right. So we were, he was a farm man one day and the corner building where Balcony on Broadway is went up for auction. He came in to see, we had no idea how much it would cost to buy a building and said well the only way we're going to know is if we go see and we had been very blessed that year and we came and the rest is history. It's so cool. mean, I'm not typically somebody who gets into architecture or anything like that. But what I do have is this weird ability as far as it seems to me to latch on to other people's passions. So seeing how passionate you guys are about what you do, like pulls me in. And I'm like, when you're showing around, you know, I mean, just the view that the camera is getting here, the stained glass and you're looking out over the square. It's just so cool to me. And then you've got, you know, the second floor loft area. And again, guys, this is a sneak peek. This unit's not even open yet. And I apologize. Can you tell me again what the name of this unit is? This one is the Loft and Quill. The Loft and Quill. even just the names that you have for the places are really cool to me. But as you mentioned, you've got a couple of wall sconces and then a chandelier in here that came direct from Turkey. I did. That is so cool. You've helped us tremendously through our projects with lights and all the things that we need in that direction. And we've pulled in just some unique things from random places. Yeah, mean, helped you, which is just getting you what you know you need. Like, I don't have to do much. You guys are very self-sufficient. So ⁓ once you bought the first building, ⁓ Did you at any point kind of feel like you were over your head? Oh no, it started about 20, 22 or 23 years ago. We bought a farm that had a house on it. We wanted to farm. We didn't really care about the house, but then we decided we would go and try to salvage the house. I had never seen the inside of the house. So we purchased it. Six months later, the people moved out. We went in and started remodeling it and after about a week I came home and said, tear it down. This is just a terrible idea, let's tear it down. And she said, no, no, let's don't do that. It's salvageable. So two or three weeks go by, she comes home, we just need to tear the thing down. We're too far in at that point and so we got our feet wet there and we actually live in house that was originally built in 1937 by my grandmother and grandfather. So we've added on to and remodeled that one several times and so we had somewhat of an idea. Then when we got into the commercial space and which is a whole other ballgame. and found out the nuances of building and ⁓ remodeling old buildings. I think we had seven roofs on the first building we did. We had to take off. We actually had to totally gut the building all the way down to the bones. But it really turned out really nice. We had a great design team, Deco Architecture out of ⁓ Somerset. They were a design team that helped us and they helped us with all of our properties as far as architecture is concerned. I see some of the buildings, you see them in Bowling Green, and we've seen them here in Glasgow, of course, too, or just pretty much anywhere you go. Any historic square or historic part of a downtown that just seems like always has to end up going through a revitalization process. Do you guys see anything in particular that really jumps into your mind about what makes that so much harder when you're in a revitalization part versus just a regular remodel. Well, yeah, I mean, it's number one, there's a historic commission in Glasgow and you have to abide by the rules of it. You're supposed to. And it's for the most part, most people do. So that's the first challenge you have to have. And then you get to trying to do what's good for the neighborhood. Right. not trying to build something that's... doesn't fit. That doesn't fit. Right. So, and that's a really big challenge. And this building and the one next to it is a prime example of that. So when we started demoing, we did the other side first, the other building first, and when we started demoing it, we uncovered an arch. It was similar to this one. But it was just framed in. So the first challenge was, we're going to bring it back the way it originally was. And finding a craftsman to build that arch was next to impossible. And we found a ⁓ builder up in Cover Run, Kentucky that rebuilt that arch. and did an amazing job. And it brought it back, not exactly how it was when it was built in 1900, but it was pretty darn close. As close as we can. Wow. As as we can achieve. As close as we can afford. Well, and that's kind of what I was getting at with that question is, you know, it's easy, well, I shouldn't say easy really, but for someone like me, ⁓ you know, I would just think, let's just go, like you said initially, each of you said initially, let's just tear it out. So I would just think, let's just go ahead and gut this thing and do it however to make it fit the space. But you guys are actually coming in and seeing what's there. We want to keep Trying to keep as much as you can of what is currently there. And that obviously creates more issues, but it's something that you want to get through to make the space. It does. We want to save as much of the history, as much of the charm. of the old buildings as we can. They just have more character than some of new ones do. And so we even uncovered a door, a 21 foot door on the other side that we had no idea was there. 21 foot door. was a fire door that was interesting. So we kept that. Where would you ever need a 21 foot door from? Because there was a undertaker on the other side. So there was a furniture store on one side, an undertaker on the other, and they were building furniture in caskets. We're not sure what they were trying to protect. But they had to have fire protection between the two. Wow. That just seems crazy. I don't know. Anyway, sorry I latched on to that. It's one of the features in that space. Right. Wow. So you kept that? We kept the door. Wow. Wow, that's one of the spaces I think I haven't seen, I guess. You'll to walk you in there. Yeah, I think between these two spaces, I've been in four of your spaces. that was actually in a retail space. retail. OK, yeah, don't think I've been in your retail spaces, which brings up the information about the fact that you guys have six short-term rentals, each with their own personality, like we mentioned, and then two event venues. We do. Along with. some retail spaces. you're like dabbling in a lot of the different areas there. We started renovating a building, had no idea it was going to turn into business as it has, but we've been very blessed and are excited to have great tenants in our buildings. ⁓ Excited to have the event venue for small places for people to gather right here. where people to stay, where they can walk out on the square, shop, eat. It's fun. It's nice to see. And there's been so many people in the community that have jumped on board and worked on their buildings. And entrepreneurs have started their own businesses. And it's fun. It's going to be of It is so cool to see. I remember when I first moved to the Glasgow area, it was 95. And there were several spaces that I don't know that I remember ever seeing a business in from... pretty much the entire time I lived in this area. so seeing these buildings, you know, being renovated and really just it's going around the square now is just amazing. And so much of that is because of you guys and what you're doing. And I just think that is so cool. ⁓ and I remember actually going back to one of my questions or the things I mentioned about the first unit when you told me, and I'd only had a couple of calls with you, I think at the time and you're like, yeah, we're to do an Airbnb. And I'm like, and Wait a where is this? And you're like on the square in classical. And I'm like Airbnb on the square. Like that just seemed like crazy to me. And then I remember seeing the pictures again and I was just blown away. And this place, again guys, this is a sneak peek. So this is amazing space. ⁓ We definitely want to get to, we're gonna get a shout out to where people can reach out to you before the end of this. So definitely if you're listening or watching now. You want to catch that information so that you can reach out to them. So ⁓ what are some points about that ⁓ when you're going through this process, people may be watching some of these HGTV shows and things like that where they're seeing older buildings get renovated. What are things that are behind the scenes that they may not know about? Goodness. Well, they don't show the arguments. Yeah, y'all are together in this. You're together here, you're together at home. So, yeah. We should have pulled Chris back in here. He would agree as well. But no, it's, there are things that they gloss over on the television. Sure. But they burl out the dramatics of it. It's for the most part, it's, we get to see things through each other's eyes. Wow. And he says, we have to have an HDAC unit here. And I said, no, but I want a room here. So we have to adjust over those things. Her vision for the decorating is just outstanding. I have a really tough time visualizing that part. She used to have a tough time visualizing space. Seeing things in three dimensional in her mind instead of after it was built. Or knowing where to put a light when there's no wall there. That's very difficult for me. Just to be fair, that didn't necessarily get a ton easier. in the lighting industry now for 19 years and sometimes I go into a space and I'm just like... Because you know now a lot of times I go in and I can have 15 or 20 different suggestions because lighting it's not like plumbing You know just as an example you plumbing your bathroom. You're gonna have sink or two you're gonna have a toilet You're gonna have a shower or tub, you know with lighting you could like that same space a hundred hundred fifty two hundred different ways and but you know Do you the ability to be able to work on projects, you know, specifically like the ones that you guys are doing because it's just so fun. So, do you have an advice, a piece of advice or anything like that if someone were looking at purchasing a historic building or thinking about doing something along the lines of what you guys have been doing? Which I know that's a very broad question. I that you do it right and do it right the first time. Cutting corners may save you money, but in the long run it's gonna cost you money. We built these buildings, this building we're in right now was built in 1900. And it's 126 years old. And we hope it's gonna be here another 126. So we built it to last. God we give the glory. And we were to do things in excellence and that's what we strive to do, to give him the glory. We have been tremendously blessed. in so many different ways, family and jobs and properties and all these different things he's blessed us with and we try to do the best that we can to honor him. ⁓ that's awesome. That's awesome to hear. I tell you, ⁓ you know, we joked a little bit earlier about, you know, ⁓ Chris made the comment that, you know, sometimes the phone calls weren't fun for me or whatever and I was like, ⁓ yeah, she's so terrible. to talk to on the phone, which is not the case. ⁓ But truth be told, you guys have been such a pleasure to work with. And, know, for me, I would try to bend over backwards for for people like you guys, because, know, number one, you are you do have these amazing projects, but, know, you're you're just easy to work with from the standpoint of You know you understand sometimes things you know take a little bit time longer time to get certain things or whatever not everybody's like that But when you're putting something together like this if you're getting fixtures from Turkey, they're not gonna be overnight You know if one breaks you can't get the replay. Yeah. ⁓ yeah, we found that out the hard way. ⁓ yeah, that's go back to question. Yeah advice to you also I would I would suggest to talk to your code officials Before you start the project Wow, that's a very that's a very good point with your project and your ideas before That will save you a lot of headaches in the long run and they've been super to work with so so that's one of the things I was going to point out one of the buildings that we worked on where you were to have in the commercial kitchen space and all that and You know, I was like, you know, there's some code different, you know Cuz I'm a little bit more familiar with the codes in Bowling Green and here they're a little bit different but you know, he was So easy to work with. ⁓ Was it Jim Jim? Yeah I'm not great with names, but he was you know just told me straight up You got to have this you got to have that and you know But if you got to give a little bit on one thing you take on the other you know we can we can we can work it out But it's got it you got to be within these codes, and he was very upfront nothing hidden I mean, and that just makes it nice, so that's very very good advice very good advice ⁓ So if you would take just a moment to mention ⁓ the out of your six short-term rentals, ⁓ maybe talk just very briefly about those and what your event spaces, ⁓ you know, are typically used for, kind of how they're set up. And then ⁓ let's let the listeners know how to... be able to schedule those? Okay. Everything can be scheduled through simplelifeproperties.net or the event venues are to call me direct ⁓ at 270-670-0960. We have ⁓ the event venues, have the Soiree at Plaza Way and then we have now the Soiree Annex. So we can see up to 100 on one side and up to about 60 on the other. So with an adjoining door between the two, if you chose to use both of them. Gotcha. Then we have balcony on Broadway, which is our first one. That's a one bedroom, one bath with a great balcony looking over at the plaza. We have the Wilbur that's a two bedroom, two bath. We have Copper and Elk, which overlooks the square with the other big arched window. It's a two bedroom, two bath. And we have the Plaid Peacock that's also a two bedroom, two bath. And it has an adjoining door between them. ⁓ so you can you can have a large group? ⁓ That joins with those then we're in the loft and quell that will be a new just really soon and Behind it also with the connecting door is going to be the cobalt terrace Yeah, both of these are one bedroom ⁓ And one back in this one one and a half bath in the cobalt terrace, but the terrace is a huge balcony on it as well. Yeah our pit outdoor game table and so it's a great space. when we were walking through that I was like, man, this is a spot. It could be a little party pad. could. And then all of them have sleeper sofas so you get an extra two people to stay in there as well. on the square, like I said, walk around downtown, to the plaza, go to the hive, go to the shops and boutiques. It's a great place to be. Yeah, and these aren't like... Hotel things guys. This is this is a full kitchen area We're sitting at the island here, which is clearly like what a six-foot island I mean, you know, we're on three of the stools It's I mean that the built-in over here with the TV is amazing that that thing That's nice. We want to consider them luxury boutique type places to stay. Very beautiful. With the old charm but all the amenities of the today. And again if you would just again mention your website. SimpleLifeProperties.net. And then the phone number? 270-670-0960. Okay, excellent. Well guys I want to thank you very much for this time. ⁓ It's really nice to hear about how you got into this and some of the challenges you had along the way and that. But just the spaces, I'm just sitting here just still in my head amazed at looking at the space here in particular because that's where we're at right now. But I remember the Plaid Peacock too and that was really cool space. But anyway guys, this is Sean with Up with Winlectric. I'd like thank. Simple Life Properties, Beth and Mike Wagner for joining us today to talk about what it's like to restore these historic buildings around the square in Glasgow. Thank you for having us and you guys for any events small or large we can accommodate. That's awesome guys. Thank you so much and come see us next time. Thanks.