On Monday, three generations of flooring installers have been on hand — and two of them on their knees — at the Historic Duval-Metz Property in Floral Metropolis.
Paul Clemens, 92, who begun a flooring small business in 1976 in Homosassa, his son, Chris, and Chris’ son, Dave, experienced come to put in wooden flooring in the kitchen of the historic property that was developed by ex-Confederate soldier John Paul Formy-Duval all around 1866.
Chris Clemens and enterprise companion Joe Bell opened Area Flooring in Homosassa in 2005 Dave will work with them, and Paul is retired.
“What we’re accomplishing these days is installing engineered hardwood flooring … that’s built to look like an aged, old, ground, like it came off an previous fence,” Chris Clemens claimed.
Floor Flooring donated all the products and their labor for the project.
The Duval-Metz Property, which sits back on the residence at the corner of Orange Avenue and Outdated Floral Town Street in Floral City, was acquired in 2012 by the Duval Preservation Trust, made by H. D. Bassett, a Formy-Duval descendant.
Given that then, the target has been to restore the home as an adjunct to the close by heritage museum. The kitchen area, at one particular time a different developing, was moved and joined to the most important home, possibly right after energy arrived to Floral Metropolis in 1913.
Restoration of the kitchen is also a single of the last jobs to be done.
As Chris, Dave and their crew nailed the wooden flooring planks in location, Paul Clemens talked to the Chronicle about his 50-as well as many years in flooring, beginning in Orlando wherever he grew up.
“I started out in 1945 when I was however in high school,” Clemens said. “I labored portion-time after school. Back again then I manufactured 25 cents an hour, which was superior money in individuals times. … Then I bought a increase to 50 cents, and at some point I was generating $1.30 an hour.”
Immediately after a stint in the Air Pressure for the duration of the Korean War, Clemens and a spouse opened Stoll & Clemens Flooring in Orlando their business installed the flooring in the authentic Disney Parks, Sea Planet and Circus Environment points of interest.
In 1976, Clemens and his late wife moved to Citrus County and opened Clemens Flooring, throughout from Howard’s Flea Current market in Homosassa.
Afterwards, son Chris joined him.
“At that time, they used to offer five-acre tracts of land for $1,500 — $20 down and $20 a thirty day period,” Clemens claimed. “I bought 5 acres and then another 5 acres following to it on Palmer Road, off Cardinal Lane.”
He claimed his son had started out performing with him “when he was just belt-substantial,” and Chris mentioned the identical thing about his son.
Chris Clemens stated he learned from his dad that perform arrived 1st, prior to using a lunch split, and that integrity is more significant than earnings.
Dave explained his grandpa taught him, “Ten very good positions will achieve you a person, and a person lousy career will shed you 10 — word of mouth is a big offer.”
Clemens semi-retired in 1990 when he acquired some assets in Bat Cave, North Carolina, not far from Asheville.
“I say semi-retire because when I got there, men and women retained asking me to do their flooring,” he claimed, adding that it is been in all probability a lot more than 15 decades that he’s set up flooring, but he hasn’t neglected how to do it, and he nevertheless has his instruments.
On Monday, with the get the job done likely on in the kitchen area, a handful of Floral Town residents who are concerned in the heritage and preservation of Floral Metropolis collected on the Duval-Metz Dwelling porch.
“This is just my viewpoint, but this is just one of the most critical jobs that this little community has been concerned in,” Frank Peters reported. “We have other historic constructions, but this is the oldest household construction in the county, and it goes again to the Civil War.”
Chris Clemens explained that is what drew him to want to do this.
“Here we are, 3 generations in this organization doing work on the oldest dwelling in Citrus County,” he reported, “what superior firm to do this?”
