{"id":348971,"date":"2026-07-22T20:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T20:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/348971\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T20:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T20:06:09","slug":"west-tampas-historic-guida-house-undergoing-3-9m-restoration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/348971\/","title":{"rendered":"West Tampa&#8217;s historic Guida House undergoing $3.9M restoration"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The George Guida Sr. House, a 1952 Art Moderne landmark in West Tampa, is undergoing a $3.9 million restoration that will preserve its architecture and convert the property into a public venue for meetings, events and community programs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">George Guida Sr., the businessman, builder, banker and civic leader known as \u201cMr. West Tampa,\u201d designed the home at 1516 N. Renfrew St. from his own hand-drawn plans.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He founded Central Bank of Tampa and built or helped develop landmarks including the Jesuit High School Field House, Rey Park Recreation Center, St. Joseph\u2019s Convent and Boys &amp; Girls Club facilities in West Tampa and Interbay.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-July-06-2026-at-13.37.25-32-1-1000x563.jpeg\" alt=\"George Guida Sr. and his family gathered around a piano inside the historic Guida House in West Tampa.\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-July-06-2026-at-13.37.25-32-1000x563.jpeg\" alt=\"Historic George Guida Sr. House in West Tampa, a 1952 Art Moderne residence, before its restoration.\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The city later renamed a road through MacFarlane Park as George Guida Memorial Drive in recognition of his contributions to the community. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the house became a gathering place for civic meetings, celebrations and neighborhood events, a role it will reprise after the restoration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Contractors have begun selective demolition and exploratory work to assess the structure before permanent repairs begin. Preservation specialists are using Guida\u2019s original architectural plans to restore the home as closely as possible to its 1952 appearance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The restoration will preserve the original fireplace, tilework, built-in cabinetry, interior mural and the outdoor chimney mural depicting a tall ship at sea. Crews also will restore the heart-shaped driveway Guida designed for his wife, Palmira.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first floor will be converted into flexible community meeting space while retaining its historic character, and the project includes rehabilitating the outdoor patio, kitchen and tiled gathering area that once hosted neighborhood gatherings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe George Guida Sr. House tells the story of a family whose vision and generosity helped shape West Tampa into the vibrant community it is today,\u201d Mayor Jane Castor said. \u201cThe restoration of his home honors the Guida family\u2019s lasting contributions to West Tampa, and we\u2019re proud to breathe new life into this treasured home so it can once again serve as a place that brings the community together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>  Read More Tampa Bay Business News<\/p>\n<p>\n    Explore the latest Tampa Bay business news, real estate deals, development projects, executive moves and company updates shaping the region.\n  <\/p>\n<p>\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The George Guida Sr. House, a 1952 Art Moderne landmark in West Tampa, is undergoing a $3.9 million&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-348971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}