2739 Michigan Avenue (1947)

Home of Lynn C. Cool & Pearl Cool

This one-story home is one of several residences built on Michigan Avenue in the 1940’s.  Its transitional style includes traditional double-hung windows, in grouping of three, and a centered front door with Craftsman-style brackets supporting the front door overhang.  At the same time, these elements are combined with features that foreshadow the ranch style:  the low-slung hipped roof and the modest front door.

The house was built in 1947 for painting contractor Lynn C. Cool and his wife Pearl, who came to Fort Myers in 1946, along with their son Harold, also a painter.  On July 1, 1947, the News-Press reported that building permit was issued to Mr. Cool for the construction of a five-room dwelling for at a cost of $5,000.   The next year, a second building permit was issued to Mr. Cool for a “frame servants quarters, 24 feet square” at a cost of $1,600 for the rear of the property.

Mr. Cool was born in 1884 Lake George, New York, and lived in the Syracuse area most of his life.  He did not come to Fort Myers until early 1946, when the Cools purchased a small bungalow nearby at 2721 Michigan Avenue on February 21, 1946.  After renovating and repainting that home, he sold it in August of that year.  Meanwhile he purchased this parcel on June 23, 1947, and promptly applied for the necessary building permit for construction of this new home.  By 1949, the the Cools decided to sell this home and move to the St. Petersburg area, where they lived until their deaths in 1965.

The original lot was one of eleven parcels sold by the Dean Development Company to Fort Myers developer Henry C. Chase.  The prices paid for this property show the Florida land boom in full swing:  On January 3, 1924, Mr. Chase paid $1,200 for the parcel.  On April 27, 1925, Mr. Chase sold it to Harry W. Clark for $2,500.  On October 12, 1925, Mr. Clark sold the parcel for $4,200.  However, by 1946, the boom had ended and this parcel was sold for a mere $500.

Earlier address:  24 West Michigan Avenue; Dean’s Subdivision, Block I, Lot 17