New Life for Anderson’s Corner
Picture a two-story, white wood-frame general store in the bucolic Redland in the early 1900s. The Wm. Anderson General Merchandise Store sold everything from dynamite to lace to the pioneers who lived in this subtropical agricultural zone, growing row crops, avocados and other tropical fruits. In the mid-1930s, the general store became a rooming house, and later was rented out. Deemed one of the few remaining structures in the neighborhood that retained its original exterior appearance, Anderson’s Corner was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 and was the first building to be officially designated as a county historic site in 1981. In 1992, the building was damaged – though, interestingly, not destroyed – during Hurricane Andrew. Since then, the distinctive building in the Silver Palm Historic District has offered a fading glimpse into the past as modern development encroaches on this farmland community.
Today, there’s a tarp on the roof of Anderson’s Corner and a plan for its future. Bill Fuller of the Barlington Group, whose projects include the Ball and Chain in Little Havana and the Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale, has taken on the property as a personal project with his wife, Melissa. “I love retreating to the countryside in the Redland and Homestead and was always enamored of it,” he says. Fuller acquired the property and has started the steps toward its restoration while he ponders its ultimate use, perhaps preservation of the upstairs as a residence and downstairs for community activations. While awaiting permitting, Fuller spends some of his Saturday mornings with his five-year-old son riding on the lawn mower and getting to know the land. “You have to immerse yourself in the community,” he says. “Right now what I care about is preserving,”
