Kester's Peppercrates

You won't find a listing for "Kester Cottage" in a dictionary or encyclopedia, and if you "Google" the term, you will find only a handful of relevant sites, most with little historical information. Still. if you've been in Pompano Beach for any time, you've probable heard some mention of a Kester Cottage. But what is it?

The name derives from one William Kester, a wealthy businessman who retired to Florida in the years following the First World War for health reasons and to indulge in his favorite leisure-time pursuits: golf and fishing. He lived first in Miami and then Fort Lauderdale before moving to Pompano in 1923, supposedly to be closer to the abundant game fish found off the Hillsboro Inlet.

Kester may have been retired, but his wealth and business prowess soon led him to get involved in the local economy. This was the period of the Florida Land Boom, when everyone thought land purchases would bring riches. Kester was already rich, but he soon purchased a considerable amount of land, including acres of beachfront property. In 1927 he was elected to the Pompano city commission, a position he held for just a single term -- he preferred being the boss rather than one of several commissioners.

When the Great Depression came, Kester sought to stimulate the local economy. He built a cigar factory to employ local residents and bought the defunct Bank of Pompano building and established the Farmers Bank of Pompano.

In the mid-1930s, Kester has another idea to help pick things up in Pompano. He decided that what the local economy needed was an infusion of money from tourists. Up to this point, Pompano had very few visitors who were not coming to town to visit friends and relatives, usually staying in the homes of locals. With plenty of beachfront property stretching along Highway A1A from Atlantic Boulevard north, he had the ideal location to attract out-of-towners.

In 1937 he began construction of several dozen small wood-frame cottages on the west side of A1A. Although there were some minor variations, the structures contained a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms, a bathroom and a small front porch. Local residents were hired to construct and finish the cottages.

Kester's beachfront cottages proved to be an instant success; so much so that he began building more, almost immediately, including a number of larger, two-story houses at the northern end of his property.

The relatively inexpensive, easy-to-build, yet sturdy structures were attractive to more than tourists, and before long a number of Kester Cottages were being built in Pompano and Deerfield Beach for local residents. During the Second World War, the beachfront cottages were used to house an overflow of military personnel from nearby facilities such as the Boca Raton Army Air Force Base.

In the war's aftermath, local housing was scarce due to the lack of construction during the years of conflict and the post-war arrival of new residents. By early 1950s, developers were looking for properties on which to build new housing and commercial structures. Kester, however, was not motivated to sell his properties or remove the cottages. He admitted that the Kester Cottages would not be a permanent feature on Pompano Beach oceanfront, but was in no hurry to see them go.

Kester was quoted in the Pompano Beach Town News regarding the fate of the cottages he often referred to as "peppercrates": "All the 'up-to-date jerks' want me to get them off the ocean as soon as I can. It will only cost me a million and I just have $10 in my pocket." The cottages were still there when William Kester passed away in 1954.

The rise in property values throughout the 1950s created increasing economic pressure to remove the cottages; there was only so much rent that could be derived from the humble structures and property taxes were increasing every year.

When the beachfront property was finally sold to various developers, the cottages were, for the most part, moved rather than demolished. Some cottages were moved inland and became homes for Pompano residents, others were put on barges and sent to such locations as the Florida Keys, the Lake Okeechobee region and even the Bahamas.

Over the years a number of Kester Cottages located in Pompano Beach (many along Atlantic Boulevard) have been demolished or moved, but some still serve as private residences. Several are located in the 700 block of NE First Street, now painted in festive colors, but still retaining their original architectural details.

In 1974 Stewart Kester (William Kester's nephew) donated two Kester Cottages to the Pompano Beach Historical Society. They were moved to what was then known as Rustic Park, along the Pompano Canal east of Cypress Road, where they were restored and opened to the public.

The Historical Society's cottages were later moved to Founders Park where they have been preserved as house museums depicting Pompano's past. One is furnished in the style of the 1930s, while the other houses artifacts and displays on the history of the community.

For information on the Pompano Beach Historical Society's Kester Cottages, visit www.pompanohistory.com.