A historical house in Pompano Beach is closer to becoming a restaurant open for public use.
The master plans for the “McNab House & Botanical Gardens” will finally be made public 6 p.m. Jan. 23 at the Emma Lou Olsen Center, 1801 NE Sixth St. in Pompano Beach. It will include “an immersive sensory garden, a fully optimized restaurant with an expanded outdoor patio, and a stunning event pavilion,” according to city spokeswoman Sandra King.
The house, and accompanying two-story garage, is now at 2250 E. Atlantic Blvd.
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The 1926 property known in Pompano Beach as the “McNab House” will be hoisted from its spot, moved a few blocks, and transformed into a restaurant to make way for a development project.
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The history
Robert “Bob” McNab and his older brother, William “Harry” McNab, moved to Pompano Beach in 1898 and farmed the land that today is along South Federal Highway. The McNab brothers built homes across the street from each other, using mustard-colored brick imported from Alabama. Robert built his house on the south side, and Harry built on the north.
McNab Road is named after them.
Today, Harry McNab’s home, which briefly became a law firm, is the BB International private school.
But Bob’s McNab’s house, known as the McNab House, was relocated to a park in 2020 for the public to enjoy it as a restaurant. That’s because a developer with townhouse and rental apartment plans offered to buy the home’s heirs out. They agreed.
But rather than bulldoze the two-story masterpiece, the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency offered to foot the estimated $2.7 million bill to save it. The cost includes $448,000 to the house movers, almost $30,000 to the tree mover, as well as architects and the fee to Florida Power & Light to disconnect and reconnect electricity for the traffic signals.
The two-story garage was also moved. Today both buildings sit in its final resting spot, with space between them that will become a courtyard for outdoor dining, said Nguyen Tran, the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency director.
Pompano Beach Historical Society Executive Director Patricia Rowley said she’s relieved it will be preserved in some form.
“I’m just glad it’s not being torn down,” Rowley said of the house. “It’s such a big part of Pompano’s history. You can’t just tear everything down. Keep the history going.”
The plans
The former garage will become a coffee bar on the ground floor, Tran said.
The Botanical Garden will “be filled with interactive art displays, fragrant herb gardens, soothing bamboo groves, tactile walking paths, and so much more,” King said.
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The McNab House will become a restaurant “with various experiences including a basement wine bar and expansive outdoor patio.”
The site plan to turn the house into a commercial structure will take more than a year, and then construction companies can come in to build the restaurant with a host of improvements: It needs to become handicapped accessible, and it will need new air conditioning and ventilation, electric, and plumbing. The second floor was built only to carry a “residential load,” said Sarah Mulder, the Community Redevelopment Agency project manager, so that could need retrofitting, too, she said.
A structural engineer will need to make changes, which could include new beams, although that’s still to be determined, Tran said.
The restaurant could be open as early as 2027, city officials said.
The cuisine will likely be considered American since “you don’t want to compete with existing restaurants out there already,” Tran said. And he pledged to keep as much of original house feel as possible.
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsetinel.com. Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash