Purchase of Pepin estate is dream come true for Tampa couple
By Doha Madani
Tampa Tribune
Published: Apr 26, 2015

TAMPA - Ken and Margie Ward had admired the Pepin estate on the banks of the Hillsborough River since they first dated as teens.

"When I used to drive her around in my hot rod, I used to tell her that I'd buy her that home,” said Ken Ward, 58, a personal injury attorney in Tampa. "No idea I would actually be able to.”

The late Art Pepin, founder of the local Anheuser-Busch distributing company, built the estate in 1968 with his wife Polly. The home was a community landmark for its lavish Christmas light display and its regular guest list, featuring big names like entertainer Bob Hope and actor Cary Grant.

Then there were the unique amenities, like a built-in keg refrigerator, sauna, and pool shaped like the distinctive early Michelob bottle.

In 2013, after Polly Pepin died, the family put the 6,500-square-foot, New England colonial-style brick estate on the market.

One day, Ward was driving by, checking on some property the couple had purchased down the street. He noticed the For Sale sign on the home at 1011 N. Riverhills Dr. He went home and told his wife he was going to buy it.

"I laughed at him,” said Margie Ward, 56.

He knew it was a long shot, but he had to try.

"I didn't want anyone else to buy it, tear it down and subdivide it,” her husband explained.

The closing process took two months, but earlier this month the Wards bought the estate for $1.15 million.

"There was obviously a huge demand for the house,” said Gus Vollmer, who helped handle the sale for Exit Elite Realty.

Growing up only a few blocks away, on Herchel Drive, Margie Ward remembers what would become the Pepin estate when it just a construction lot.

Her musings about the property started even before she met her husband-to-be.

"When I was a little girl and they were building it, my girlfriends and I were playing there when we weren't supposed to. And we said, ‘What if we can live here one day?'”

And now they will.

The Wards hope to preserve the traditions that the Pepin family established, hosting parties and entertaining organizations like the local Rotary Club.

Margie Ward still has family in the neighborhood.

"Pepin did so much for the community. He was a very generous man,” Ken Ward said.

As for Christmas, the Wards plan on hanging lights even brighter than before.

"We're going to try and take it up a notch, if we can,” Ken Ward said.

The couple has other properties, including a home built by a Budweiser brewmaster, but the Pepin estate with its connections to the community holds the deepest meaning for them.

Margie, who enjoys interior design, is excited at the prospect of preserving the character of the 1960s-era home.

"It's almost like a dream come true.”

Dohan Madani is a Tribune intern and a student at the University of Tampa.