Main Street Columbus

The lodge building is historically significant as one of Mississippi’s rare surviving examples of a three story pre-civil war commercial building. The building is actually two building; a two bay three story building built in 1858 and a one bay two story building built in 1874.  A third floor was added to the second building along with the buildings’ façade in 1906 in a major renovation designed by the renowned Southern Architect R.H. Hunt.

 

       In November of 2008 ,Gayle and Dorothea Guynup, mother and daughter, purchased the building.  The goal of the project was to preserve the integrity of the building while creating the residential living units.  Consistent with this, the owners incorporated into the living units the original meeting rooms and retained as many of the original features as possible.  The building interior was configured into six living units and three street level retail spaces, including Christy Cater’s Moon Shadow Boutique and the Jon Ric Salon & Spa.

 

       Gene Reid is responsible for the construction and reconfiguration of the interior space and the exterior improvement.  He was a positive force in demonstrating to the owners that their vision was realistic.  He was assisted with some design details by Penny Bowen.  Royce Hudspeth supported Gene and Gayle in resolving daily problems, running interference and leasing the spaces.  Cadence Bank through Bobby Harper and William Corder provided much good advice and support for the project. The responsiveness and reasonableness of Kenny Weigel, City of Columbus, contributed to the success of the project.