From the Palm Beach Post, Aug.6, 2000.

Grant Lee VV (Br 3) had no idea that his house in West Palm Beach, FL would ever be considered a national treasure. Grant moved to Florida in 1914 with his wife Ella Kennedy VV and their children Orren and Elizabeth. Ella's cousin, Charles Kennedy, owned a large seafood and produce company in West Palm Beach as well as a number of houses and apartments. Grant obtained a job with the seafood company and in 1924, bought a seven bedroom, 3500 square foot house on Hibiscus Street.

This house has been described as a rare and outstanding example of early 20th century homes in southern Florida. Ornate gingerbread painted white trims the wide front porch of the soft yellow building. The woodwork inside is especially beautiful: gleaming polished floors throughout, a built-in credenza in the dining room, an intricately carved newel post. Comfortable window seats with adjacent bookcases invite visitors to curl up comfortably with a good book. The large fireplace in the living room is original and there are leaded glass windows throughout.

With a house that size servants, or at least outside help, must have been necessary. But one outstanding feature of the house probably was a great help. The first and second floors were connected by "speaking tubes". His daughter-in-law, Dorothy VV, remembers that if you blew into one of the tubes, there would be a whistle in the other. Then if you pushed the disc in that tube, you could talk to whoever was at the other end.

Grant and Ella lived in the house for many years, until she died at age 80 in an auto accident. Their daughter, Elizabeth, who was widowed by that time, moved in to help her father until his death at age 96 in 1967. Elizabeth continued to live in the house for another 11 years, renting out some of the surplus rooms to winter "snowbirds." She then sold the property in 1978.

After going through several owners, the house fell upon hard times in the 1990s. A group of local attorneys owned it and wanted to either tear it down or have it moved so the valuable land could be used for a new building. Fortunately the Downtown Group, a real estate development company with an interest in historic preservation, saw the possibilities the house presented and bought it in 1997. After moving it to another location in the same neighborhood, The Group renovated the house to meet historic preservation standards. In September 1999 the VV house was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

It is now rented and is the headquarters of Zeo-Sync, a high-tech global telecommunications company. The chairman of Zeo-Sync, Peter St. George, appreciates very much the beauty of the low-tech building and has said that one day he dreams of owning it. So Grant Lee VV's house lives on, a lovely memorial to one of our VV cousins.