The Beat Generation brought out some of the finest writers and musicians in the modern era. From Alan Ginsberg's poem "Howl" to Jack Kerouac, the famous author of On the Road had house in Florida when he traveled the road that may become a Museum. This would be the second home that was turned into a museum. There is the famous Ernest Hemingway house in the Florida Keys that people go to see the polydactyl cats that roam the property and look into the life of the famous author of For Whom The Bell Tolls.
Road to History
Jack Kerouac’s nephew John Shen Sampas currently owns the house in St.
Pete. However, Sampas resides in the state of Connecticut and is looking to sell the property in Florida to anyone who wants to buy it to fix it up. The home of Jack Kerouac is in need of serious repair, from the failing foundation to the structure of the home and the repair of the roof, plumbing and electrical to bring it to code. The job could cost well over $50,000 in rehab costs.
Sampas became the new owner of the house after his father John Sampas passed away. John Shen Sampas said his father was Jack Kerouac’s brother-in-law after he married his brother's sister Stella. Both Jack and Stella moved to Florida in 1964 with Jack's mother.
Sampas noticed an article in the Tampa Bay Times about a nonprofit group, Friends of the Jack Kerouac House, that wanted to turn the house into a museum.
Jack Kerouac’s home is a single story three bedroom house that is less than 2,000 square feet and is located at 5169 10th Avenue N. in Saint Petersburg, Florida. Sampas looked up the group and called Margaret Murray, the secretary for Friends of the Jack Kerouac House.
Rescue in progress
Sampas and Murray talked over the restoration of the home.
Murray said that the University of South Florida in Saint Petersburg, the Salvador Dali Museum, and the Saint Petersburg Preservation support the nonprofit group's mission. Murray said to Sampas that these are some of the best qualified groups to restore the home of Jack Kerouac who died when he was 47 from liver cirrhosis in 1969.
His wife Stella passed away in 1990.
There are a few more hurdles to go through before the house is sold. In 2015 the Sampas family decided against selling. So far, no future talks have resumed. Friends of the Jack Kerouac House were established as the caretakers back in 2013 and have used fundraisers to help with restoring the house and keeping it preserved and were thinking about buying the house from the Sampas family to make it a museum.
Appraisers for Pinellas County have listed the house at under $130,000 in its current condition. But many other real estate websites put the value of the home at $240,000. Sampas has not made a decision on how much he wants to sell the home for, but he will offer it to the highest bidder.
