Palmetto.

Palmetto sits on the north bank of the Manatee River, and it has a longer history than most of the county. There is a genuine historic district here with frame houses that predate almost everything on the south side of the river, a working waterfront, and street after street of modest well built homes from the middle of the last century. It has stayed more affordable than Bradenton and considerably more affordable than anything across the bay, which is why a lot of the work we do here is somebody improving a house they intend to keep rather than staging one for sale.

The older frame housing changes the trade mix. South of the river almost everything is block, but in the historic parts of Palmetto we are working with real wood framing, original siding and trim, and windows that have been painted shut for thirty years. That work rewards care: exterior wood rot repair, siding and fascia replacement that matches what is already there, and interiors brought up to date without stripping the character out of the house. Closer to the river and the port, salt exposure is a factor in every exterior decision we make.