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Developer Unveils Restoration Plan For Nan-Ces-O-Wee

Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

Jhonson Napoleon, new owner of the Nan-Ces-O-Wee Hotel in downtown Sebring, talks on Wednesday about his plans to renovate the historic hotel.

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By MANDY SHEETS | Highlands Today

Published: October 12, 2007

SEBRING — As Jhonson Napoleon stood on a pile of rumble and trash Wednesday afternoon in the Nan-Ces-O-Wee Hotel, he admitted he has a lot of work ahead of him.
"This is the biggest renovation project I've ever taken on," said Napoleon, who purchased the hotel Sept. 28. "But I see a diamond in the rough here. I picture what it will be when it's done, and I see a great asset for Sebring."

Napoleon, a Haiti native who now lives in Miami, spent Wednesday interviewing contractors, walking them through the building and talking about his future plans. The outside will remain intact but the inside will be gutted and renovated.

First, he needs to clean up debris on the site, which includes old furniture, broken glass, paint cans and a random stuffed animal.
The layout of the upper two floors had two rooms sharing one bathroom, which Napoleon said will need to be redone to accommodate the condominiums he has planned. The ground floor will likely feature stores, a restaurant and bar.

"My goal is to make the Nan-Ces-O-Wee the hotspot it used to be," Napoleon said. "I think it could eventually be a great way to bring people downtown."
Daryl and Joannah Williams owned the Nan-Ces-O-Wee during the 1970s and recalled it as a happening hangout. The hotel's 60 rooms were often full during the winter months.

The Cat House Restaurant occupied one of the storefronts and had a 20-seat bar that often featured live entertainment.
"We had bands, pool tables, foosball and we even had one of the first Pac-Man machines," Joannah Williams said.

The Williams are now among the contractors interested in working on the hotel.
"We would love to see big things happen here," Joannah Williams said. "We had dreams for the place too, but we just didn't get to everything."

Napoleon wants to remove the buildings in the rear that are not part of the original structure and build a pool on the second floor with parking underneath. He recognizes one of the problems with the building is the lack of parking, but he thinks some parking in the rear and a lot across the street from the rear of the building would accommodate the tenants.

In about two years, he thinks he will be finished with renovations and selling units.
Napoleon, a real estate broker, has been purchasing vacant land in Sebring since 2002 and currently owns lots in Sun 'n Lake and Orange Blossom Estates.

The Nan-Ces-O-Wee had been for sale for at least three years and was condemned for occupancy after Hurricane Jeanne in 2004.
George Sebring built the hotel in 1923, when it was the first building in the city to have a fire sprinkler system. According to records at the Historical Society, Sebring allowed his wife to choose the name Nan-Ces-O-Wee, after Nancy Osceola, the wife of Seminole Indian Chief Osceola.

Sebring used the downtown hotel to lure Northerners to the city to hear his sales pitch for moving there, and lodging was free on the days the sun did not shine in Sebring.
In 1925, Sebring sold the hotel to Vincent Hall, who was later the developer of Harder Hall.
The American Red Cross used the hotel for its headquarters during 1926 Miami Hurricane and housed many survivors of the category-four storm.

Nan-Ces-O-Wee Hotel Photo Tour

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