She has quite a history, these RIVERVIEW APARTMENTS, since her birth in 1913. She is nestled on a tract of land for which a Homestead Certificate was granted to Otto Stypman (an early pioneer of Stuart) by President Benjamin Harrison in 1890. In 1909, Charles A. Porter purchased the 10-acre tract that was to become part of downtown Stuart, and the area became known as the Porter Addition to the Town of Stuart. Most of the area was a pineapple field complete with irrigation plant when Mary and Elmer Kimberly purchased these lots in 1913.

A “Little Something” is Born.

For years Mr. & Mrs. Kimberly had been coming down to Stuart from their home in Newcastle, Pennsylvania, meeting their friends from “up north”, and enjoying Stuart’s good winter weather from fall to spring. Since they and all their friends stayed at many different places and in various people’s homes while they were here, Mrs. Kimberly soon decided that she wanted to build a place where they could all congregate and enjoy the winter together. She told her husband that she wanted to build a “little something” in which they all could stay. But little did Elmer know what kind of a “little something” his wife had in mind for Stuart! Sam Matthews (a prominent builder of the times) was awarded the contract, estimating the cost at $17,000 to build and furnish -- Six months later, KIMBERLY was born (known today as RIVERVIEW): three stories high, 100 feet long, and 46 feet wide! In the 1920’s she was advertised as being “just like home”, with hot and cold running water, electric lights, and “everything modern”, including a Ladies’ Room and Gents’ Room on each floor.

"Kimberly Becomes Riverview".

In 1931, the property was sold to Fred and Adeline Low; and subsequent to their deaths in 1936 and 1937 respectively, ownership and management of KIMBERLY APARTMENTS was tied up in the courts for several years. In 1939, the appraised value of the property was estimated at $5,000. The apartments had to be closed because of the “deteriorated and uninhabitable condition of the property”, according to a final statement of Low’s estate; and finally Joseph and Effie Ahlquist purchased KIMBERLY for $4,500 in 1939.

The apartments had to be closed because of the “deteriorated and uninhabitable condition of the property”, according to a final statement of Low’s estate; and finally Joseph and Effie Ahlquist purchased KIMBERLY for $4,500 in 1939.They promptly changed her name to RIVERVIEW APARTMENTS, which remains the same today. At that time, the building consisted of 16 apartments and 9 rooms, each equipped with basic furnishings, including an ice box and oil stove

Not much happened during the ownerships of Albert Trefney and Stanley Dunn in the mid-1940’s. During much of that time, RIVERVIEW was used as a wives’ residence for those whose husbands were stationed at the Coast Guard Station in Ft. Pierce, and at Camp Murphy in Hobe Sound (now known as Jonathan Dickinson State Park); and quite often the owner would find himself being the only male resident in the entire building of females!

“Cracker Style is Preserved”.

1949 found RIVERVIEW in the hands of Fern and Albert Cepec, from Ohio. The day before they were to leave Ohio to take possession of their property here, they had news that the big 1949 hurricane had “devastated” Stuart. The news was mostly correct about Stuart, but RIVERVIEW was still standing tall -- minus about 27 windows and other relatively minor damage -- looking over the St. Lucie River like a proud, silent sentinel.

As the years went by, RIVERVIEW prospered in the 50’s and 60’s. Many major improvements were made to the interior and exterior of the building, such as private bathrooms in each apartment and awnings over aluminum-frame windows. The cypress shingles were taken off her sides and replaced by stucco. She slowly moved into the modern age, but remnants of the cypress shakes can still be seen today on the dormers of the third floor. Then during a series of different owners, hard times befell RIVERVIEW after the Cepecs sold her.

By the time Armond and Veronica Pasquale took charge of her in 1979, she was in a bad state of disrepair again. Remodeling, repairing, and modernizing her features over the course of many years have made her stand proud once again, but the comfortable, nostalgic, unique character of the building has not been sacrificed -- and the typical “Cracker Style” of Stuart’s early pioneering times has been preserved by the Pasquales.