Off the coast of New Port Richey, wooden houses rise from the water, each privately owned. The first stilt houses were built in the late 1910s. According to fivay.org, there are only nine stilt houses out in the Gulf of Mexico.   

   AJ Misemer’s (‘23) family owns one of the nine stilt houses out in the Gulf. The family usually goes and stays all day. Sometimes they even spend the night. The family drives 15-minutes to get to their boat, which then is a 10-minute boat ride to the stilt house. 

   “[We try to go up] probably every other weekend,” Misemer said.  

  Mr. Howard Chittum (FAC) goes up and watches over his uncle’s stilt house, that was built sometime in the 1930s. 

“[We go] during the summer probably once or twice a week, and before it gets too cold, every other week,” Mr. Chittum said. 

   The Misemer family got the stilt house shortly after it was built in the 1940s, and call their house “camp,” because it’s original use was a fish camp. Now the use expands beyond fishing to include water sports. 

   “[We] just go out on the boat and fish, and wakeboard and all that stuff,” Misemer said.  

   When Mr. Chittum goes to his family’s stilt house, they have a couple of things to do before they can relax. 

   “We got to clean a little bit when you start, and there’s no electricity except for stuff that runs off batteries, so once you get everything settled, it’s just relax and eat,” Mr. Chittum said. 

   Misemer’s favorite memory is from a past summer.  

   “We stayed up there for a whole weekend, like overnight a few nights, and that was fun,” Misemer said.  

   Some of Mr. Chittum’s favorite memories include his family. 

   “Probably just pulling [my kids] on a tube, behind the boat. 

   Misemer and Mr. Chittum will continue to enjoy the stilt houses with friends and family, passing memories down