A unique piece of Tampa music and restaurant history is now for sale along the Hillsborough River. The longtime waterfront home of Skipper's Smokehouse co-owner Vince McGilvra, and and his partner Bridget, is currently on the market.
Vince stepped down from day-to-day management of the restaurant and venue in 2008, and would go on to spend much of his retirement traveling and curating his backyard garden. However, in 2019 he died from an unspecified illness, and Bridget passed away last November.
Located at 5406 Venetia Pl, the 2,748-square-foot home comes with four bedrooms and two bathrooms, as well as a wood fireplace, vaulted ceilings, a screened-in back porch, a pool and sauna, a little pink dock and 105-feet of waterfront access along the Hillsborough River.
Notably, the home also features an expansive nature-themed mural by local artist Caren Stevens of Art Inherited, whose art can be found at Skipper's, as well as high-end homes across Tampa Bay and even Dave Bautista's tattoo parlor DC Ink.
"I did that mural right after I worked on the Skipper's mural," said Stevens to Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. "We hit it off, and they went with whatever I wanted. The river told a story in itself, and I wanted to incorporate the outside into the inside of the home."
Coincidently, the home was originally built in 1975 for another famed Tampa Bay restaurateur, Harry Buseman, who at the time owned the Southeast's largest chain of Taco Bell locations.
"We called him 'Mr. Taco Bell' because he owned quite a bit of Taco Bells," said Bridget's sister Joy Becker. "So they bought it from him, and it was quite a unique house. They used to have really big parties here, all the Skippers group would come here for holiday parties."
Property records show that Buseman sold the home to McGilvra in 1990 for $175,000. The money for the downpayment, according to Skipper's owner/partner Cricket Larson, was lent to McGilvra from lifelong friend and co-owner Tom White.
"That place was a house of love ever since Bridget and Vince walked through those doors," said Larson. "I would venture to say they had the best times of their lives at that home."
Over the last 44 years (minus a 1-year pandemic-induced closure), Skipper’s has been home to generations of local music lovers. The stage—tucked under a canopy of oak trees that make up the “Skipperdome”—has hosted legendary acts like The Black Keys, Avett Brothers and Mofro, and has been featured on stations like the Travel Channel, Golf Network and CBS Sports.
The McGilvra house is currently asking $650,000, and the listing agent is Jennifer Messina of Keller Williams.
