This story was originally published in the April/May 2014 edition of South Tampa Magazine, updated July 5, 2017. Joe Maddon is now the manager of the World Series-winning Chicago Cubs.
South Tampa Magazine first featured this 1917 home, formerly owned by George and Beth Howard, in our 2010 Bayshore edition. Since that time, Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon and his wife, Jaye, have moved in. Originally built for the Vega family, the four-bedroom Dutch colonial home was also owned by former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Rich McKay. Maddon moved to Bayshore in 2006 when he joined the then-Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
“I instantly fell in love with Bayshore,” he said.
The home at 1001 Bayshore Boulevard wasn’t his first pick when it came time to purchase a house with Jaye in 2012. But as soon as he stepped inside and saw that Coach McKay once owned the property, he was sold.
“I’ve lived in a lot of places — Pennsylvania, California, Colorado; Bayshore truly is a desirable place to live,” Joe said.
His favorite room is the upstairs office overlooking the bay.
“I like to think that Coach McKay, one of the greatest, most iconic coaches of all time, would sit up there and smoke a cigar and look out at Bayshore,” he said.
The Maddons said they haven’t had time to start any major remodeling projects, but the couple did enlist Mike Loomis of South Tampa’s Landscape Fusion to reimagine their backyard. Jaye said they wanted a new outdoor living space outfitted with a tiki hut, but Mike gave them that and much more. To meet the Architectural Review Commission’s standards, a cypress and cedar pavilion was built in lieu of the tiki hut. Mike also built in a refrigerator and flat screen television behind the bar. Landscape Fusion then updated the pottery and travertine and installed a blue glass fire pit. Jaye said the project was officially unveiled at Joe’s 60th birthday party during Gasparilla.
“Like many moments in life, finding Mike was rather serendipitous,” Joe said. “We knew we were in the market for a tiki hut, so we visited his store on Gandy [Boulevard] and liked his ideas. We love the work he’s done. Mike really followed through, and we’ve been lucky and pleased to work with him.”
Read our other article on great Tampa outdoor spaces and how to get one here.
