Clinton’s Dennis Keefe is a man with a dream and, as he explains it, an odd hobby.

That hobby is his effort to almost singlehandedly restore one of South Whidbey’s oldest buildings, the 1914 Bush Point Store.

“I’ve always liked the building, wanted to restore it, now I have the time and the money to do it,” said Keefe, who is a remodeling contractor. “This is what I do in my spare time.”

Keefe bought the old building in 1990 after a friend told him it was on the market. He operated it as a convenience store during the summer months for a couple of years. During that time, he lived in the upstairs apartment.

“I loved living here,” he said. “The view is remarkable, and during high wind storms, I could feel the old building sway. I think the fact that it is so flexible is why it’s still standing today.”

But after a few years in business, Keefe closed the store in 1996 and left it to the elements.

In spite of that, the old structure is still remarkably solid, though a little dilapidated inside.

That’s good because the store has been raised up on blocks for months, waiting for the day last week when Keefe finished a new foundation. It will be set back down on its new legs soon, and Keefe will begin working on the siding and interior.

“When I am here, I can see what it once was,” he said. “I like the high ceilings — 12 feet — on the main floor and the original tongue-and-groove, old-growth fir floors, which are in very good shape.”

Keefe will re-side the building with 4-inch cedar bevel siding identical to the current siding, and will replace the old aluminum windows with wooden window frames.

He said he wants to convert the main floor into a community center available for events and weddings. The only modernization he plans is a new kitchen on the main floor.

Keefe said he expects to have the one bedroom, one bath apartment upstairs ready to be rented by summer. There will also be two single bedrooms with a shared bath available for daily or vacation rental.

In spite of all the work, Keefe doesn’t question his decision to purchase the store and the launch and boat trailer parking area next to it.

“I knew I had to buy it,” he said.

A few years ago, he sold the launch and the parking lot to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife for a future park. But he kept the store.

When he operated the store, Keefe sold a few grocery items and penny candy to summer people and fishermen. He also collected fees for the launch and rented boats and motors.

In its prime, the store was a full-fledged mercantile, offering everything from sacks of flour to dungarees and oil in 55-gallon drums. The store was built by Charles Farmer, whose son Warren is still a South Whidbey resident.

Keefe said the Bush Point Store was a fixture of island life in the old days.

“It served people on this end of the island, and there were fishing cabins here as well,” he said. “Bush Point was also the jumping off point for loggers headed to the peninsula by boat. So, this was their last supply stop before heading into the woods.”

Keefe, a Seattle native, spent his summers on South Whidbey. One of nine children, Keefe said school was just something he “had to get through” before summer vacation on Whidbey. His family’s cabin was in the Maxwelton Beach area.

Keefe’s soft spot for the old building is obvious.

“Everything around it is changing, houses have sprouted all over the hillside above Bush Point, the fishing cabins are long gone, but the store is still here,” he said. “To me, it is a reminder of the past, something to preserve and restore for the future. I want to retain the original flavor of the place.”