One of former President Bill Clinton's boyhood homes in Hot Springs was recently purchased by a local Realtor who intends to open up the historic house to tourists.
Chris Rix, who is currently restoring and revitalizing several historic properties around town, bought the house at 1011 Park Ave. around a month ago. He said that he has been looking at buying and saving the property for around a year.
"Driving by this house every day and seeing it just sit here die a little bit more every day and also see people down street-level, stopping to take a quick picture, worried they were going to get arrested or something was really bizarre to me," Rix said.
Rix said it will take a few months to get the building ready to be open. He said that this is not a restoration, but a stabilization. "So the property will be stabilized, new roof, new HVAC, all electrical updated. Everything that will keep this property alive. It's over 100 years old, so ... when I get done with it, there's zero reason this property won't live another, at least 70-80 years on my watch," Rix said.
"I have every intention to open it to tourists so they can actually tour the home," Rix said.