A local couple who restores old homes in Tampa got a visit from the past after renovating a historic home on North Central Avenue.

  • Russ Versaggi, Leigh Wilson-Versaggi working on 117-year-old home
  • Couple received letter from relative of home's former resident, Norma Tina Russo
  • Russo, known as "Tampa's First Lady of Opera" lived in the house for 3 decades

Russ Versaggi and his wife Leigh Wilson-Versaggi concentrate on rescuing historic homes in Tampa.

“It’s interesting and it’s challenging," said Versaggi. "We really have a passion for that."

Their passion led them to the house at 2201 North Central Avenue. The home was built 117 years ago.

“When we first saw this house I was like, ‘Are you kidding me? Really?’ This was one of the worst in Tampa,” said Wilson-Versaggi.

The house at 2201 N. Central Avenue, as it looked decades ago (left) and how it looked when the Versaggis undertook its rescue. (Photos: Carol Olive, Russ Versaggi)

The couple had to strip the home down to the studs. They transformed the space, like they have many others. But they had no idea its historic significance until six months after the work was done.

The Versaggis received a letter in the mail from a woman named Carol Olive. Olive lived in that very home when she was five with her grandmother, who happened to be a Tampa Bay icon.

Olive’s grandmother, Norma Tina Russo, was known as “Tampa’s First Lady of Opera.” She lived in the home for three decades before her death.

Norma Tina Russo (Photo courtesy of Carol Olive)

Olive saw the renovated home and tracked down the Versaggi’s to thank them for helping to keep a fond memory alive.

“I wanted someone to know the memories we had in our house,” Olive said.

Olive also sent the Versaggis a CD full of Russo’s opera performances, which the couple says brought new insight into the home they rescued.

“It gave us shivers to know this was the woman who lived there," said Versaggi. "Her voice had been recorded and kept for us to hear it. It made us feel like she’s with us."

Russo was already a famous opera singer, performing for the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, before moving to her home in Tampa during the Great Depression. A statue was dedicated in her honor at Tampa’s Riverwalk late last year.

For a trip down memory lane, the Versaggis and Russo’s family met for the first time to take a tour of their old house.

They reminisced about Russo’s Italian cooking, and recalled which room she recorded her music and gave voice lessons in.

Olive also said celebrities such as Placido Domingo and Bob Hope stopped into town for the opera just for Russo.

The historic home survived several fires and stood the test of time. Now, thanks to one couple, this piece of Tampa history will always have a voice that will live on for years to come.