Trey Miller of Lindemann Electric Company works to install new lights inside the Tree House Caf on Cherry Street Friday afternoon. (Meredith Spencer The Vicksburg Post)

[10/17/04]A century-old Cherry Street home is being turned into a “destination” family restaurant by a local entrepreneur.

Holly Beck is turning the home that has housed railroad superintendents and a janitorial supply company into the Tree House Caf.

Beck, who runs an Internet-based pageant dress design company, plans to open in early January a facility that will house a 195-seat restaurant and a 90-seat private club.

The caf is across the street from Fisher Funeral Home.

Beck has also bought the pink house next door, which dates back to the early 1900s, and she is in negotiations to buy the vacant lot next to the pink house and turn it into a parking lot.

The pink house has pierced columns, which are unique to the city, Beck said.

She plans to restore the home and turn it into a private party and catering business, though those plans are tentative.

Inside the house that will be the Tree House Caf, there will be two establishments.

The Willows at Tree House Caf will be a private bar. Below will be the caf itself. It will feature custom-designed tables that allow guests to play games like mini-bumper cars and air hockey while they wait for their food. Two rooms to the side of a dance floor will house five pinball machines.

Several floor-to-ceiling trees will be in the middle of the multi-level dining room.

The focal point of the room will be a fog fountain designed by Beck.

“Nobody’s seen anything like it,” she said.

The idea, Beck said, is to give the restaurant a backyard feel.

“It’ll be like you were having a big backyard party in a huge treehouse,” she said.

The menu runs the gamut from Italian to Mexican to traditional American fare. Beck said one of the restaurant’s specialities will be soft drinks. In addition to Coke and Pepsi, many smaller brands will be available. Also, any soft drink can be “slushed,” she said.

Beck emphasized that noise control is a paramount concern.

The pinball machine rooms will be soundproofed and the dining room will have sound-absorbant tiles.

“We don’t want this to be Chuck-E-Cheese’s,” she said.

Beck said she was mindful of the home’s unique architectural history.

Illinois Central Railroad owned the house that will become the Tree House Caf for several years.

“That was the superintendent’s house,” said Nat Hovious, who investigated claims and accidents for the railroad.

“When they transferred a fellow to become supervisor of this division, that’s where he lived.”

While renovating the house, builders found a buzzer system that allowed a superintendent to be woken up without waking anyone else in the house, Beck said.

Builders also discovered that the house has a suspension system similar to a suspension bridge.

Hovious said Vicksburg was the only district that had a house for a supervisor.

“Everywhere else he had to find his own place,” he said.

After a brief period as a private home, the house was sold to Bluff’s Janitors’ Supply and Paper Co.

The house was vacant for two years before Beck bought it.

She hopes to make the restaurant a regional attraction, drawing tourist traffic in its own right.

“We’re hoping to bring some business from Jackson and Monroe to Vicksburg,” she said. “We hope to be good for everyone.”