Tucked away in the Jupiter Farms neighborhood is a scenic escape.
“There’s serenity, solitude, wilderness,” Rick Clegg said.
Home to the Loxahatchee River and a lot of greenery, Clegg the owner of the Jupiter Outdoor Center calls the area of Headwaters an eco-retreat.
“We needed something that we could up cycle,” he said.
SPECIAL COVERAGE: Bahamas After Dorian
So, he built a home made of shipping containers, a first for Palm Beach County.
“We’ve had over 600 families over five years, from 10 different countries stay here and experience the beautiful natural resources of Palm Beach County,” Clegg said.
On Sunday, he met his most thankful guests yet, a family of seven whose trip to the home wasn’t planned.
“It’s surreal,” Amico Sawyer said.
The family traveled to Palm Beach County from Marsh Harbour Island. They are survivors of Hurricane Dorian and when the Category Five storm destroyed the roof of their home, they only had one place to go.
“It was all of us in one car, together,” Cheray Clark recalled.
After the storm passed their home was unrecognizable.
“It didn’t look like life there,” Sawyer said.
They escaped the island and made it to a hotel in Palm Beach County.
“We (were in) a small place ... one room, and we still got on hurricane clothes,” he recalled.
Their story of survival made it to Clegg who has a sister company in Eleuthera.
“Through that process of bringing supplies to Eleuthera to the families that evacuated we got a phone call from somebody saying hey! Can you help a family out from the Bahamas,” Clegg said.
For Clegg it was an easy answer. “We love Bahamians,” he said. Giving the family a free and fresh start.
“Well this Florida so we are almost like cousins (laughs),” Sawyer told Clegg.
“Yeah, it seems that way one big happy family,” Clegg replied.
Clegg says he’s donating the home to the family for a few weeks in between his Airbnb bookings. He’s hoping other rental property owners will open their doors to people displaced by Hurricane Dorian.