A hoppy home in Florida bedecked with Budweiser
There aren’t 99 bottles of beer on these walls, but there are thousands upon thousands of cans.
Navy veteran Michael Amelotte spent 16 years lining the sides and ceilings of his Florida condo with empty cans of Budweiser.
The estate of Amelotte, who passed away this year, put his twobedroom condo in Lake Worth, Fla., on the market in August. The apartment went into contract Sept. 15 for more than its $100,000 asking price; the buyer is just waiting to be approved by the building’s association.
It helped that the 815-squarefoot home, now dubbed the “House of Budweiser,” comes with free brewskis for life. After it listed, Anheuser-Busch caught wind of the DIY project and offered to keep the potential buyer’s fridge stocked with beer. On one condition: They can’t touch any of the hoppy decor.
Amelotte, who died at 69 following a battle with cancer, loved a cold one, according to his longtime pal Kris Johnson, who is the representative of his estate.
“Mike drank Budweiser beer since the day he turned 21,” said Johnson, a retired pest control specialist who has also worked as a professional Santa Claus. “He just got a bug one day, and said, ‘You know, Kris, I’ve got so many cans in my house, I’m going to start wallpapering my house with Budweiser.’ And by God, he did!”
Originally from Buffalo, Amelotte served as a radio teletype decoder aboard an aircraft carrier before moving to Florida in the late 1970s. Amelotte began drinking Budweiser in memory of his father, Johnson said, who also preferred the King of Beers.
Amelotte purchased the corner unit at 4707 Lucerne Lakes Boulevard East in 1986 and began putting cans on the walls in about 1990 — completing the project sometime around 2006.
“Every can of beer on that wall was drunk in that house,” said Johnson, who met Amelotte at a Red Lobster, helped him find work at a golf course and was by his side when he died. “He did not go through any dumpster, because whenever somebody came over, they brought a case of beer.”
Johnson hopes the new owner will honor Amelotte’s memory.
“He was a wonderful man who would give you the shirt off his back,” Johnson said. “I miss him, and it’ll be a long time before I see another condo like he had.”
Amelotte even can-crafted crown molding, electrical outlets and air-conditioner vent covers.
“He spared no detail,” listing broker Jesse Kearney told The Post. “The pictures don’t do it justice. Everyone gasps when they see it.”
Despite their past as vessels for fermented liquid, the real estate agent added, “there is no smell” emanating from the cans.
“He would drink them, clean them out, let them dry and mount them,” said Kearney, of Kearney & Associates Realty, who marketed the property with partner Kristen Adams-Kearney. “You can actually see where Budweiser has switched over its branding through the years by walking from room to room. It’s impressive.”
Kearney’s listing suggested that the pad would be the perfect backdrop for a “YouTube beer show.”
“This is the most unique property we have ever sold,” Kearney said. “We sold properties here in Florida during the mortgage crisis. And we have been in places that were grow houses and wild scenarios like that. None of them compare to this.”