At Home with Paul and Eileen Arsenault

Inside the storied walls of a historic Old Naples compound—home to four distinctive century-old cottages, now reimagined as the Banyan Arts Social and Pleasure Club—lush tropical foliage flourishes. Here, you’re transported to Old Florida, where past and present converge beneath the sweeping canopy of one of Naples’ oldest and largest banyan trees. Stewards of this distinct property for more than 40 years, Paul and Eileen Arsenault share a passion to preserve the rich history of Naples. “The unusual circumstance of having four cottages on this lot takes the property from being just a residence and makes it a compound that allows for a multidimensional living situation,” notes Paul. “We came into it after it had been a rental for decades; it evolved to a place where artists and writers naturally gathered. People come through, they stay, they create, they leave something behind. That’s what gives it its life.”

Paul is a renowned painter celebrated for his plein air and contemporary impressionist works that capture Southwest Florida. “For more than 50 years, I have tried to use my art to honor in particular the waterfront communities, heritage conservation, cultural diversity, and the indigenous, while working on humanitarian and environmental [issues] and climate change,” he expounds.

Paul’s path to Naples began in Canada. When a child, he moved to Hingham, Massachusetts, nestled on the south shore of Boston. “I grew up in a harbor town where you had your run of everything,” reflects Paul. “You didn’t think about ownership or boundaries. It just felt like it was all there to experience.” But this was a fleeting illusion; Paul learned quickly just how fast beauty can disappear. Still, this understanding taught him that painting is driven by something more urgent than aesthetics: the ephemeral nature of beauty.

As a graduate of the Art Institute of Boston, Paul settled in Naples in 1974 and has spent more than five decades documenting Florida’s evolving landscape. He first arrived in Fort Pierce. Here, he encountered A.E. “Beanie” Backus, the legendary landscape painter whose influence shaped an entire generation of Florida artists. “What he understood and what he passed on was that these places don’t last forever,” Paul explains. “If you’re going to paint them, you need to paint them now. You need to capture them while they still exist, while they still feel the way they do in that moment.”

This approach placed Paul in quiet dialogue with the legacy of the Florida Highwaymen, a group of self-taught African American painters who documented Florida’s disappearing wilderness from the 1950s through the 1980s. Working quickly, often via plein air, The Highwaymen captured scenes of swamps, rivers, palms, and coastal skies, not simply as picturesque landscapes but as records of a Florida that was rapidly being developed and transformed. Paul felt that same urgency. “What always struck me about those painters was how direct they were,” says Paul. “They weren’t overthinking it; they were out there capturing what they saw, working fast, responding to the light and the immediacy of it, and there was an honesty to that.”

Paul’s lifetime partner and wife, Eileen, arrived in Naples in 1982, representing one of the world’s leading wholesale dealers in antique maps and prints, a business that connected her daily to centuries of geography and storytelling. She grew up in Louisiana, crawfishing in the bayou and swimming in places that no longer exist. “There were forests and watering holes that are gone now,” she explains. “I remember when my mother had to take out a tree. I climbed it all the time, and I cried when it was gone. I think that stayed with me, that connection to trees and to places. It’s probably part of the reason why this house and property mean so much to me.” 

Eileen is a prolific conservationist and preservationist who is president of the Audubon Western Everglades and co-author of An Artful History of Naples and Collier County, a coffee table book featuring Paul’s paintings alongside vintage postcards and photographs that tell of the region’s most important figures, landmarks, and folklore. She also serves on myriad boards, including the Citizens for Preserving Naples, Collier County’s Historic & Archaeological Preservation Board, and the Southwest Florida Land Preservation Trust.

Eileen’s preservation efforts also extend into her home. During the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, loss became an opportunity to preserve. “I heard these boards being thrown into a dumpster and went to see what kind of wood it was. It was cypress, which is incredibly rare and durable. I spent hours pulling the boards out and removing the nails, so we could use them again. We repaired our kitchen cabinetry with these salvaged materials. It wasn’t just about rebuilding; it was about the continuation of life for those materials.”

Long before Paul and Eileen became caring stewards, the compound had already taken on a village-like character, shaped by its enduring architecture and passionate residents. First built in 1918, the property sits at the heart of Old Naples. Originally a three-story Dade County pine residence near the Old Naples Hotel (now the newly opened Olde Naples Hotel), it soon expanded into a multi-cottage compound for its original owner and his seven children. Over time, the property evolved into an informal artist colony, hosting writers, painters, and thinkers. Prominent figures such as Robert Frost and James Jones are said to have spent time here, with later creatives John Ruffin, Nat Reed, and Rebecca Wells visiting.

As much as the Arsenaults honor the past, they also cherish the present, beginning their day with slow mornings sitting on their back porch while watching the sun rise over their majestic Banyan tree. Paul’s special place is in front of his easel, which lies in his nearby studio cottage, while Eileen savors mindful moments on her upstairs porch practicing yoga. “The banyan tree is the most special thing; it is what anchors everything,” remarks Eileen. Together, their lives converge around a shared understanding that places like this do not belong to any one person. They are passed through, protected, and, if fortunate, preserved. 

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