we'd love to hear it. send me an e-mail or go to our website -- strangeinheritance.com [ country-rock music plays ] >> deep in the swamps of central florida... [ alligator growls ] >> we have a couple thousand alligators... [ alligator growls, hisses ] ...a couple hundred crocodiles. >> ...lurks one strange inheritance. >> my idea all along was that i could build something that i could pass down to my family. >> that was always in the back of your mind? >> always in the back of my mind. >> can we name this one jamie? >> absolutely. >> but passing down an enterprise like this can be treacherous. >> upon my father's passing, we might have to hit the road. >> it might be sold out from underneath us. >> it's risky business... in more ways than one. >> what happened to your finger? >> crocodile bit it off. [ woman vocalizing, theme music plays ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ]

[ bird caws ] [ progressive rock music plays ] >> i'm jamie colby, and today i am off the beaten path -- i mean way off the path in the swampy lowlands of south-central florida. these dense marshes once harbored seminole indians and runaway slaves and, more recently, alligator poachers. now they're home to an old-time florida family and a very strange inheritance. howdy. >> well, hi there. >> hi. i'm jamie. >> nice to meet you. >> but what's a nice girl like you doing in the middle of nowhere in central florida? >> how do you know i'm a nice girl? [ laughing ] oh, i shouldn't say that. i'm patty register, and my mom, marietta, passed away in 1996. she left me an inheritance with a lot of bite and with a lot of hoops to jump through. >> yes, patty inherited alligators from her mother. but if only it were that simple.

it rarely is with family businesses, and gatorama, the kind of old-fashioned roadside attraction you might've run across in florida 50 years ago, is more complicated than most. patty runs gatorama with her husband, allen. >> patty and i, we met when we were 14 years old in junior high school. it was kind of funny because i told my best friend, i said, "that's the girl that i'm gonna marry." >> their son ben is gatorama's official crocodilian wrangler. >> hi. how's everybody doing today? so, where's everybody from? tennessee. i'll count slow for you. >> ben can't resist bringing a reporter from new york into the show. >> come on up here, crocodile. come on. >> he's got that evil-eye thing going. come on. come on, come on. up, up, up, up. yeah! whoo-whoo! [ applause ] tourism is about half of gatorama's business. >> i could see a vest out of this. i think you need to get me one. >> [ chuckles ] >> the other half is farming gators for skins and meat.

>> the value of the skin would probably be around $600, maybe $650. >> this pile alone could be worth more than $5,000. [ country-folk music plays ] so, how do you hatch an enterprise like this? therein lies the tale of a strange inheritance, one that involves native floridians both four- and two-legged, starting with patty's dad, dave thielen. >> my dad was a person who was perfectly at home in the swamp. mom was more of a city girl. [ pop-rock music plays ] >> way back in the prehistoric era, circa 1970, dave returned to central florida after retiring from the army. he'd served 20 years, including a tour as an infantry commander in vietnam. he and marietta, his wife of 18 years, buy a nice house in haines city. dave tries a few different businesses -- selling worms, crop spraying. nothing really clicks until he

runs into an old swamp rat he'd known as a kid -- cecil clemons. >> he was one of the best trappers i've ever run into. he had 15 wives. >> 15? >> and i knew three of them. >> cecil had bulldozed a patch of swampland, erected a cheesy tourist attraction, and named it gatorama. >> if the truth were known, gatorama was just a front. >> a front? >> for the gator business. >> a front because, in 1967, alligators are listed as an endangered species. trapping or killing them becomes a federal crime. >> the hunters around here were happy to bring him little alligators for $3 and $4 apiece, and he was turning those right around and selling them on the black market for like $200, $300 apiece. >> by the mid '80s, cecil is getting on in years. he wants his old pal dave to

take gatorama off his hands. dave is intrigued, especially when he finds out that alligators are about to come off the endangered species list. gator farming will be a legal business. he offers cecil 300,000 bucks for the whole operation. old cecil snaps at the deal. your wife must've been thrilled when you told her you were gonna move here. >> oh, she -- [ chuckles ] she fought me tooth and toenail. [ slow country music plays ] >> and maybe she was right. >> when i came here, i thought this was a farm. it was no farm at all. the incubator was a little old box right back there. >> in the house? >> in the house. [ insects chirping ] there was roaches, rats, and even snakes running around in this building. >> marietta wants nothing to do with it. she'd rather live someplace with sidewalks. >> she wouldn't come down there. first of all, she was afraid.

and second of all, it was sort of beneath her dignity. [ laughs ] >> it took about six months for her to make the adjustment and move down here. >> and what did he tell her? >> "come on, marietta. we're going." [ chuckles ] >> the couple hope their three kids will get involved. >> my mom and dad always had the feeling that, if you weren't here on the farm, you weren't working. >> my idea all along was that i could build something that i could pass down to my family. >> that was always in the back of your mind? >> always in the back of my mind. >> oh, it's in the back of his mind, all right -- way back there. when it finally gets to the front of dave's mind, this strange inheritance muddies the water. >> i think, in that process, it opened up a lot of resentments. >> that's next. and later... what are you saying? "where's my mama?" >> he's saying, "mama." >> "where's my mama?" >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz

question. how many teeth does the typical alligator go through in a lifetime? 20 to 30, 200 to 300, or 2,000 to 3,000? the answer in a moment.

[ theme music plays ] [ bird caws ] >> so, how many teeth does the typical alligator lose in a lifetime? it's "c," 2,000 to 3,000. as teeth wear down, alligators

grow new ones. [ alligator snarls ] [ slow country music plays ] >> in 1986, retired army major dave thielen buys gatorama, a central florida tourist attraction and alligator farm. for dave, it's an exciting time to be in the gator game. they're about to come off the endangered species list, and demand is high. >> it was apparent after just a little bit of time that there was some money to be made here. >> after her initial reluctance, dave's wife, marietta, jumps in and brings with her a good head for business. she keeps the books and runs the tourist operation. >> oh, i couldn't have done it without her, couldn't have done it without her. >> together, they transform gatorama from a rundown eyesore into, well, an attractive attraction. [ birds singing ] by 1990, gatorama is making a profit, but it's a grueling life for a couple approaching their 60s, living far from friends and

family. did she ever describe to you what she felt like living here, doing this? >> being here on the register seven days a week, and she would hardly ever leave. >> did she feel trapped? >> no one trapped her. she allowed herself to be trapped here. >> dave needs some help, so he approaches his daughter patty and her husband, allen. patty's the only one of his kids interested in running the business. >> the idea was that we were gonna come work for a year, they would pick up and move back to haines city, and we would operate the business. >> the couple are ready for a change. patty's running a daycare business in haines city, and allen's a sonar operator on a nuclear sub. >> the last two years i was in the navy, i only saw my family for 60 days. when i left haines city, the look on ben's face just tore me apart. so patty and i made the decision that i would go ahead and get

out the navy. we would come down and go to work for her mom and dad. >> did it end up being what you thought it would be? >> no, it was totally different, out of our comfort zone. >> we were trying to get our feet wet and figure out exactly where our part was gonna be within the family structure, the business structure. >> and as allen discovers, wrangling these 600-pound, 10-foot carnivores is not without its hazards. what happened to your finger? >> crocodile bit it off. >> a crocodile bit it off? is that just a day at the office? >> that day, it was. [ both laugh ] >> working with patty's dad, allen learns the ins and outs of the gator business -- and to keep his fingers away from their mouths. >> we spend all of our time trying to make sure our alligators are happy, they're fed well, they have healthy skins. >> and remember dave's first incubator, a wooden crate in the living room? by 1994, son-in-law allen has

helped build a new one. it can handle up to 3,000 eggs at a time. [ baby alligator clucking ] >> so, jamie, you are in luck. we have some baby alligators that are hatching out. >> they've got to be cute. >> they are. want to put these on. >> i feel like a surgeon. >> just the slightest movement will cause them to move. >> oh, oh, oh! here comes one! >> yep. >> he's born! >> it's his birthday. >> hey, you. can we name this one jamie? >> absolutely. >> what are you saying? "where's my mama?" >> he's saying, "mama." >> "where's my mama?" by the mid '90s, patty and allen are putting in long hours, seven days a week, to make gatorama a success. they assume that patty's parents will eventually retire, leaving them to take over. but there are no concrete plans. [ dramatic music plays ] then, in august 1996, after a year of battling cancer, patty's

mom, marietta, dies at the age of 64. >> she even worked the last day that she was alive. >> when they buried her, they buried half of me right in the same grave with her. >> in his grief, dave walks away from gatorama, leaving day-to-day management to allen and patty. and here's where the inheritance part of this strange inheritance gets really complicated. marietta's 50% of gatorama passes to a trust, which dave controls. upon his death, their three children will each inherit an equal share. [ country music plays ] the arrangement leaves patty and allen in limbo. they're running the business, but have no say in what happens to it. >> i'm trying to figure out ao t be sold out from underneath us. >> allen and i knew that we had to do something to ensure that we would be able to carry on.

>> dad gets that, but he wonders if the fairest thing might be to sell gatorama to the highest bidder and set money aside for all three siblings equally, not make an inside deal with patty. >> my father was so concerned about being fair to my brother and my sister, even though they had not contributed to the farm very much. >> was that a tough one for you? >> i really pondered over it and struggled with it. >> dave decides he'll come up with what he thinks is a fair price for his empire -- no special deal -- and make an offer to patty and allen. what did dad tell you he wanted to buy it? >> he wanted a million dollars. >> where'd he come up with a million dollars? >> it was just something he pulled -- >> just out of the sky. >> that's next. >> here's another quiz question for you. how fast can alligators run on land -- about the speed of an olympic sprinter, a riding lawn

mower, or a kid on a tricycle? the answer in a moment. [bassist] two late nights in tucson.

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[ theme music plays ] [ bird caws ] >> so, how fast can an alligator run? the answer is "a." a gator could keep up with a sprinter, but only for short distances. [ country-folk music plays ] >> i see you have friends. >> yep, we have -- the alligators are over here to your right. and on the left over here is the only breeding colony of american crocodiles in the entire country. >> good business? >> everybody that wants a crocodile, they come to us, whether it's disney or busch gardens. >> after patty register's mother dies in 1996, she and her husband, allen, take the leading

role in running gatorama, a central florida tourist attraction and alligator farm owned by patty's family. >> allen and i had already spent 10 years here, and we were getting to the age that it would be very difficult to start another career. >> but at the time, patty shares only a half interest in gatorama with her brother and sister -- a strange inheritance from their mother. their father, dave thielen, owns the other half and still controls the business. >> allen and i knew that we had to do something to ensure that we would be able to carry on this business and farm. >> patty and allen feel the best solution is for them to buy the business from patty's father and siblings -- lock, stock, and gators. but at what price? whatever they do will affect the finances and feelings of the entire family. as i talk to families in the inheritances, i realize some things go really, really well

and sometimes not so well. what was the case with this inheritance? >> i think, in that process, it opened up a lot of resentments. >> it's the kind of conflict that happens often in family-owned businesses. could patty's siblings get more money for their inheritance if gatorama were simply sold to an outside buyer? and where would that leave patty and allen, who have been running the place? >> patty and i were concerned that, upon her father's passing, that it was gonna be sold out from underneath us. we felt like we needed to protect ourselves, and so we negotiated with her father for years and... >> and we didn't want to pay any more than it was worth. >> what did dad tell you he wanted to buy it? >> he wanted a million dollars. >> where'd he come up with a million dollars? >> it was just something he pulled -- >> just out of the sky. >> right. >> it's a tug-of-war. patty and allen's years of sweat equity at gatorama are at risk. >> we had a lot of difficulty

coming to an agreement, and finally his attorney suggested that we hire a appraiser to come out and appraise the business. >> so will an impartial opinion soothe hurt feelings and make everyone believe they're getting a fair shake? what do you hope happens to this place? >> well, i hope that it can continue on in the family. >> things became more difficult in our family relationships. >> of course, sometimes you just don't know how to let go. this gator, does it know i went to university of miami? it's looking at me. >> yeah, i think he likes you. >> that's next.

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[ theme music plays ] >> now back to "strange inheritance." >> in central florida, patty and allen register continue to work long hours at gatorama while they wait for a professional appraisal of patty's family's

strange inheritance. they hope the dollar figure will be low enough that they can afford to buy out the rest of the family and high enough so there's no blood in the water. the answer comes in... $600,000. it's a number they can work with. patty's father, dave thielen, makes the deal. >> it was relief because we felt that now we had a future and that we didn't have to worry that, upon my father's passing, we might have to hit the road. >> we do have a loan at the bank. and then we also have a mortgage with david. he's carrying the note. >> but according to patty, not everyone is happy. >> my sister thought that she wouldn't get a fair portion of the proceeds from my mom and dad's estate. but the bottom line is, is that we paid the appraised value for part of it, and we inherited

part of it. [ upbeat music plays ] >> patty and allen own gatorama and every beast on the lot. i doubt old cecil clemons, who started it back in the '50s, would recognize the place today. allen's renovated the incubator and installed solar heating. patty has added a hatching festival and keeps ben busy doing two gator shows a day. >> ooh! >> in a good year, they sell more than 10,000 pounds of prime gator meat. and strangely enough, alligator farming has been good for the gators still in the wild. >> the alligators have done extremely well. the populations have been steady or have increased. it's all part of the management program -- sustainable use. you know, like any other farmer, we're not gonna destroy the environment, because that's our livelihood. [ mid-tempo music plays ] >> with any luck, their son ben will be the next generation to see gatorama as his strange and slightly scary inheritance.

it's already paying him dividends. he found his wife here. >> i just got married four months ago. my wife actually walked through the doors of the gift shop. >> that's how you met? >> that's how we met. >> ben's wife, christina, now works with him. >> she loves it out here. she wouldn't want to do anything else. >> and before i leave, ben and christina have one last treat in store for me. >> so, me and my wife are gonna show you how to sit on an alligator. >> you like this? >> i've been wanting to do it since i was two years old. >> okay, we're gonna cover his eyes. and you're just gonna come right where that leaf is with this leg. step over. go ahead and put your knees in the dirt, and then you're gonna put your hands right here on the tape right there! oh. [ laughter ] >> ben. okay, this is not in my contract. it's looking at me. >> yeah, i think he likes you. >> yeah, right. you might say this is the type of guy who, once you get your hands on him, you don't want to

let go. you know, we're getting along. >> never look at... >> otherwise, you might end up like allen, literally giving him the finger. so, after all their hard work and stress, patty and allen have found their place in the sun -- even if it is inhabited by thousands of man-eating reptiles. allen told me that, when ben was just 16, he was working with a 6-footer when it clamped down on his arm. ben stayed calm. he did the right thing. he got that gator down on the ground, and he kept it there until others could pry the critter's jaws open. he had two rows of teeth marks on his arm, but luckily he still had his arm. allen says that's the moment he knew his boy was cut out for this kind of work. i'm jamie colby for "strange inheritance." thanks so much for watching. and remember, you can't take it with you. do you have a "strange inheritance" story you'd like to share with us?

we'd love to hear it. send me an e-mail or go to our website, strangeinheritance.com. >> a brilliant young architect designs this gem... >> tony! oh, my gosh, look at all this light! >> ...long before he's a legend of design. >> pietro belluschi. innovative architectural designs. they evoke the grandeur of this land. >> his kid becomes an architect, too. >> i didn't want to be "the son of." >> it's a blessing and a curse. >> and that's what i went through for 40 years. >> will he let his father's masterpiece face the wrecking ball? >> did your heart stop? >> absolutely, my heart stopped. >> or breathe new life into it after he's gone? >> before your dad died, did he tell you he was proud of you? [ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] [ thunder rumbles ]

[ bird caws ] >> i'm jamie colby, and today i'm headed into portland, oregon. i'm meeting a man whose strange inheritance is not a family heirloom found in an attic, but an entire house, a house that perfectly frames an age-old problem -- how does a son follow in his father's footsteps and still escape his shadow? >> my name is tony belluschi. i'm an architect, like my father pietro. this house is among the many things he designed in his illustrious career. i only figured out what it meant to both of us long after he was gone. >> tony's asked me to meet him here in downtown portland. >> hi, jamie. how are you? >> i usually meet people in their homes. why have you brought me here? >> i'd like to show you a building my father designed. >> that building is the 12-story equitable, one of america's first glass box towers,

built back in 1948. >> it became one of the most iconic buildings not only in portland, but in the country. >> tony's father pietro would go on to design and work on hundreds of landmark buildings, including new york's pan am building, the bank of america tower, and st. mary's cathedral in san francisco, new york's juilliard school of music, and the zion lutheran church here in portland. and like so many american success stories, this one begins with an immigrant determined to make the big time. a native of rome, pietro belluschi arrives in portland in 1925. three years later, at age 28, he's already the chief designer at the a.e. doyle architecture firm. >> he of course would work for 15 hours a day in order to prove himself. and he just kept getting raised and raised and raised.0s,

pietro begins designing homes around portland featuring locally sourced materials, such as spruce, fir, cedar, and stone. his twist on regional modern architecture -- structures that harmonize with their natural settings -- is instantly acclaimed. >> i was very much impressed by the woods and the wildness of the surroundings. >> he became almost like a pioneer that knew more about the local materials than the people who were there and took them for granted. >> in 1948, the same year pietro finishes the equitable building, he completes this house in portland for the well-to-do burkes family. >> how innovative was that design for the time architecturally? >> very innovative. the combination of the use of woods, the overhangs, woven wood ceilings,

cork floors, large floor-to-ceiling windows -- he was applauded in many magazines, including ones from italy. >> pietro considers the home his favorite residential work. soon enough, the talented architect, now a husband and father of two sons, is on the map. in 1951, m.i.t. in cambridge, massachusetts, appoints him its dean of architecture. around the same time, he begins grooming tony in the craft. >> he was my mentor, and therefore i got to know his architectural vocabulary and philosophy better than anyone. >> pietro retires from m.i.t. in 1965, but he's still in demand. boston's one financial center, the meyerhoff symphony hall in baltimore, and many more.

>> he became an international celebrity. >> do you remember feeling that your dad was special? >> i kind of picked that up when i was in college, and he was the commencement speaker. and i said, "whoa." >> it's a blessing and a curse. >> and that's what i went through for 40 years. >> and therein lie tony's mixed emotions over his strange inheritance. he becomes destined to receive it when his father, probably sitting at his boston drafting table, gets a long-distance call from portland. it's mrs. burkes, owner of that home he'd designed 25 years ago and never forgot. the widow tells pietro she's putting it up for sale. >> he flew out and agreed to buy it on that spot. >> that's how much it meant to him. >> absolutely. >> it's 1973 when pietro and his second wife, marjorie, return to his beloved oregon

to live in the house he designed as a young man. but his son tony, who's just starting his own architecture career, wants nothing to do with it or portland. >> i said, "i need my own space, and i don't want to be within a thousand-mile radius of my father and his practice. >> why not just ride his coattails? >> because i had to make it on my own first. i wanted to earn it myself. i didn't want to be "the son of." >> in portland or boston, he's pietro's kid, so tony settles in chicago. with the last name belluschi, in the second city he's more likely to be confused with this guy than his own father. over time, tony builds up an impressive portfolio -- cleveland's galleria at erieview in 1987, and the american airlines terminal at o'hare airport in 1988. >> did you eventually establish yourself separate and apart from your dad's legacy

and reputation? >> that's, uh, been a lifelong pursuit of mine. >> but the son will soon come to think about his famous dad in a new light. >> for once, i was able to make the decisions without his input. >> and a father finally reveals his true feelings to his son. >> how'd it make you feel? >> um, sad, because he couldn't say that in person. >> a lot of dads can't. >> i understand. >> that's next. >> but first, our "strange inheritance" quiz question. in addition to being an architect, frank lloyd wright was also well known in what other field? was it... the answer when we return. i'm in vests and as a vested investor in vests, i invest with e*trade, where investors can investigate and invest in vests... or not in vests.

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[ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] >> so... it's "a." wright was a very active japanese art dealer. during the great depression, he made more money from the art trade than he did as an architect. >> in the early 1990s, architect tony belluschi is still trying to avoid being eclipsed by the shadow of his father, internationally famed architect pietro belluschi. >> i see a lot of things full of meaning and full of poetry. >> pietro considers his finest residential accomplishment to be

here in portland, a home he designed in the '40s, purchased in the '70s, and cherished ever since. >> he loved the house. >> loved the house. absolutely, he did. >> and over the years, pietro and his son tony often discuss renovating it. >> he and i sat down and actually did some drawings together about how to add a second level onto this house. >> but the father/son project never materializes. son tony is too busy in chicago, expanding his portfolio, while pietro continues to receive high praise for his work, even into his 90s, including a national medal of the arts, bestowed by president george h.w. bush in 1991. >> pietro belluschi. innovative architectural designs. they evoke the grandeur of this land, particularly the pacific northwest. [ applause ]

>> in 1994, pietro passes away at the age of 94. his life's work includes over 1,000 buildings. his widow, second wife marjorie, tony's stepmom, continues to live in the architectural masterpiece in portland. but by the early 2000s, the home has fallen into considerable disrepair. that woven wood ceiling in the bedroom is coming apart. the roof is leaking. it's a mess. marjorie begs tony to come back to portland and fix it up. but portland, and being compared to his father, is exactly what tony has avoided for his entire adult life. >> i was always of the theory that you can never go home. >> tony agrees to fix the roof, but focuses mostly on his career, adding to his

impressive list of designs, in chicago and around the globe -- france, turkey, saudi arabia. after marjorie dies in 2009, tony and his brother peter inherit the house that meant so much to their father. but what to do with the old, neglected home? the brothers bring in some real estate agents for a market evaluation. >> were going through the house with several realtors, and one of them kind of said to me in a low tone, "you know, this house is a possible tear-down." >> did your heart stop? >> absolutely, my heart stopped. i looked at her in total disbelief, and in that moment i said, "over my dead body." >> you weren't gonna let it happen. >> absolutely not. >> so tony buys out his brother and dedicates himself to restoring their father's cherished home to its former glory. >> was it that special?

>> it was that special. and that's when i said, i must commit to it. >> but once word gets out, tony feels some unexpected heat. you might think local preservation types would rejoice that pietro belluschi's very own son was coming to the rescue of his work. not exactly. peggy moretti is executive director of restore oregon. >> there are a million things that can get mucked up when you tackle a historic renovation. you always worry about, good intentions don't always translate very well. >> tony's intention is to come up with a design that honors his late father but satisfies his own creative vision. it calls for some spiritual collaboration. >> i channeled him the entire time i was working on the house. what do i do, and what would he do? >> but guess what? after consulting with his father's spirit, tony recognizes who's boss.

>> and we had a meeting of the minds and did whatever i felt was the right -- for once, i was able to make the decisions without his input. >> by the spring of 2010, the restoration is in full swing. it's an exhausting process for both tony and his wife, marti. >> we lived and commuted from chicago. every two weeks i flew out here for two weeks and went back to chicago. >> in september 2012, after two long years and $935,000, the work is finally complete. >> i've put so much of my blood, sweat and tears into this house, probably more than he did to build the original house for the original client. >> coming up... >> oh, my gosh, look at all this light. >> i take the grand tour. and tony's career takes an unplanned turn. >> here's another quiz question for you. built in 1902, macy's flagship store in new york was the first

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[ wind howls ] >> so, macy's flagship store in new york was the first building with what architectural feature? it's "b," the escalator. and some of the old wooden ones are still in use. >> lots of kids inherit their parents' home, but architect tony belluschi doesn't just get dad's house. he gets a broken-down monument to northwest design built by his legendary father. by 2013, tony's restoration of pietro belluschi's

masterpiece is complete. >> every single square inch of this house has been refreshed, restored, or added onto. >> tony expands the home by more than 700 square feet, adding a bedroom, garage, art gallery, and he replaces his father's shed with a new guesthouse. but god is in the details. and today, i get to see the final product. >> oh, my goodness, this is a kitchen i could make magic in. >> well, this is a completely reborn kitchen. everything had to go. the original one from the '40s ended right here, was only this little alcove here. >> and of course tony rehabs that woven wood ceiling in the master bedroom. >> no way! that's real wood? >> this is real wood. >> [ gasps ] >> it's made up of cedar, spruce, and hemlock, and it was woven together

very carefully in place. >> i want this. >> tony's updates dovetail with the timeless elements conceived by his father 65 years before. >> the fireplace is magnificent. >> this was part of the original it's the same stone my father used from this stone wall out here, and so he tied the outdoors to the indoors. >> it's so beautifully done. well, it looks to me like you own portland. this is some view. >> this is why we call this the magic place. you never get tired of looking at this. >> i wouldn't. what would your dad say if he saw this place today? >> he would like it a lot better than the way it was when i inherited it. >> really? >> i don't know anybody who doesn't love this house. >> count peggy moretti among local preservationists no longer worried about what tony might do to his dad's house. >> pietro left a mark here

in the northwest. he's a very special legacy, and tony added his own mark on the place in a perfect kind of way. >> her group even honors tony with an award for restoration excellence. >> how proud are you to own this house? >> well, it's a dream come true in many respects. >> it's a gift to see it. >> well, thank you. >> so that's the end of my tour and of tony's "strange inheritance" story, right? not so fast. for tony, as it turns out, this was just the beginning. >> i didn't plan to do this. i wanted to have my own quiet life. >> next, the surprising twist tony never saw coming. >> what's your "strange inheritance" story? we'd love to tell it. send me an e-mail or go to our website...

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[ door creaks ] [ wind howls ] >> now back to "strange inheritance."

>> for years, tony belluschi commutes from his chicago home to portland to renovate his strange inheritance, this beloved architectural gem designed by his father, pietro. he ends up in a good place, the one he never expected. >> i've sold my practice in chicago, i've moved here. >> you think you'll ever decide, "i made a mistake"? >> absolutely 110% no. this, all of a sudden, is not my father's house. it's our house. and to me, it's something that has become part of us. we don't want to sell it, and it's not going to be on the market as long as i'm breathing air. >> he won't likely be hurting for work anytime soon. turns out the owners of other homes his dad designed are now calling him. >> it's very, very important to sort of protect the legacy of these homes.ship >> beginning with aric wood,

who lives in the first house tony's father ever designed, back in the late 1930s. this one, too, falls into disrepair. >> we restored it to the new, just like it was in 1938. >> tony really was able to channel his father's thinking about the house. i wake up every morning just amazed at the solace of the place. >> the phone doesn't stop ringing. >> people come to me thinking maybe i can help them with their project, help them restore a house. i didn't plan to do this coming back to portland. i wanted to have my own quiet life. but it doesn't exist here. >> what's the next step? where do you go from here? >> now our big project is the pietro belluschi resource center. we hope it'll become a place where people will come to portland to study pacific northwest mid-century modern. >> that is a real, professional way of further enhancing

the legacy of my father. >> such a paradox, this "strange inheritance" tale. an architect, the son of one of the profession's dazzling stars, keeps far away from the long shadows his father cast. for only once he makes his own name can he turn to what may be his life's most rewarding work -- preserving the legacy of the legend now departed. >> before your dad died, did he tell you he was proud of you? >> he did. in fact, i have a letter he wrote. he expressed himself in writing a way he couldn't in words. "dear tony, i don't think i've ever told you how proud i am of you, how pleased of your obvious qualities of spiritual awareness, of your sensitive attitude towards people. your loving father."

>> how'd it make you feel? >> very happy. very fulfilling. um, sad because he couldn't say that in person. >> a lot of dads can't. >> i understand. but i also loved him and understood him. the older i got, the more i realized how valuable a mentor he was to my life. >> pietro once declined to build in a wooded area near m.i.t. called the pines. asked why, he replied, "we could never design a building as beautiful as the trees." that inspired the tribute tony designed for his dad after he died -- this bench along a trail not far from the house that became tony's strange inheritance. check out the plaque. "we never could design a building as beautiful as the trees." i'm jamie colby.

thanks for watching "strange inheritance." and remember, you can't take it with you. >> a tv hitmaker loves animals. >> he turned that creativity on animal rights, and it was unbelievable. >> one dog he rescues is off-the-charts dangerous. >> if it's a scale from 1 to 10, columbo's a 12. >> when the hollywood owner dies, columbo becomes their strange -- and expensive -- inheritance. >> acupuncture for a dog? i know we're in los angeles, but really? [ dog growls ] >> is it all worth it? >> your kids could get hurt. you're willing to take the risk. >> we made a commitment to healing dogs and showing other families how to do it. >> welcome to the weird world of pet inheritance. >> so, are you leaving your home to the birds? [ bird squawks ]