Thousands of people drive past 101 Lindsay Lane South every day. Being on the east side of Athens, a lot of subdivision growth may have brought newcomers to the area who have no idea of the long-standing history of the wooden building nestled in the corner of Athens’ first roundabout — no knowledge of the ways that Lake Ida was in some ways one of the first homegrown fast food joints in Athens.

The building that is now known as “Lake Ida Cafe and Fine Arts” is named after Ida McGlawn Leopard, a woman who expanded on the work of a Union Civil War soldier named John Hunt.

Hunt lived in an underground home that was “little more than a cellar with a roof and a rude chimney,” according to a News Courier article from April 2000. He dug a small lake to feed by a spring so he could supposedly eat fish instead of one of his hundreds of beloved chickens that he fed with “some perching on his shoulder and eating from his hand.”

Leopard’s children, including Margaret and another Ida, frequently visited the veteran, and when he tragically died Dec. 16, 1916, the family ended up building a home over Hunt’s underground abode, where the couple and seven children lived.

Leopard expanded the lake that Hunt had built, enough that it eventually overtook a barn that had been beside the lake, part of Lake View Stock Farms and what Tommy Johnson, Leopard’s great-grandson and co-owner of Lake Ida Comer Market, called “a hogmire” in a previous News Courier article.

After the farm closed, Margaret Leopard’s son, Tom Johnson, and wife, Sue, opened Lake Ida Restaurant in 1971. They also expanded the lake to 15 acres and officially named it Lake Ida.

The restaurant changed hands several times after the Johnsons opened it, likely due to financial issues.

“The Lake Ida property sold at public auction after President Ronald Reagan came into office and all Small Business Association loans were called in,” a previous article said.

One of those many owners was Lester T. Davis, who owned the business in 1978. He was said to have created a hospitable environment that featured “special lighting effects to further create a special atmosphere.”

In 1998, Tom and Sue’s three children, Tommy, Jan and Dinah, wanted their heritage back. The three had washed dishes at the restaurant during their college years and “weren’t overly interested in the business,” Tommy said. Once adults and after individual careers, the three joined forces to purchase the property back and open Lake Ida Comer Market together where they could serve “something different for Athens, a fast approach to good quality food — not further processed,” according to Tommy.

Assembling a pair of chefs from across the country, one from New York and an Athens native who had attended the California Culinary Institute, the menu was a diverse and unique option for Athenians.

In 2006, the restaurant and its furniture went up for auction, ending a 35-year history of the restaurant overlooking the lake. Since then, the building has been turned into an event space, and it now operates under its new name: Lake Ida Cafe and Fine Arts.

The “fine arts” part of this name runs deeper than the culinary arts the building was so well-known for. The Leopard-Johnson family line were artists in several areas. Ida Leopard and her sister, Susan McGlawn, were painters, and Ida’s great-granddaughters fell into a joint interior design business venture together, running Grayson Scott Interiors before purchasing back their business.

Whether someone is looking for art classes or a place to host their wedding, Lake Ida is a location steeped in a history of talent and family.