In 1886, John Eugene duBignon sold his beloved Jekyll Island to the famed millionaires club that so often frequented the coastal Georgia getaway.

His presence on the island, though, didn’t disappear with the contract. Some 125 years later, duBignon’s name lives on, stamped on the two-story cottage near the center of the island’s historic district.

But it has, admittedly, been a while since the Frenchman’s former home was touched up, said John Hunter, director of historic preservation for the Jekyll Island Authority.

“We did a major renovation of the cottage in 1985, so it is time for it to get a little love,” Hunter said.

While not a full renovation, the house will be getting several tweaks and updates. Planned for the six-week project are touch-ups to the exterior wood enhancements, repairs to windows, painting and replacement of shutters.

Interior labors will include repairs to plaster and the faux finishes, and conservation work to floor staining in the halls and parlors.

“This part of the project is particularly neat,” Hunter said. “We found a very interesting stained pattern carved into the floors and wood. When we did renovations 25 years ago, it had some termite damage and we didn’t do the pattern. Now we can go back and add that in.”

Rejuvenating the cottage has been on Hunter’s never-ending to-do list for some time. The cottage, one of two homes on the Jekyll Island museum tour, was one of the first to be built in the historic district and holds a rich history of island lore.

When first constructed, it emphasized the extreme wealth and luxury often associated with the island’s original tourists, complete with a sprawling landscape, steel gable roof, wrap-around lower porch and detailed brackets on the second floor porch.

“This house was often called the Superintendents Cottage,” Hunter said, referring to how the home was used by the Jekyll Island Club Hotel’s superintendent.

Later, it would be tagged The Club, serving as the resort spot when the hotel was overflowing.

“Everyone wanted to be here in this lovely, extravagant home,” Hunter said.

Being able to finally take the home back to its original state of beauty is a thrill made possible by efforts from both the authority and Friends of Jekyll Island, Hunter said.

The price tag for completing the project will be about $91,000, with a $40,000 grant from the Friends group, Hunter said. “The Friends of Jekyll has been very good to us over the years and this is yet another instance of that,” he said. “This is a very neat project. When it’s complete, the historic district will be even more enhanced and rich with beauty.”