It’s International Coffee Day. We hope you’re celebrating with a double espresso shot from Buona Caffé or a lavender latte from Rooted. Here in the Blanchard and Calhoun offices, we’re raising our mugs to Maxwell House. Not “good to the last drop” Maxwell House; Augusta’s Maxwell House, the international style high-rise apartment building we developed 70 years ago in the heart of the city. Named after our founder’s wife, Nina Maxwell Blanchard, the ten-story building stands at the corner of Greene and 10th streets and was a first for Augusta – one of the tallest structures in our downtown. Scores of people gathered daily to watch the ironworkers “flirt with death without an eye wink.” The apartment complex, designed by the pre-eminent architectural firm responsible for many of the buildings that form the skyline of downtown Columbia, was a particularly attractive address for young newlyweds in the 1950s and ‘60s. Much has changed over the past 70 years. What was once an architectural wonder is now much more humble. Taller structures have been constructed, and Maxwell House was converted to Section 8 housing in the early 2000s. We’re pleased that the building still has an important place in Augusta’s residential mix, now providing a haven for recovering substance abusers, the homeless, and special needs residents.