DOWAGIAC — Gary Weaver has owned the home at 208 W. Division St. for almost 30 years, but one memory of the house remains the most vivid ­— the memory of painting his front door.

Since 1999, the artist’s front door has always adorned his own rendition of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.” The painting has greeted cars as they drive by, walkers who take to the streets of downtown Dowagiac and the community, he said.

Now, a for sale sign sits in Weaver’s yard. He feels it is time for him to pass it on to the next owner, as he has now lived and worked in Tennessee for the past five years.

Weaver bought the house in the 1990s, he said. The home remains one of Dowagiac’s oldest brick homes and dates back to 1849, built in the Greek Revival style by Francis VanAntwerp for his father-in-law, Selah Henderson.

When Weaver bought the home, he had a fascination with “Mona Lisa” and wanted to incorporate her into his house. He considered painting the entire outside brick but instead opted for just the door.

“It was crazy how everybody reacted,” Weaver said. “People would stop to take pictures of themselves in front of it, and they would stop with their kids to take pictures.”

He knew of people who would purposely take Division Street just to get a view.

Weaver said he had been an artist since he could pick up a pencil and inherited his artistic talent from his mother.

“My mother, I believe, was talented,” he said. “She didn’t paint or draw, but she would make dolls.”

When Weaver was 11, he took a hard-boiled egg and drew a caricature of U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson. He sent the early art piece to the White House and received a letter back. The story is one of Weaver’s earliest artistic memories.

Now at 68, Weaver is confident in his artistic abilities and will draw anything in front of anyone, which lead him to “Mona Lisa,” he said.

The current “Mona Lisa” on the front door of Weaver’s house is actually his second rendition of the famous painting.

In 2011, Weaver’s home caught on fire, leaving the first “Mona Lisa” he had painted scorched. He was able to raise $40,000 for the home to be rebuilt after experiencing glitches with his insurance agency. By raising the money, he was able to start up construction after receiving a blight notice.

When city council issues blight notices, City Manager Kevin Anderson said, the goal is to encourage owners of the blighted property to begin the necessary steps to fix things.

“It just took the person who owned it a long time to get started after glitches with the insurance agency,” Anderson said of the incident. “Council started that process, but he came in and got the appropriate building permit and had a contractor on board to make the place livable.”

After the home’s rebuilding process started up, Weaver’s art did too.

While living with his parents on Green Street during construction, he worked on repainting “Mona Lisa,” this time, on a metal door inside. The updated version even had some Dowagiac flair, with a background of Dowagiac’s Mill Pond.

“I didn’t want the second one to be any less than the first one,” he said.

Weaver said the inside of the home still needs plumbing, electricity, heat and air conditioning before occupancy, but he is confident everything with the house will work out.

“I would love to somebody to respect the history if they live there,” Weaver said. “I lived there, and I thought it was the coolest place to live.”

Weaver hopes someone with a creative eye will see the value in the place. As far as the “Mona Lisa” door goes, Weaver hopes the new owner will keep her in the community.

“‘Mona Lisa’ has touched my heart of hearts,” Weaver said.