Old St Augustine
Homes from the 1700's and 1800's
Homes from the 1900's
As the Nations oldest
city St Augustine offers an incredible view of history. With
homes that date back to the 1720's the city provides an
opportunity to see what life was like 300 years ago.
The Fernandez-Llambias
House
Click Photo for
larger view
A historical marker in
front of the house provides the following information: "This
house was already extant in 1763, when Spain ceded Florida to
Great Britain. It was then a one-story, two-room shingle roofed
coquina stone structure owned by Pedro Fernandez. A British
owner added the loggia."
"In 1784 when the
Spanish returned, the Minorcan settlers brought to Florida by
the British stayed. Their descendants too remained in 1821 when
Florida became American. Two Minorcan brothers, Joseph and Peter
Antonio Manucy, owned the house in 1838, adding the second story
and the balcony. Dona Catalina Lambias, whose name the structure
bears, bought it in 1854 and she and her family owned it for 65
years."
"The Carnegie
Institution of Washington, aided by the St. Augustine Historical
Society, purchased the Llambias House in 1938 and presented it
in trust to the City. The structure was restored in 1952-54."
"The Altrusa Club was
named custodian of the property by the Board of Trustees in
1967. The house was designated a national historic landmark in
1970. The St. Augustine Historical Society purchased the
adjoining corner lot in 1973 to protect the scenic integrity of
the Fernandez-Llambias house." The house is now undergoing
some repairs.
The
Gonzalez-Alvarez House
The site has been occupied
since the 1600s and the present house dates to the early 1700s.
Since 1893 visitors have toured the house to see evidence of the
Spanish, British and American occupations of St. Augustine and
to learn how the residents lived. In 1970 the U.S. Department of
the Interior designated the house a National Historic Landmark."
The house is located at
14 St. Francis Street in St. Augustine. It is listed as circa
1727 on a plaque on the house but on the internet as circa 1723
(original portion of the house), 1775-1786, 1790. The structure
has a stone vernacular. The original one-story house (circa 1723
according to several internet sites) had coquina (broken coral
and shell) walls and floors of tabby (oyster shells mixed with
lime). A frame 2nd floor was added later. This house is a fine
example of the area's 18th-century vernacular architectural
evolution.
The de
Mesa-Sanchez House
The de Mesa-Sanchez
House, whose origins date to St. Augustine’s First Spanish
Period (1565-1763), is open to the public for guided tours. This
well-known structure, located at 43 St. George Street, offers a
window into life in St. Augustine’s earliest days as a United
States territory. A tour focuses on the architectural evolution
of a building that began as a single room home in the early
1700s and became a substantial two-story building by the 1830s.
The Tovar
House Click
Photos for larger view
The Tovar House was owned
by infantryman Jose Tovar in 1763. The original site and size of
the house remained unchanged during the British period when John
Johnson, a Scottish merchant lived here. After the Spanish
returned in 1784 Jose Coruna, a Canary Islander with his family,
and Tomas Caraballo, an assistant surgeon, occupied the house.
Geronimo Alvarez, who lived next door in the Gonzalez-Alvarez
House, purchased the property in 1791. It remained in his family
until 1871. A later occupant was Civil War General Martin D.
Hardin, USA. In one photo you can see an 8lb cannon ball still
stuck in the wall from a British man of war.
The streets of
Old St Augustine are narrow and many are "one way"
because only one car can fit on the street. These homes
are all South of King street as most residences to the
North where destroyed in fires in the late 1800's.
See the original New York Times article from March 29th,
1895
Click on Photos for
large view
These photos include homes from the 1700's and 1800's.
There may even be a few from the 1900's. But, this is a
photo tour so you will have a visual picture of Old St
Augustine.
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Showcase Realty
Jacksonville, FL |
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