OLDEST -- Surviving Spanish Colonial Dwelling in Florida
N 29° 53.281 W 081° 18.598
17R E 470070 N 3306417
The González-Alvarez House, located in St. Augustine, Florida, USA, is the oldest surviving Spanish Colonial dwelling in Florida and has been labeled as "The Oldest House".
Waymark Code: WM3QC2
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 05/04/2008
Views: 53
From the St. Augustine Historical Society website
(visit link): "Our featured attraction, the González-Alvarez House is the oldest surviving Spanish Colonial dwelling in Florida. 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.