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 following additional information is from a St. Augustine Record (
visit link) news article:
"The Fernandez-Llambias House, a National Historic Landmark, is one of the few residences built in the first Spanish period (1565-1763) that still stands in St. Augustine. We know that the building is at least 250 years old because it appears on a 1764 map with Pedro Fernandez listed as the owner. Fernandez left behind his residence when he and his family evacuated with St. Augustine’s other Spanish townspeople.
Menorcan families began living in the house in 1795 when Juan Andreu took possession, the fourth owner in four years. Thirty-odd years later, the family lost ownership in foreclosure in 1827.
In 1838, Jose and Pedro Manucy acquired the property and it would remain the property of a Menorcan family until 1919. In the 1870s, Antonica Llamibas and her sister, Ana, set out to create a beautiful garden. And they did — with a Pride of India tree, orange, guavas and banana trees, vegetables and a child’s outdoor playhouse. In 1893, “the tide waters of the Matanzas River and Maria Sanchez Creek met on St. Francis Street and inundated the lot for several days with salt water.” The garden was ruined.
The Carnegie Institution of Washington, D.C., became interested and active in historic preservation matters in St. Augustine in the late 1930s. In 1938, Carnegie allocated $10,000 for the purchase of the Llambias House, 80 percent of the price. The St. Augustine Historical Society contributed $2,100 to make the purchase a reality. Carnegie transferred the Llambias House to the city of St. Augustine to be the trustee-owner. Carnegie, at the same, time created an independent governing board responsible for and in control of the property. Ultimately, the governing board was redefined and reorganized to be the Historical Society, the organization with the care, control and the bills for the property.
A dramatic restoration project of the Llambias house began in 1952. Much of the house was taken apart, coquina blocks removed, re-installed and strengthened. Assessment of the building’s needs in 1952 included a note about “the damaged balcony so often hit by traffic.”
In 1967, an agreement between the Historical Society and the Altrusa Club made the club the overseer for hands-on care and recurring expenses of Llambias House."