The Llambias House (also known as the Fernandez-Llambias House) is a historic house located at 31 Saint Francis Street in
St. Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afri ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
. Built sometime before 1763, it is one of the few houses in Florida to survive from the first period of
Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida ( es, La Florida) was the first major European land claim and attempted settlement in North America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, ...
. It was designated a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
on April 15, 1970.
The house is now managed by the St. Augustine Historical Society as an event venue.
Description and history
The Llambias House is located in a residential area south of downtown St. Augustine, on the south side of Saint Francis Street between Charlotte and St. George Streets. It is a two-story structure, built mainly out of plastered
coquina
Coquina () is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of the shells of mollusks, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. The term ''coquina'' ...
limestone and covered by a dormered hip roof. The street-facing facade has two windows on the ground floor, and an overhanging wood-frame balcony on the second floor, with symmetrically placed entrances at the center flanked by windows on the outside. The property includes a kitchen located in an outbuilding, which is also built of coquina.
The house's initial construction date is not known. When Florida was turned over to Great Britain by the Spanish in 1763, this house, then a single-story structure, was already standing. That structure's plan is a common variant of the so-called "St. Augustine plan", a house design that the Spanish developed to deal with Florida's heat and humidity. A typical house of this plan has an open
loggia
In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...
chamber at one end, whereas this house has a wood-frame veranda instead. The building was enlarged in 1777-78 Juan Andreu, who added the second floor, and installed windows into previously unglazed window openings. The house was acquired by Catalinas Llambias in 1854, in whose family it remained until 1919. It was given to the city in 1954, at which time it underwent a major restoration.
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See also
* González–Alvarez House
*List of National Historic Landmarks in Florida
The National Historic Landmarks in Florida are representations of a broad sweep of history from Pre-Columbian times, through the Second Seminole War and Civil War, and the Space Age. There are 47 National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) in Florida,. wh ...
*
* González-Jones House
References
External links
Llambias House websiteFlorida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
St. Johns County listings
a
Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
Llambias House
Famous Floridians of St. AugustineNational Historic Landmarks program
*
Gallery
File:St Aug NHL Llambias02.jpg, View from street
File:St Aug NHL Llambias sign01.jpg, Sign outside
File:FLLlambias2.jpg, Courtyard view
File:FLLlambias1.jpg, View from street
{{National Register of Historic Places in Florida
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida
National Historic Landmarks in Florida
National Register of Historic Places in St. Johns County, Florida
Buildings and structures in St. Augustine, Florida
Houses in St. Johns County, Florida
Historic American Buildings Survey in Florida