The first house was built in 1926, in the boom years of St. Petersburg’s early development.  It was a smaller house than many of its grand neighbors, but even so, it was a two story beauty with rough stucco exterior, a great fireplace, original oak floors, and all the charm it needed to hold its own against its bigger, grander neighbors.  But, aside from being a bit smaller than its neighbors, there was another difference.  This house was a wood frame house with slats of wood lath nailed onto the framing and stucco applied over the wood lath.  Most of the neighboring houses were constructed of stucco over hollow tile.  And, as it turns out, the second method is a more stable construction method in the long term.

So, although the house was a great house and it had a good, long life, by the time it reached its 75th birthday in 2001, it was no longer a stable house.  Although many repairs had been done over the years, the aging process was unstoppable and the house was nearing the end.

Within a couple of years the house was sold to a developer who had originally hoped to revitalize the house and add more square footage to it, bringing it back to health.  But at each step along the way, new problems were found and it was finally determined that the house simply could not be saved.  Because Granada Terrace is such a beautiful neighborhood and it’s only a block from Coffee Pot Boulevard, the lot was valuable enough to allow the original home to be demolished and a new home constructed.  But the developer ran into an interesting obstacle – Granada Terrace is a Historic Preservation District, and that means that any significant change in the features or appearance of a house have to go through a process of review and approval by a board before they can be carried out – even changing the color of paint on the exterior walls requires approval.  So you can imagine that the idea of demolishing a house and building a new one was daunting.

Eventually, approval was given and a new house was constructed – a modern, energy efficient, solid, beautiful home with all the features one might desire in a new home.  And, in addition to all of that, the new house has something else that’s actually very unique and makes it even more special – because of the guidelines of the Historic Preservation District, the new house had to be constructed with an exterior that matched the ‘flavor’ and the ‘look and feel’ of the original 1926 house.  It did not have to look identical, but it had to have a similar look. 

The first photograph below is a shot of the original house that occupied the lot at 2408 Brevard Road Northeast.  The second photograph below is a shot of the new house, constructed in 2006 – 2007.

Without wasting any more words, I’ll leave it to you to see for yourself how nicely the architect and builders did…

2408 Brevard Rd NE Original (click for larger image)

2408 Brevard Rd NE 2006/2007 (click for larger image)

Hills of Roser Park

Stairway to a House on a Hill

St. Petersburg is a great place to live, and you can find just about any sort of diversion or entertainment that you might want. But what if you come from the north and you really miss having hills around you? Or maybe you’re a born and bred St. Petersburg native, but you’d love a change of terrain once in awhile?

You probably think you’re out of luck. Everybody knows that there are no hills in St. Petersburg, right?

Well, you might be surprised! In fact, I have friends who have lived here for their entire lives and they don’t know about our hills.

So, if you’d like a change of scenery, I’m going to tell you where to find it. You can do a little driving tour, you can park your car and take a walk, or you can even bring a blanket and a lunch and have a picnic on the side of a hill, right in the heart of St. Petersburg. This is truly a hidden St. Petersburg gem, and it’s one worth exploring!

Looking Down From Above Roser Park

House on a Hill

The place to go is Roser Park. It’s located directly behind All Children’s Hospital, and it’s bounded, roughly, by 6th Street South and Dr. ML King Street South (formerly 9th Street South) and by 7th Avenue South and 11th Avenue South. In addition to a beautiful public park with a creek running alongside, you’ll also see picturesque brick roads and stately early St. Petersburg homes, homes that were owned and occupied by some of St. Petersburg’s most prosperous residents in the early 1900′s. Built by Charles Martin Roser beginning in 1911, the Roser Park homes were actually St. Petersburg’s first ‘out of the city’ development, a sort of early 20th century suburb. For much more detail on Roser Park, check out the Historic Roser Park website.

But for an easy, present day treat, drive over to Roser Park and check it out. It’s a peaceful oasis of history and beauty only minutes away from anywhere in the city. I’ll do a post in the near future with more detail about this entire neighborhood, which is one of St. Petersburg’s six Historic Preservation Districts, but for now, I just want to show you the hills and get you excited enough to go and find this place!

(Please note: in order to see the true depth of the hills in these photos, click on any of the photos so that you can view a full-sized version of the photograph.)