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Gingerbread & Blossoms
Originally built in 1907 to house cigar factory workers, this house has been lovingly rehabilitated. Its original charm lost after years of neglect, it now boasts new real wood siding and a new metal roof. A beautiful new crown of "gingerbread" adorns its front gable. Its screen doors, salvaged from another vintage house are ornamented with fancy replica Victorian hardware as well as more gingerbread.
It is available for rental on a year lease.
The Style- Folk Victorian
These houses, built for the working-class or middle-class, mimic other styles such as the Queen Anne- the house you picture when you think of a Victorian. They feature porches with large, turned columns and an L-shaped or gable-front plan. In the South, they were roofed in metal. (See example below.)
Prior to the Machine Age, craftsmen worked by hand with simple tools. Their products were made slowly and were priced beyond the reach of all but the very wealthy. Aided by machine, craftsmen could produce goods quickly and in abundance. With the coming of the railroad, these goods were transported widely. For the first time, the common man could own items of luxury, such as “gingerbread.”
Home builders often simply added trim and ornament to traditional folk houses. Older folk homes were often updated with new ornamentation, recently available everywhere thanks to pattern books and the mass production and sale of wood features.
The Gardens
As you approach the house, you are treated to a cottage garden of flowering, Florida-friendly plants, encircled by a white picket fence. Watered by a micro-irrigation system with an automatic timer, the gardens are filled with drought tolerant plants that take little care. All the plants are perennials, so every year they will become more lush and beautiful.
Plumbegos flank the sweet cottage garden. Delineating the property and setting it apart, they reflect the color of the house. Lining the fence are Porterweed, their dainty stems reaching for the sky; Euryops offering their sunny daisey-shaped faces for your approval; and Guara, with their delicate, butterfly, shaped flowers, blooming shyly.
Thyrallis stands against the porch providing a shower of yellow flowers for much of the year. At its feet are Vincas, providing showy color.
A Crape Myrtle peaks over the picket fence providing shade and trimming the house with delicate pink lace.
Each of these plants was chosen for its beauty, hardiness, its repeat blooming and easy care. The hummingbirds they attract are a bonus!
The back is planted with Perennial Peanut plant, a dark green ground cover with perky yellow flowers. You don't need to mow it and it can be walked on. Drought tolerant shrubbery lines the foundation.
For entertaining, remove the cars from the brick lined parking pad and place potted plants and patio furniture on it to create a charming patio. Tucked in between the patio and rear of the house is an intimate "secret garden," complete with a Meyer's Lemon tree.
(The patio is treated to protect it from staining but we require that you use protective mats under your vehicles for added protection. We will provide the mats.)
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