1876 Oak Street / Dr. Walter Kennedy
The Dr. Walter Kennedy House was built during the Land Boom period in a subdivision created by one of Sarasota’s major developers, from designs by one of the city’s foremost architects.
In February, 1925, Owen Burns, through his Burns Realty Company, platted the Washington Park subdivision. Subsequent to platting the subdivision, he created Washington Park Estates, Inc. as a holding company for the development. In October, 1925, he announced plans to construct ten residences within Washington Park, the first three of which were to be designed by Dwight Baum. Public records indicate that the house at 1876 Oak Street remained under Burns’ Washington Estates, Inc.’s ownership until February, 1930. However, beginning in late 1926, the home was occupied by Henry Williford and his family.
Henry L. Williford came to Sarasota in 1926 from Chicago where he had practiced law for fifteen years and served as attorney for the Morris Packing Company and Albert Pick and Company, two large Chicago firms. As a prominent Sarasota lawyer, Williford was called in as one of the attorneys in the estate litigation of Sarasota resident and circus magnate, John Ringling, having served as personal attorney for Ringling until the time of Ringling’s death in 1936. Williford also served two terms as State Attorney of the 27th Judicial Circuit.
In about 1930, the Willifords purchased a home in Sapphire Shores Subdivision on the northern outskirts of Sarasota and vacated the Oak Street property. About that same time. Burns was experiencing financial difficulties, as were many following the collapse of the real estate market in Sarasota and the subsequent stock market crash. Burns’ holding corporation lost title to the property and, subsequently, it was purchased through a tax sale by John Buckbee of New York City. Although Buckbee did not occupy the house, he maintained the property as a-rental until 1936.
From c.1933-1936, the house was rented by Judge Paul Albritton and his family. Albritton was a descendant of one of the oldest and one of the most prominent families in Florida.
His father had come to the Sarasota area from Polk County with his family in 1900 and founded what continues to be the largest citrus grove operation in Sarasota County. After serving as a Navy officer and flight instructor in World War I, Paul Albritton graduated in 1922 from Stetson University Law School. In 1924 he was appointed Sarasota County Judge, and in 1927, Circuit Judge, the youngest Circuit Judge in Florida. He served in that capacity until 1935 when he resumed his private law practice in Sarasota. He also served as the Secretary of the Sarasota Realty Board during the 1920s. Judge Albritton continued to play an important role in both political and civic affairs until his death in 1946.
Both the Williford and the Albritton families are identified with other homes in Sarasota. The house at 1876 Oak Street has historically been identified through its association with its third occupant/second owner. Dr. Walter C. Kennedy.
As chairman of the publicity committee of the Sarasota Livestock Association, Dr. Kennedy was also a progressive cattleman. The pride of his ranch land east of Sarasota near the Ringling Brothers Circus winter quarters was Hercules 102, the prize Charbraise bull, which is believed to be represented in the medallion affected on the chimney (see photo).
ARCHITECTURAL OVERVIEW
The Dr. Walter C. Kennedy House is a well designed and executed example of the Mediterranean Revival Style of architecture, utilizing construction materials and techniques of the period. During the Florida Land Boom in Sarasota from c.1923-1926, this was the most prevalent style expressed in local architecture. It is an excellent example of the work of noted architect, Dwight James Baum. The house and the garage/servant’s quarters were nominated and placed on the City of Sarasota’s Historic Register in 1990.
The Dr. Walter C. Kennedy House and adjacent garage/servant’s quarters are located at 1876 Oak Street in the Washington Park subdivision of Sarasota, Florida. Construction was completed in 1926. The buildings are of hollow clay tile construction with clay tile wall foundations. The residence is two stories in height and has an irregular plan. The hip roof, combined with a cross gable roof extension on the front facade, is surfaced with terracotta barrel tile. The detached two story garage/servant’s quarters is rectangular in plan and has a flat roof. Both the house and garage structure are excellent examples of the Mediterranean Revival Style and are notable for their size and details.
SETTING
The Dr. Walter C. Kennedy House is located just southeast of the city’s commercial core. The house occupies approximately four and one-half lots, comprising just less than one-half acre. The subdivision in which the house is located contains several 1920s Mediterranean Revival style homes varying from small one story cottages to larger two story examples of which the Kennedy House is the largest. The remainder of the housing stock within the immediate area consists of Bungalows, early Ranch style homes, and frame and block duplexes dating from the 1930s to the 1970s. These residences were constructed as infill to the subdivision which was never completed following the end of the Florida Land Boom. The Kennedy House faces onto Oak Street, a major east/west traffic artery through the neighborhood. The Oak Street median featured towering Washingtonia Palms, planted at the time the subdivision was laid out in 1925 .
The rear yard of the property is enclosed to the north and east by a 6-foot stucco wall, accessed by two wrought iron garden gates. The yard contains a plethora of plantings with over 300 genuses, many original to the site. The former head botanist of Marie Selby Gardens lived across the street, and is thought to be the source of many of the exotic plantings – including the night blooming cereus on the palm in the right-of-way. The most dominant flora is a tremendous Cuban laurel dating from the time of the house’s construction and reputed to be one of the largest of the species remaining within the city limits. The tree’s expanse covers virtually all of the rear yard. A swimming pool with an adjacent screened lanai was installed in 1992 at the extreme rear of the site beyond the garage/servant’s quarters. in 2013, brick walkways were installed within the garden areas.
EXTERIOR DESCRIPTION
The principal facade of the Kennedy house faces north, onto Oak Street. This facade is asymmetrical with the main entry door located slightly off center. The solid oak batten entry door is recessed within a small exterior entry foyer, behind an arched masonry quoin surround. The entry foyer has original clay tile flooring. A decorative stone quatrefoil shaped bullseye with a single square four-light metal casement is centered above the door. Steps to the front entry porch have handmade Spanish clay tile risers and wrought iron railings on either side.
A porch, with three full-height stuccoed and screened arched openings, is east of the front entry. Stuccoed vents decorate the upper portion of the exterior of the parapet of the porch.
To the west of the front entry is an entry court surrounded by a chest high stuccoed wall. The vine-covered courtyard includes a brick walkway bordered by tropical plants.
On the second floor of the main facade, above the flat roof of the first floor screened porch, is an open patio or roof garden enclosed by a stucco knee wall. A single French door accesses this porch from the master bedroom of the house. At the west end of the second floor a tiled pent roof, supported by pecky cypress beams and brackets, shelters paired casement windows.
A large stuccoed brick chimney is the focal point of the east elevation of the house. The house retains the original paired eight light steel casement windows on all elevations. Canvas awnings on the windows are a recent addition.
A small service porch with a tiled shed roof is located on the rear (south) elevation of the house. Although the porch was originally screened, it appears to have been enclosed sometime in the late 1920s or early 1930s as indicated by the age of the 6/6 double hung sash windows. An entry door was located on the east wall of the porch projection.
A frame screened porch, resting on wooden posts, was added to the rear of the house in 1989, just west of the service porch. Paired French doors gave entry to the interior of the house from the porch. A kitchen extension with sliding glass doors replaced the screened porch in the late 1990s. A deck extension was added to the southwest corner of the building in 2015, bring the deck profile back to its original L-shaped wrap-around configuration.
A carport cover was added in 2019 to the Columbia Court parking area to protect vehicles from the enormous Cuban laurel’s semi-annual “berrypocalypse” (which usually occurs in May and September).
INTERIOR DESCRIPTION
All of the interior walls of the house are plaster and the floors are pine. Interior features include arched doorways, accentuated on both sides with quoining, between both the living and dining rooms and the interior entry hall. Walls in the living room are scored in random staggered block pattern. A stuccoed fireplace with engaged columns, a decorative tile surround, tile hearth and wood mantle is centered on the east interior wall of the living room. A French door opens from the living room to the front screened porch which feature an embossed terracotta tile floor.
A dogleg stair ascends to the second floor. Oak newel posts with round caps support the handrail at the top and bottom of the stairway. Outwork balusters, similar to porch railings, are utilized for balustrades.
GARAGE/SERVANT’S QUARTERS
The two story structure located southwest of the house originally provided parking for two cars on the first floor and servant’s or guest quarters on the second floor. In 1990, the entire interior first floor space was converted to an efficiency apartment, with paired French doors opening to the courtyard. The second floor, containing three rooms and a bath, is accessed by exterior stairs with a simple railing. A wood deck was added to extend off the top landing of the stairs in 1990. In 2012, a triptych living wall with planters and epiphytes was added below the second floor deck.
Kennedy, an optometrist, purchased the house at 1876 Oak Street in 1936 from the title holder, John Buckbee. Kennedy resided in Sarasota from 1924 until his death in 1978 during which time he was active and recognized for his participation in civic affairs in Sarasota. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Kennedy attended the Needles Institute of Optometry in Kansas City, Mo.
He was a member of the First United Methodist Church. Commonly referred to as “Mr. Rotary,” Kennedy was a charter member as well as President, Secretary, and District Governor of District 696 of the Sarasota Rotary Club. He was also an honorary life member of the Chamber of Commerce. As chairman of the publicity committee of the Sarasota Livestock Association, Dr. Kennedy was also a progressive cattleman and owned ranch land east of Sarasota. He also held honorary life memberships in local and statewide optometric associations, served as a City Commissioner from 1942 through 1945, and was active in many charitable organizations in Sarasota. He continued to reside in the home until 1946.
As chairman of the publicity committee of the Sarasota Livestock Association, Dr. Kennedy was also a progressive cattleman. The pride of his ranch land east of Sarasota near the Ringling Brothers Circus winter quarters was Hercules 102, the prize Charbraise bull, which is believed to be represented in the medallion affected on the chimney at 1876 Oak Street.
INTERVIEW WITH DR. KENNEDY
In 1976, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune interviewed Dr. Kennedy for his perspective on the growth of Sarasota….
QUESTION: You settled in Sarasota as a young man just out of optometry school. That was more than 50 years ago. What brought you to this area?
ANSWER: Well. I had come down here looking for prospective locations for setting up my practice In fact, there were about 20 cities on my list, and I was going to look at all of them before making a decision. I remember my father and I rode the Seaboard Railroad all night from Jacksonville, getting into Sarasota about 7 o’clock on the morning of June 11th in 1924. And from the time we stepped off that train, everybody we met was as enthusiastic and as friendly as they could be. The result was that we didn’t look at another town.
QUESTION: And you immediately set up practice here?
ANSWER:. First I went from here up to Sanford. where I took my state board examination I then learned within a couple of weeks that I had passed and would get my license. This was at the time that the Cummer Arcade was under construction. Of course, it was destroyed some time ago, but it was located on part of the ground where the United First Federal building now stands and back south toward the Methodist Church. It was there that I set up my office and. being the only optometrist in town, I was able to do a little better than make my actual expenses the very first month I was open. Fortunately. through some direction, I stayed out of real estate.
QUESTION: Oh yes. Florida’s and sales boom was peaking at about that time, wasn’t it?
ANSWER:. Yes. and I can’t tell you how many people were speculating in real estate They would buy a piece of property, putting down a small deposit, and before the abstract was completed they had said it for a substantial profit and had made small deposits on other pines of property. It was lust an endless chain Why, on several occasions I saw land on Main Street sold two and three times a day.
QUESTION: Bet then things went sour, right? And I suppose Sarasota didn’t fare and better than the rest of the state.
ANSWER: That’s right. Sarasota, in fact, was pretty badly hit by the slump. It was a time when a great many people had come here with the idea of getting rich quickly. They put everything they had. their life savings, into real estate. And many of them left here absolutely broke
QUESTION: Were there any notable exceptions?
ANSWER: Yes, there was one couple whom I recall very well and that was Mr and Mrs. Elmer Whittle. They owned and operated the old Belle Haven Inn down on Main Street where the Orange Bloeeom Hotel is. It was a three-story frame building that the Whittle s operated as a tourist hotel, a very nice place. Well, they sold it to the Adair Center Realty Co., out of Atlanta. for $500,000 and were smart enough to take the money and put it into government bonds. The Adair Company. however. tore down the inn and built what is now the Orange Blossom. They also built the Sarasota Terrace Hotel. But even though they were an old, established company, I think they also went broke as a result of the bust.
QUESTION: The downtown area you’re talking about was the hub of activity in those days, wasn’t it?
ANSWER: It certainly was, but a lot has changed in these 50 years. They were pitching horseshoes on Main Street in front of when McCrory’s store is, and burning trash on the lot where you now have the Palmer Bank. That was right after they had moved an old building off the Palmer site and they were clearing the lot in preparation for construction of the bank.
QUESTION:How about the rest of the area?
ANSWER: Well. you can take Orange Avenue as an example. it was a nine-foot brick paved street which ran to Bay Road, out near where Altman’s Chevrolet is located. And Harber Acres, it was a cow pasture. In fact, there was a barbed wire fence there along Orange and you could drive past and see rattlesnakes hanging from it, snakes that had been killed its the pasture.
QUESTION:Who were some of the key civic leaders of the time?
ANSWER: E.J. Bacon, who was the mayor, comes to mind, and Realtor E.A. Smith was quite active. But the key man, of course, was John Ringling. He was the one person whom I think was. deserving of the credit for putting Sarasota on the map.
QUESTION: And be was a patient of yours?
ANSWER: Yes, as was all the Ringling family except for Charles. who died just a short time before we came here. And I might add, my relationship with the family was always pleasant. I recall what John Ringling would come to my office – this was after he had has stroke – he would first call and make an appointment for late in the afternoon. Then he’d come in a Rolls Royce touring car. The chauffeur. after driving him around to the alley, would let the top back so Mr Ringting could stand and get his balance – be was a big man – then they’d come in the back door. I guess be was a little self-conscious after the stroke.
But, a lot of people seemed to have it in for him. as they do for many people who have money or are making money. The last work I did for him – when I had finished it – he said, “Now I want you to take the bill over to my office. Don’t mail it. Tell them I said to give you a check.” He said, “You know. there are some people after me.” But to this day I don’t know what be meant. He didn’t elaborate on it at all.
QUESTION: is was so years ago this month that the Sarasota Rotary Club was chartered, a chapter that you helped organize. What were some of the club’s earlier achievements?
ANSWER: The first project we started was the Sarasota Boys Band, which later became the Sarasota High School Band. That was in 1929 The club furnished money for the uniforms for those boys who couldn’t afford them, and one of our members, Voltaire Sturgis, conducted the band for several mouths. I believe it was October of that year that the band gave its first public performance which was at a meeting of our club. And, if you’ve never heard from north to south and east to west as far as music goes, well that was it. But he continued working with those boys and later suggested that the project be made a part of the local high school curriculum, which is what eventually happened.
Oh, and there have been many other projects: helping Happiness House at a time when it was near bankruptcy; rebuilding the operating room and refurbishing the kitchen at the hospital; contributing to the Salvation Army, Boy Scouts. Girl Scouts … It’s things of that nature that we’ve been able to accomplish.
QUESTION: As the only surviving charter member of the club have you bee a pleased with the way the community has developed?
ANSWER:Well, I was in love with Sarasota when I first came here, and I still am. But in my opinion the city has gotten too big. You can’t, however, keep a good thing from the public. So what are you going to do about it?
QUESTION: What concerns you most about the area’s growth?
ANSWER: My principal concern here is water and sewer problem , and the same throughout the whole state for that matter In fact. I personally feel there should be a moratorium on building here until more adequate facilities can be provided to take care of the growth. But I’m pretty well satisfied that it will never happen. You see, back in the Thirties people were saying to me what I’m saying to you now ” Sarasota’s too big. Don’t spend any more money on advertising to bring people in here. It’s just right as it is” Really, that’s the truth. As far back as that.
QUESTION: Looking back like this is apparently becoming an increasingly popular pastime, especially during this Bicentennial year. Do you think it’s healthy?
ANSWER:I think It has been helpful. And, the good Lord knows if something isn’t done to change the thinking and the pattern of growth – as well as the pattern of feeling toward authority– if something isn’t done to change that, God help us.