Mae Fasnacht: Historic Architecture

Lightner Museum

Visual Details:

In terms of shape and repetition, arches are visible around door frames, windows, and as recesses.
The grey concrete contrasts with other colors that are consistent around the exterior, such as yellow, terracotta, and brick red. Blues can also be seen in stained glass windows and awnings above some double doors.
The museum's exterior walls have a rough texture due to the poured concrete technique that was used in building the structure.

History of Lightner Museum:

Hotel Alcazar was commissioned by Henry Flagler who wanted to transform St. Augustine into a winter destination for wealthy people during America's Gilded Age

Built with poured concrete, red terracotta tiles, decorative moldings, courtyard fountains, and twin towers

North end: hotel rooms, luxury goods stores, and an interior courtyard with tropical plants
Central area contained baths
South end: the Casino - a four-story space with an indoor swimming pool, ballroom, and bowling alley
Past the Casino was a croquet lawn and tennis courts

Hotel Alcazar closed its doors following the winter season of 1931 as a result of the 1929 Wall Street Crash and the Depression

1947: Otto C. Lightner purchased the building, making it the permanent home for his eclectic collection of artwork and furnishings

Casa Monica Hotel

Visual Details:

The majority of the hotel's exterior is a very clean white with some areas of blue, yellow, and red hues. This same color theme carries over on the inside in richer shades.
Almost all windows placed around the building are in rectangular, square, and arched shapes. Cylindrical pillars frame the resort's name and draw the eye up the building.
The interior and exterior has smooth textures (walls, tiles).
The protruding details (balconies, pillars, carvings) and recesses create a sense of depth.

History of Casa Monica Hotel:

Henry Flagler sold the land to Franklin W. Smith
Smith began construction on the hotel immediately, using design principles from Moorish Revival and Spanish Baroque Revival architecture
Casa Monica Hotel opened on New Year's Day of 1888
Hotel was in serious financial trouble only four months in

Henry Flagler purchased the entire facility for $325,000 and renamed it Cordova Hotel

1902: Flagler connected the Hotel Alcazar to the Cordova Hotel (a.k.a. the Alcazar Annex) with a bridge

Following the Hotel Alcazar closing its doors and the Alcazar Annex architecture deteriorating, Flagler's bridge was torn down

Nearly six years spent on renovations to restore the building
May 1968: St. Johns County Courthouse opened (operated as courthouse for three decades)

February 1997: Richard Kessler purchased building for $1.2 million from the St. Johns County government
Kessler remodeled the structure, returning it to a resort hotel over the course of two years

Architect Howard W. Davis focused on saving the Moorish Revival style of the building
Winter of 1999: the Casa Monica Hotel opened (now the Casa Monica Resort & Spa)

Villa Zorayda

Visual Details:

Red, blue, and yellow are the prominent colors against the neutral walls made of concrete mixed with coquina shells.
The vertical lines of the bars over the ground level windows create a sense of depth and feeling of security. This is visually interesting because the viewer feels compelled to peer through the windows.
Carved details are visually interesting and they frame the windows and top of the building nicely.

History of Villa Zorayda:

Utilized Moorish Revival style of architecture inspired by the Alhambra Palace in Granada Spain

Smith used poured concrete construction method - mixed Portland cement with locally sourced crushed coquina

Villa Zorayda leased out and transformed into the Zorayda Club after 20 years as a residence

Zorayda Club - a restaurant and club where the most prominent guests dined, danced, and socialized

1913: the building and part of Smith's collection were sold to Abraham Mussallem
1920s: Zorayda Club became a gambling casino and speakeasy

By the late 1920s, Abraham and his wife, Olga, closed the club and made the building their family's residence
1933: the Mussallems opened it as the Villa Zorayda Museum

1960s: Abraham and Olga's sons, Eddy and Wally Mussallem, restored the museum and renamed it Zorayda Castle

2000: Zorayda Castle closed, undergoing an 8 year restoration financed by Eddy Mussallem
Eddy’s daughter, Marcia Mussallem Byles, and her husband, James Byles oversaw the restoration