Villa Zorayda

Villa Zorayda. Est 1883. During America's Gilded Age (1877-1900), it was common for members c of America's upper class to travel abroad and bring back ideas and cultural influences from the exotic places they visited. Many Gilded Age mansions throughout the nation were designed to replicate European architecture. Here in St. Augustine, builder and architect Franklin W. Smith, factored in the settlement's Spanish heritage when he determined that the City was the perfect place for Moorish and Spanish Revival architecture., To build Villa Zorayda, Smith drew inspiration from ancient, poured concrete building construction which he studied on his extensive grand tours abroad. He mixed locally sourced coquina shell with sand and Portland cement to build his winter home one layer at a time. His method was not only resistant to fire, moisture, and insect damage, but one that would stand the test of time., Smith set an architectural precedent which shaped and preserved the City of St. Augustine's built environment that you see today. He also built the Casa Monica Hotel, just one block to the East, using his poured concrete construction. He instructed Henry Flagler's architects on its use in building the grand Ponce de Leon Hotel, Alcazar Hotel, Memorial Presbyterian Church, and Grace Methodist Church. With Smith's Villa Zorayda, concrete construction became the preferred building method., A Timeline of St. Augustine’s Gilded Age Architecture , 1883 , Villa Zorayda , Franklin W. Smith, 1885 , Kelly-O’Brian House , Henry O’Brian, 1886 , Lyons Building , Smith, 1887 , Casa Monica Hotel , Smith , Ponce De Leon Hotel , (now Flagler College) , Henry Flagler , Castle Warden , (now Ripley’s Believe-It-Or-Not Museum , William G. Warden , Grace Methodist Church , Flagler, 1888 , Horace Walker House , Smith , Carr House , (now Harry’s Seafood Bar and Grill) , Boroughs E. Carr , Cathedral Tower and Vaill Block , Flagler and Edward E. Vaill, 1889 , Alcazar Hotel , (now Lightner Museum) , Flagler , Memorial Presbyterian Church , Flagler

"I saw henceforth an age of stone for St. Augustine... instead of pitch pine wood." -Franklin W. Smith Architect and Builder of Vill Zorayda