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The CHAPMAN Residence of Mount Dora

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  Historic Lake County Homes  The CHAPMAN Residence of Mount Dora   152 East Third Avenue, Mount Dora, Florida A hundred and one years have passed since Jim and Eugenia Chapman moved into their new home at Third Avenue and Baker Street in downtown Mount Dora. For more than a century now, Chapman’s homeplace, perched atop an incline east of Donnelly Street, has been an eyewitness to an ever changing - yet ever alluring – Mount Dora . James Jefferson Chapman , born at Crawfordville, Georgia in 1866, first found his way to Florida as a young man in his twenties. He explored West Apopka (now Ferndale), Minneola on Lake Minneola, and then was off to Sanibel Island, all during the 1880s. Still uncertain of where he wanted to settle, Jim Chapman moved out West, to the State of Washington. For a time, he called Wenatchee home, then Seattle, but was not yet done searching. Chapman spent a few months digging for gold in Alaska’s Klondike before returning to Seattle where, in...
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The Clifford House - Eustis

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  The Clifford House (1911)   Eustis, Florida   C ompleted in 1911 , Clifford House proudly stands astride Lake Eustis as a memorial to one of the Great Lake Region’s earliest settlers – a merchant and town builder - a pioneer who refused to give up even in the aftermath of Florida's Great Freeze. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, the history attached to its application states the original owner, Guilford Clifford , had designed the house years earlier, but actual construction was delayed because of Florida’s Great Freeze of 1894-95. Many of Clifford’s fellow founders up and left the area following that freeze. Although the name Clifford may not top a list of first settlers of the Great Lake Region, his name rightfully belongs near the top. An 1883 Eustis history states Guilford D. Clifford was among the first group of pioneers to arrive at Lake Eustis in 1875 . As of that time only a handful of settlers could be found anywhere in the vi...
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Yancey - Westervelt Home at Umatilla

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  The Yancey-Westervelt Home at Umatilla (1922)     F amily, faith, civic-pride, Bulldog victories, bumper crops, and relentless pursuits by its owners to form a more prosperous Umatilla is merely part of the amazing history of this residence. For nearly half of the home’s 99 years of existence, two prominent Umatilla families have called this lakeside dwelling home. And while one might expect a citrus grower or two lived here in the past, which in fact a few did, the diverse talent of those who have called this house their home goes well beyond the growing of Umatilla’s original commodity. A much-loved Umatilla High School principal, teacher, and coach, for example, grew to adulthood in this house, and most certainly acquired his respect and love of community from his parents. The future educator’s father was a well-respected contractor, noted for changing Umatilla’s skyline, while the mother - she tirelessly devoted herself to church, civic and community functions...
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FORSYTH Villa of East Crooked Lake

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  Forsyth Villa of East Crooked Lake   “Atop the terraced green today The villa stands alone….”   Herbert Greenlee of Eustis, Florida, September 1945   T hat a residence is known too by a name all its own is not that uncommon. Homeowners have named their homeplaces throughout history. Presidents Washington and Jefferson, for example, selected Mount Vernon and Monticello as monikers for their homeplaces. A 19 th century Orange County city was named Pine Castle for the name of the Lake Conway residence of author and correspondent Will Wallace Harney. Then too there was Errol Ranch of Plymouth, named for the Scottish birthplace of John & Sarah (Carson) Pirie. Lake County too has its share of named homeplaces, but it is rare to encounter a residence such as Forsyth Villa , a historic residence having both a name and its very own poetic verse. “The villa, though, is not the same, There is a certain lack, And will be – until you proclaim, Th...
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The Cornelius Home at Mount Plymouth

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  The Cornelius House of Mount Plymouth George Martin Cornelius (1866 – 1946)   The “ Gingerbread House ”, as it is often called, is today an icon of Mount Plymouth . Designed and built by Chicago artist turned Orlando architect-builder Samuel Stoltz , the home was built in 1927 for George & Alice (Hooper) Cornelius . More formally known as The Cornelius , this architectural wonder served for a decade as the winter cottage for the Cornelius family of Indianapolis, Indiana, but also proudly stands today as testament to the enduring spirit of America’s incredible pioneers - especially the brave souls determined to tame the wilderness of central Florida.   Business Card of George M. Cornelius, Indianapolis, Indiana   A Rich Wayland The Cornelius home was built on land that four decades earlier had been part of the homestead of Robert B. Rich . A deed of 120 acres, a portion of which bordered Lake Plymouth of today, included land which became Fairw...
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