Green Gables (Melbourne, Florida)

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Green Gables
Green Gables (Melbourne, Florida) 003.jpg
Green Gables in 2014 prior to restoration
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Location1501 South Harbor City Boulevard, Melbourne, Florida
Coordinates 28°5′6″N80°36′22″W / 28.08500°N 80.60611°W / 28.08500; -80.60611
Architectural style Queen Anne
NRHP reference No. 16000269 [1]
Added to NRHPMay 18, 2016

Green Gables, also known as the Wells House, is a historic home at 1501 South Harbor City Boulevard in Melbourne, Florida, United States. The house fronts the Indian River. Local business man William T. Wells purchased the Strobah property and built the Green Gables in 1886 with his wife Nora Stanford Wells as a winter home. [2]

Green Gables is an example of Queen Anne style architecture, and it is believed to be the first home in the area with indoor plumbing and an indoor bathroom. [2] It is a two-story, six-bedroom house with an octagon-shaped porch. [3] On May 18, 2016, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. [4]

Green Gables was scheduled for demolition in 2015, but a group of local historians and community volunteers are working with the owners, fourth generation family members, to save the house due to its historical significance to the area. [2] In May 2018, the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation included the house on its "11 to save list". [3] The community needed $500,000 to salvage the house as of April 2020. [5] In July 2022 Green Gables was awarded a $500,000 Special Category Grant from the Division of Historic Resources from the State of Florida. On June 12, 2023, Ownership of Green Gables was transferred to the non-profit organization of Green Gables at Historic Riverview Village. [6]

William Twining Wells

Wells was from New Jersey and New York, and owned the Wells Rustless Iron Company. [2] Wells managed a pineapple plantation on the beach. [4] He also donated the land for a local park named Wells Park.

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Datzman, Ken. "Local organization works to purchase and preserve Green Gables, a home on the National Register of Historic Places; 1920s-themed fund-raiser set Nov. 5", Brevard Business News , West Melbourne, Florida, volume 34, number 42, 17 October 2016, pages 11 and 17.
  3. 1 2 Datzman, Ken. "Green Gables at Historic Riverview Village prevails in quest to preserve, restore Wells family home; awarded matching grant from the state for home purchase", Brevard Business News, West Melbourne, Florida, volume 40, number 37, 12 September 2022, pages 12 and 19.
  4. 1 2 Neale, Rick. "Gables Wins Designation", Florida Today , volume 51, number 114, 8 July 2016, pages 1A and 2A.
  5. ↑ Pallone, Greg. "Historic Melbourne home in danger of demolition", Spectrum News 13 , 28 April 2020.
  6. ↑ Neale, Rick. "Green Gables nonprofit finally buys Melbourne historic house after years of fundraising", Floridatoday.com , 13 June 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
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