Ribera House | |
 Ribera House, 2018 | |
  | |
| Location | 22 St. George St St. Augustine, Florida |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 29°54′54″N81°18′44″W / 29.91500°N 81.31222°W |
| Built | 1965 |
| Architectural style | Spanish Colonial |
| Part of | St. Augustine Town Plan Historic District (ID70000847) |
The Ribera House is located at 22 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a reconstruction of the home that originally stood on this site during the First Spanish Period (1565-1764) of St. Augustine.
It is unknown when the Ribera House was first built. Juan de Rivera was listed as the owner of the property in a 1764 Spanish map. [1] He was a native Tolomato Indian and an artilleryman at the Castillo de San Marcos. He died in Cuba in 1772, and the original structure was torn down circa 1777.
The Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board purchased the Parks Hotel in 1963 and demolished it in 1964 to reconstruct the Ribera House, which was completed in 1965. [2] An old coquina wall had been found under a sidewalk in front of the Parks Hotel. The wall was twenty-three inches thick, thicker than walls of average coquina structures built during the First Spanish Period. [3] Archaeological work was completed at the site by eight students from Florida State University under the direction of Dr. Hale Smith, director of anthropology at FSU, and Robert Steinbach, the archaeologist for the Preservation Commission. The combination of Spanish records and the archaeological records in the 1960s allowed the Preservation Commission to reconstruct the Ribera House with 90% accuracy, said Early Newton, executive director of the Commission. [3]
Funds for the project came from the Commission's private foundation, St. Augustine Restoration Foundation, Inc, as well as from donations by Winn-Dixie, [4] Florida Power & Light, [5] and Lawrence Lewis, one of the founders of Flagler College. [6] The house was reconstructed on the original foundations discovered during archaeological digs. It is built of coquina, a type of limestone formed by compacted seashells. It operated as the orientation center of San Agustín Antiguo, the Preservation Board’s 18th century museum village. The house was interpreted as a representation of a wealthy St. Augustine family.
The Ribera House Garden became the first formal garden in the restored downtown area. There was a dedication ceremony to open the garden in early May 1968. The president of the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc., Carroll O. Griffin, presided over the ceremony. A committee appointed by the past president of the Federation of Garden Clubs, a Mrs. Blanchard, planned the garden itself. The garden held plants of the variety that were known to have existed in colonial St. Augustine. [7]
Today the Ribera House is a retail store managed on behalf of the state of Florida by the University of Florida Historic St. Augustine. [8] The adjacent garden is currently being restored with new landscaping and historical interpretation of the site; it will be opened to the public in 2019. [9]
Coquina is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of mollusks, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. The term coquina comes from the Spanish word for "cockle" and "shellfish".
The St. Augustine Light Station is a privately maintained aid to navigation and an active, working lighthouse in St. Augustine, Florida. The current lighthouse stands at the north end of Anastasia Island and was built between 1871 and 1874. The tower is the second lighthouse tower in St. Augustine, the first being lit officially by the American territorial government in May 1824 as Florida's first lighthouse. However, both the Spanish and the British governments operated a major aid to navigation here including a series of wooden watch towers and beacons dating from 1565.
Ximenez-Fatio House Museum is one of the best-preserved and most authentic Second Spanish Period (1783-1821) residential buildings in St. Augustine, Florida. In 1973, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was designated a Florida Heritage Landmark in 2012.
Government House, also known as Governor's House, is located at 48 King Street in St. Augustine, Florida, adjacent to the Plaza de la Constitución. The building, constructed of coquina, served as the governor's official residence from c. 1710 during the First Spanish Period (1565–1763), throughout the British Period (1763–1784), and until 1812 in the Second Spanish Period (1784–1821). Governor Gonzalo Méndez de Canzo was the first governor to build his residence on the present Government House site in 1598.
The Oliveros House is located at 59 St. George Street, St. Augustine, Florida. It was built of coquina during the Second Spanish Period in Florida (1565-1763). Today it is a reconstructed building, standing on original foundations which were unearthed during archaeological excavations.
The Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board (HSAPB) was a state agency in Florida that participated in the restoration and preservation of historic buildings in St. Augustine, Florida from 1959 to 1997. Created in 1959 by Governor LeRoy Collins, the agency acquired, restored, and preserved historic structures in St. Augustine until its abolishment by the State of Florida in June 1997.
The Gallegos House is located at 21 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a reconstructed property demonstrating a typical home of Florida's First Spanish Period (1565-1764).
The Gonzáles House and the De Hita Houses are located at 33 and 35 St. George Street, St. Augustine, Florida. Both houses are reconstructions of First Spanish Period (1565-1763) homes built on their original foundations.
The Triay House is a historic property located at 31 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a reconstruction of the First Spanish Period structure that stood on the site.
The Arrivas House is located at 46 St. George Street, St. Augustine, Florida. It was the first completed restoration project of the Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board (HSAPB), and was named after early owner Don Raimundo de Arrivas.
The Florida Heritage House is located at 1 Aviles Street, or 11 King Street, in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a reconstruction of a late Spanish colonial-style house built in the 19th century.
The Gómez House, located at 27 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida, is a reconstruction of a simple wooden house dating back to Florida’s First Spanish Period (1565-1763).
The De Mesa-Sánchez House is located at 23 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a restoration of a home dating back to East Florida's First Spanish Period.
The Marin-Hassett House is located at 97 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It is reconstructed on its foundations that date to St. Augustine's First Spanish Period.
The Rodríguez House is located at 58 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a reconstructed structure where there was once a tabby house during Florida's First Spanish Period (1565-1763). It is part of the St. Augustine Town Plan Historic District.
The Joaneda House is located at 57 Treasury Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It was restored to be an example of a Second Spanish Period (1784-1821) residence. It is one of the oldest buildings in Florida.
The Salcedo House and Kitchen are located at 42 and 42 1/2 St. George Street, in St. Augustine, Florida. They are reconstructions of 18th century structures that stood on these sites in St. Augustine's First Spanish Period (1565–1763).
The Hispanic Garden is a garden in St. Augustine, Florida owned and maintained by the St. Augustine Foundation, Inc. It is closed to the public and is only opened for special city events,.
Elizabeth Towers (1899–1985) was an American philanthropist and socialite known for her dedication to historic preservation in Northeast Florida.
The Casa del Hidalgo is located at 35 Hypolita Street, at the southeast intersection of Hypolita and St. George Streets in downtown St. Augustine, Florida. It was constructed in 1965 and housed the Spanish government's official exhibition and cultural center.