The Fernandez-Llambias House was owned during the First Spanish Period when Florida was under Spanish Rule by Pedro Fernandez. Nobody actually knows the original date when the house was built but there is proof it was standing it 1763 the final years of the First Spanish occupation and sits near even an older house from the 1500s. So this is one of the oldest houses in St. Augustine. Jess Fish was responsible for this house after the Spanish Evacuation. 

The house having a very Mediterranean style was made out of Coquina with a tabby floor and had only one rectangular room which was quite considerably large. The house had changed hands during the British period many times and ended up in the possession of Nicholas Turnbull. If you do not know who Turnbull was we investigated his fort ruins and you can visit the previous portal to learn about how he came to be settling in New Smyrna eventually migrating to St. Augustine. 

During the second Spanish period from 1171 to 1821 a Spaniard named Juan Andreu Sr. resided here. He colonized in St. Augustine from New Smyrna when the colony failed. He was a native of one of the Minorcan islands called Mercadal until Florida was ceded to the United States and eventually sold to the Manucy family.

In 1838 a second floor was added which had two rooms and a balcony. Then in 1854 the Llambias purchased the house from the Manucys family and eventually in 1954 it was restored by Stuart Barnette who was an architect. Eventually the Historical Society and City took over the maintenance of the property in hopes to preserve such a wonderful historical structure. 

If you want to know more about the structure of the house the walls are made out of coquina stone then covered in stucco, the roof shingles are made out of clay slabs, the tabby floor is made out of a concrete composed of crushed oyster shells, sand and lime. The wood beams are composed of yellow pine. This truly is a masterpiece and some say that the Minorcans which migrated here in 1768 due to the fact that the colony in New Smyrna failed the Llambias house is now perhaps a symbol of there existence here at one time since many owners that lived here were Minorcan.

Today one can walk up a single land street where many old churches, inns, houses exist and find the Llambias house sitting in the dark with a plaque out front. The grounds have some interesting things like a few memorials, fountain, benches and a shrub entrance way. I believe they call the grounds St. Francis Park which is not to far from the oldest house on that block. Whether there is a series of ghost stories related with this house I do not know but they now have weddings here and with many old houses comes a haunt.

© By

Rick-AngelOfThyNight



llambiasfountain.jpg (35533 bytes)  llambiasplaque.jpg (51599 bytes)  llambiasstatue.jpg (29321 bytes)  parkbench.jpg (35046 bytes)