Significant Homes in the County

Bailey House Built by slave labor in 1854, this house is oldest extant dwelling Gainesville. An early county settler, Bailey was instrumental in creating the town of Gainesville and transferring the county seat here.

Bonnie Mount The oldest house in Melrose, it was built in 1877 by two Kentucky brothers as a one-story farmhouse. Remodeled a number of times, it was beautifully restored in 1986.

Baird House This three-story house with its striking mansard roof is one of the few remaining examples of the French Second Empire architectural style found in Florida. Built in 1885, it was a Baird family residence for 70 years. Restored in 1990, it became Gainesville's first bed and breakfast.

Bradley Family Home Mack and Cornelia parents had been brought as slaves from the Carolinas before the Civil War and they were the first generation in their respective families who were born free. These two would marry in the early 1890’s as many changes were about to hit their quiet railroad town. Mack and Cornelia would buy this piece of property in 1896 and a larger tract which expanded their land in 1899. Their family was growing too and by the 1900 Census, they had 3 children.

https://theforgottensouth.com/blog/abandoned-bradley-home-alachua-county

Bristow Family Farm Roxie and Samuel would marry in Lasker, NC in 1909 and in 1919, they were living in this home they had bought from a farming family. Within the next decade, their family would grow by four, but they would lose a son as well. A World War would begin and they would see the wagon path just beyond their door become a bustling highway. Their Nation would plummet into economic depression.

Roxie in the 1960s

For just a moment standing here in this spot, you can almost imagine what life might’ve been like 100 years ago. The winding dirt road wraps around the perimeter of the farm and out to a railroad path more than a century old and still in use today. The tree line to the left stands like a wall to shield the visions and commotion of a highway that didn’t exist when this home was built. The overgrowth hangs like a curtain in front of the old home, almost as if to protect a secret.

https://theforgottensouth.com/blog/abandoned-florida-bristow-house

Doig House This Italianate style home was built by James Doig in 1882. A pre-Civil War resident, Doig established a foundry and was an inventor. Restored and remodeled, the house has been adapted as an ophthalmologist's office and museum.

Gracy House/Gainesville Luther C. Gracy, a turpentine and lumber dealer, built this magnificent Colonial Revival mansion in 1906 with lumber from his own mills. 

Haile Plantation Historic Haile Homestead at Kanapaha Plantation - Gainesville. One of the few ante-bellum plantation homes remaining in Florida, it was built in 1850 by Thomas Haile as part of his cotton and rice plantation. The house contains pine beams more than 100 feet long.

www.flheritage.com 

www.hailehomestead.org

Herlong House Built in 1875 as a two-story frame house, it was remodeled in 1915 into a large Colonial Revival mansion with extensive walnut and oak paneling and inlaid floors. In the 1980s it was renovated and redesigned as Micanopy's first bed and breakfast inn.

Kayton Home 1880's A school was built, congregations were founded and in the early 1880’s, this home was built by one of the town’s first residents, W.H. Kayton.

https://theforgottensouth.com/blog/railroad-runs-through

Kelly-Neilson House Built in 1884 during Windsor's orange prosperity, this large mansion with its decorative shingles exemplifies the stick style of rural architecture. A National Register Site, it has been artfully renovated over the past 20 years.

Lassiter House: Built in Gainesville in 1885 by Wilburn Lassiter and his second wife, Fanny. The Southeast Historic District was the earliest "suburb" of Gainesville, lying just outside the town limits which, at the time, stopped at the Sweetwater Branch. This house and the neighboring Baird mansion were built on five acre parcels which dominated the block.Wilburn Lassiter was born in 1815 in Troy, North Carolina. Success in an early land lottery brought him to Gainesville, Florida to seek his fortune. The family would spend the summer in Gainesville, Georgia and enjoy the North Georgia mountains. They would then return to Gainesville, Florida in the colder months. He passed away in 1888 and is buried in Gainesvilles Evergreen Cemetery south of town with his second wife, Fanny. The Lassiter family sold the house to William Reuben Thomas in 1920. He converted it into two apartments, one on each floor, and made substantial modifications. The house was electrified (it was already plumbed for coal gas lighting fixtures), the stair railing and baluster were removed to create a hallway from the porch to the second floor apartment and primitive plumbing was installed. This change made it impossible to travel from the first floor to the second without going outside the house. The kitchen was eliminated in favor of creating an additional bedroom. The house is now the Laurel Oak Inn.

McKenzie House The largest and most elaborate of Gainesville's Victorian homes, its was built in 1895 and was the home for many prominent Gainesville families.

Moore Hotel 1880's As early as 1840, a small community had begun to form around a grist mill. Settlers came from the North, railroad tracks were laid and by 1881, a new town was incorporated.

Neal-Wood House One of Archer's picturesque Victorian mansions, it features a spacious porch and twin gazebos on either end. Restored in the 1990s, the house is now filled with antiques and Civil War artifacts. 

Rawlings House This traditional cracker cottage was the residence of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings from 1928-1953. Here she wrote most of her novels, including The Yearling. The house, a state historic site, is preserved as she lived in it.

Tigert House This imposing Colonial Revival mansion was the home for two University of Florida presidents and stands at the northern entrance into the Northeast Historic District.

Williams-Leroy House This Queen Anne mansion, built in 1900 by an Alachua banker and postmaster, features a three-story tower and intricate woodwork. The Williams family occupied the house for 90 years, and it has been remodeled into the Ivy Restaurant.