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STATE OF FLORIDA
1 partm$nt of natr
DIVISION OF ARCHIVES, HISTORY
AND RECORDS MANAGEMENT
Bureau of Historic Preservation
HISTORIC SITES INVENTORY
County St. Johns
Entry No. Date 3-27-73
1. NAME
COMMON:
The O'Reilly House
AND/OR HISTORIC:
House of Don Lorenzo de Leon (Puente Map, 1763: Sq. "C" No. 266)
[2. LOCATION
STREET AND NUMBER: *
131 Aviles Street
CITY OR TOWN:
St. Augustine
STATE CODE COUNTY: CODE
Florida L67- St. Johns 20
3. CLASSIFICATION
CATEGORY ACCESSIBLE
(Check One) OWNERSHIP STATUS ACCESPUBLIC
E District ( Building E Public Public Acquisition: 0 Occupied Yes:
f Site E Structure g Private D In Process 0 Unoccupied [ Restricted
F Object D Both p Being Considered r Preservation work E Unrestricted
in progress O No
PRESENT USE (Check One or More as Appropriate)
E Agricultural E Government 0 Park [ Transportation E Comments
O Commercial O Industrial O Private Residence O Other (Specity) Will open
E: Educational D Military g Religious to public,
O Entertainment 6 Museum O Scientific ept., "73.
14. OWNER OF PROPERTY
L NE '" 5 NAME:
Sisters of St. Joseph, Inc.
STREET AND NUMBER:
2l1 St. George Street
CITY OR TOWN: STATE: CODE
St. Augustine Florida 320oU
5. LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION
COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC:
St. Johns County Courthouse
STREET AND NUMBER:
CITY OR TOWN: STATE CODE
St. Augustine Florida 3208h
6. REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS
TITLE OF SURVEY:
H.A.B.S.
DATE OF SURVEY. .1yO ', Federal O State O County ]j Local
DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY hE-t.,r
I Library of Congress
:IREET AND NUMBER:
CITY OR TOWN: STATE: CODE
Washington, D.C.
DS-HP-101
1-23.70
L7. DESCRIPTION
(Check One)
CONDITION Excellent [ Good O Fair E Deteriorated El Ruins O Unexposed
(Check One) (Check One)
in ig Alte red 0 Unaltered [] Moved Original Site
DESCRIBE THE PRESENT A D ORIGINAI (if known) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The O'Reilly House is 40'-9" x 30'-2% horizontally, and 31'-0'* vertical-
ly from finish grade to ridge line. It has two stories plus a large attic.
It was probably enlarged during the British occupancy (1763-83) since chim-
neys were unknown in the houses of the first Spanish period (1565-1763).
Both the ground and second floors each consist of three rooms and a stair
hall. The exterior walls and interior ground floor partitions are well con-
structed of coquina stone. The center wall, ground floor, east side, is
made of "tabby,"t and is probably part of an earlier, smaller house, before
the use of coquina in the 1700's.
There is a single chimney of coquina on the west exterior wall. This
chimney admits fireplaces into its east face on both the ground and second
story levels.
There are five entrances on the ground floor: two on the north, two on
the east and one on the south. The eastern portion of the house consists of
a large room on the north-east and the stair hall on the south-east. The m
western portion consists of a small room on the south-west and one other m
room on the north-west. There is a fireplace on the west wall of the latte _
On the second floor there is a single large room across the east end of z
the house. The west end of the house consists of a small room on the south- m
west and a larger room on the north-west. The stair hall lies between the
south-west and the east end rooms. A portion of the east end of the stair
hall is partitioned off and contains another stairway which leads up to the
attic. The second story fireplace is on the west wall of the north-west
room. n
The flooring on the ground floor is W4'x 4 ceramic tile, red and black
alternating in a checkerboard pattern on the edges, and a Spanish tile de-
sign in the center. The flooring on the second floor is pine planking laid 0
in a running pattern, z
There is a single cantilevered, roofed balcony running the length of the
east facade at the second story level.
The roof is a gable with a ridge running east and west. The roofs of
both the house and the balcony are covered with asbestos cement shingles.
Eaves extend about one foot and are terminated by a square edged wood
fascia.
The present O'Reillyiouse was extensively repaired in the mid 1940's.
(It was not "reconstructed" in the sense of being torn down and put up from
old plans.) In the 1940's the new tile floors were laid; the (cypress)
ceilings were replaced; plumbing and electrical systems were installed;
roofing was replaced; the coquina in the fireplace and chimney was rebuilt;
the balconies were reconstructed. The exterior woodwork was replaced while
the interior wood remains the same. The coquina walls, though repaired,
are the original walls; the flooring in the attic, ceiling beams, and wood
in attic partitions are all the original wood. The interior doors are or-
iginals, repaired. Window glass and interior wood of doors and windows are
all old materials. Some hardware on doors was brought from England in the
1940's and is of the same period as the house.
Z. SIGNIFICANCE
PERIOD (Check One or More as Appropriate)
O Pre-Columbian Il 16th Century 18th Century D 20th Century
O 15th Century 17th Century OE 19th Century
SPECIFIC DATE(S) (IfApplicable andKnown) 1763, Puente Map:"Sq. 'C' No. 266"
AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE (Check One or More as Appropriate)
Aboriginal X Education 0 Political O Urban Planning
O Prehistoric C3 Engineering J Religion/Phi. Other (Specify)
NJ Historic Q Industry losophy
fl Agriculture Q Invention J Science
Architecture 0 Landscape 0 Sculpture
D Art Architecture E Social/Human-
O Commerce E3 Literature itarion
E Communications Cl Military E Theater
DE Conservation C3 Music E] Transportation
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The O'Reilly House is significant historically because its present archi-
tecture reveals at least two different historical and cultural periods; it
seems to manifest eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century architectural
us features, indicating that it was altered and enlarged at different at-di-f-
Sedaked. The last basic change was the addition of the fireplace,
probably during the English occupation. Work on the house since has been
to repair and restore, not reconstruct or alter. The presence of a tabby
wall, now an interior partition, is significant of very early construction.
S he use of coquina blocks in the second floor exterior walls, and also to
U join the roof ridge at the east and west ends, indicates extensive enlarge-
S ment after the first Spanish period.
IX The house has significance in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.
I" The property was willed by Don Miguel O'Reilly to the Church authorities
S "in trust" for a future religious Community in the tradition of St. Francis
z de Sales. And it was only when Bishop Verot introduced into the Diocese of
- St. Augustine members of the Sisters of St. Joseph from their place of ori-
gin in Le Puy, France, that there was in St. Augustine a religious Community
Wu founded on the plan of St. Francis de Sales. The building was first used by
W Church authorities as the Catholic Rectory--home of the Pastor of the parish
church of St. Augustine. Here were held many conferences with Spanish au-
thorities during the construction of the present Cathedral of St. Augustine,
now an historical monument. In 1867 the building was the dwelling of the
Sisters of St. Joseph when they were opening their free schools for negro
children, on this same property. It was used in the following years for
school purposes in the development of the St.-Augustine Catholic schools.
Today, as a museum of the Sisters of St. Joseph, it houses many objects
given from the houses of early St. Augustine citizens as well as collections
representing the Church and the religious Community.
The house has social and cultural significance for the City of St. Augus-
tine. The St. Augustine Historical Society lists it among the .ten oldest
ouses, and it is mentioned and shown in the city's earliest records and
naps. The Historical Society has set its factual date at 1763 and its prob-
able date at 1690. The families who resided in the house can be traced from
the first Spanish period, the British period, and the second Spanish period.
ven for the first known family (Don Lorenzo Josef de Leon, 1763) church
records of marriage and Baptisms are still in existence, along with a great
deal of personal biographical data.
!9. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
The Historical American Building Survey. Library of Congress. 1966.
Property Records. Archives, St. Joseph Convent, St. Augustine, Florida.
Records of Marriage and Baptism, Cathedral Parish, St. Augustine, Florida.
O'Reilly, Don Miguel. Last Will and Testament; 1803.
U.S. Dept. of Commerce Coast and Geodetic Survey, St. Augustine 1adrangle
-,0. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA
LATITUDE AND L.ON(.TUDE COORDINATES LATITUDE AND ..ONG.TUDE COORDINATES
DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATING THE PROPERTY 0 DEFINING THE CENTER POINT OF A PROPERTY
R OF LESS THAN TEN ACRES
CORNER LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE
Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds
Nw o o 29 $ 53 2 'N 81 0 30' 42'W
NE 0 0
NE o o .
SE o 0 o 0 ,
SW 1 9 ,0 1 ,0
APPROXIMATE ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY:
LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES
STATE: CODE COUNTY CODE
STATE: CODE COUNTY: CODE
STATE: CODE COUNTY: CODE
STATE: CODE COUNTY: CODE
11. FORM PREPARED BY
NAME AND TITLE:
Sister Rita Baum, S.S.J., Secretary General
ORGANIZATION DATE
Sisters of St. Joseph, Inc. 3-27-73
STREET AND NUMBER:
241 St. George Street
CITY OR TOWN: STATE CODE
St. Augustine Florida 32004
6.7PHOTO REFERENCE
PHOTO CREDIT: Prime Beaudoin
DATE OF PHOTO: 1962
NEGATIVE FILED AT:
Beaudoin's Studio, 49 Cordova Street, St. Augustine, Florida
IDENTIFICATION
DESCRIBE VIEW. DIRECTION, ETC.
exterior views: North, South, East, West
interior views: fireplace, second floor; attic roof, showing rafters.
MAP REFERENCE
SOURCE:
U.S. Dept. of Commerce Coast and Geodetic Survey, St. Augustine Quadrangle.
SCALE: 1 x 24000
DATE: 1956
REQUIREMENTS
TO BE INCLUDED ON ALL MAPS
1. Property boundaries where required.
2. North arrow.
3. Latitude and longitude reference.
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PROPERTY RECORD CARD CARDS MAP NO. SECTION TO'',NSHIP RANGE PARCEL NUJ.'3
ST. JOHNS COUNTY, FLORIDA --
PERCY R. PALETHORPE, TAX ASSESSOR /S 7/
.I OWNERSHIP RECORD
PROPERTY LEGAL DESCRIPTION
IPC
CITY 01 S0 AUGU3STIN
ALL BLK. 35
3 /Itn z- sr
5/51 rl ,rt t, (,'0,21rr, -.) y ,A d
OWNER AND ADDRESS
DATE
SALES PRICE
DEED BOOK
__________________________________ +
CO.:;7-IT SCI L .
IEXE!?:! T Z-K iO-^ 775 00oc______________ ______
S r-.
PAGE
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ST. JOHNS COUNTY, TOWNSHIP 7- 1 NUMBER
FLORIDA RANGE 30 E 5 E
COMPILED & DRAWN BY COMPILED & DRAWN, JANUARY, 1961
IHUNNICUTT & ASSOCIATES, INC. REVISION DATES
ST. .-TERSBURiG, FLORIDA TRACING PRINT____ L
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(ST AUG USTINE BEACH)
4743 IVSE
SCALE 1:24000
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17'30" 472
BEACH 48 MI.
1 MILE
1000 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 FEET
1 5 0 1 KILOMETER
CONTOUR INTERVAL 5 FEET
DATUM IS MEAN SEA LEVEL
DEPTH CURVES AND SOUNDINGS IN FEET-DATUM IS MEAN LOW WATER
SHORELINE SHOWN REPRESENTS THE APPROXIMATE LINE OF MEAN HIGH WATER
THE MEAN RANGE OF TIDE IS APPROXIMATELY 4.5 FEET
THIS MAP COMPLIES WITH NATIONAL MAP ACCURACY STANDARDS
FOR SALE BY U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. WASHINGTON. D. C. 20242
A FOLDER DESCRIBING TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS AND SYMBOLS IS AVAILABLE ON REQUEST
3305Ow- mC
.:. ..:.: ........ ".',-"', | --. 29052'30
475000m.E. 81015'
USC&GS T-9904
ROAD CLASSIFICATION
Heavy-duty Light-duty
Medium-duty Unimproved dirt =
D U. S. Route
FLORIDA
QUADRANGLE LOCATION
O State Route
.ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA.
NE/4 ST. AUGUSTINE 15' QUADRANGLE
N2952.5-W8115/7.5
1956
PHOTOREVISED 1970
AMS 4743 IV NE-SERIES V847
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