THE ST. AUGUSTINE RECORD


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Mr. and Mrs. William King Moeller entertained members
of the Florida Historical Society Friday with a reception
at the home on 224 St. George Street which they are re-
storing for a residence. They are shown above with some
of their guests and local friends who assisted them.
From left to right are: Judge James R. Knott of West
Palm Beach, president of the Florida Historical Society;
William M. Goza of Clearwater, vice president; William


K. Moeller, host; Mrs. W. Phil Genovar, Mrs. William
Baker, Mrs. K. Emmett Gardner, Gary Crundwell, Mrs.
William K. Moeller, hostess, Miss Martha Lee Segui of
Jacksonville, whose ancestors once occupied the old house;
and Mrs. Donald C. Hodgkins of Clearwater. Shown in
the forefront are Deborah Baker (left) and Mary Mar-
garet Baker.
(Record photo)


Moellers Hosts For Reception In Old House They Are Restoring


Members of the Florida Histor- formal black Spanish costume and
ical Society in convention here in Mrs. W. Phil Genovar and Mrs.
the Hotel Ponce de Leon had an William Baker also in Spanish
opportunity Friday afternoon to costumes were assistant hostess-
view an old house in the process es. Deborah and Mary Margaret
of being restored when they were Baker in provincial Spanish cos-
invited to a reception by Mr. and tumes added their sparkle to the
Mrs. William K. Moeller. The occasion. Assisting with arrange-
ouse, recently referred to as ments for the reception were Mrs.
the Macmillan House at 224 St. Robert Crundwell and Mrs. James
eorge Street and now owned by L. Hartley.
t e Moellers, was the setting for After guests had been served
the event, refreshments they were invited
Mrs. Moeller greeted her guests to enter the house and inspect
at the walkway beside the house it at their leisure. William K.
in a background of blooming red Moeller readily answered all
geranimuns and local friends in questions concerning the history
costumes depicting the various of the building, what had been
eras of occupancy of the house accomplished to date on its restor-
as listed her. ation and the overall plans for
Gary Crundwell in an old Eng- the completion of it.
lish costume complete with tri- Mr. and Mrs. Moeller purchased
corn hat carried trays of punch; the St. George Street house in
Mrs. K. Emmett Gardner in a May, 1963 from the- Macmil!an


ire


TA-WAN-KA
We met at Mrs. Webb's house.
Our leader told us about Play
Day and then we went to the
Chamber of Commerce to see a
movie about St. Augustine.
Mary Lee served refreshments.
Scribe,
Jewel Clark

WA-CAN-KI-YA
This week we had our meet-
ing at Mrs. Calhoun's house.
We had refreshments served
by Bonnie Craig and Sheila Ba-
con helped.
Then we went to the movies
to see "Maytime" and we all had
a real nice time.
Scribe,
Sondra Carson

WA-CIN-TON
Carmen, our substitute presi-
ent, conducted our meeting.
ebbie, secretary, and Sherry,
easurer, performed their du-i
[s.
We ulaved a symbol game and


cupcakes,
dy.


punch and Easter can-

Scribe,
Tricia Roche


ROSES
We held our meeting at Mrs.
C. M. Chapman's house. The
president, Lenora Thompson,
conducted the meeting.
Plans were made for Play Day
and we made our name tags.
We talked about Mother's Day
gifts.
Kathy Jones served refresh-
ments. We said the Bluebird
Wish.
Scribes,
Donna Chapman,
Cindy Ward

GAY ROBINS
The Gay Robins met at Mrs.
Sasser's. We practiced for Play
Day and sang songs.
Mrs. Rowand brought refresh-
ments of cupcakes and colas.
Scribe,
Koni Hudnall


heirs and have proceeded care-
fully since that time with their
plans for its restoration.
The house was measured and
studied by architectural students
from the University of Florida
in 1960 for the Historic American
Buildings Survey. Their studies
presented the building as it was
before the furred walls and the
relatively recent wooden floors
had been removed.
In 1963 students from Florida
State University taking a course
in archaeological field techniques
sponsored by the St. Augustine
Historical Restoration and Pre-
servation Commision made exca-
vations, observations and sur-
veys at the house.
Hale G. Smith of FSU and
Robert H. Steinbach of the St.
Augustine Historical Restoration
and Preservation Commission
with the anthropology department
at the university have compiled
a booklet, "Rocque 226," regard-
ing the house.
The first record of this house
is the Mariano de la Roque map
of 1788 however it was considered
that the original house dates
back to 1765 when it was a single
story house constructed by Span-
ish masons for English occupan-
cy. It was made of coquina blocks
with tabby floors and a tile roof.
The original exposed yellow pine
beams in the two first floor front
rooms have been refinished and
will be kept by the Moellers.
It is thought that one of the
front rooms, the smaller, might
at one time have been used as
a stable. When work was under-
way it was also discovered by
trading English bricks along the
floor that there was a fireplace
in a back room which was evi-
dently used for cooking purposes
and had later been sealed. The
Moellers have had quite a few
surprises as the work progressed.
Names which feature in the
history of the house include
Juan de Aguilar, Don Juan Rod-
riguez, Bernardo Jose Luis Segui
and Holmes Ammidown. One of
the guests at the Moeller's re-
ception was Miss Martha Lee
Segui of Jacksonville who is a
descendent of one of the early
ovmers.
Colonel Andrew T. Macmillan


and his family of New England
were tenants in the house for 50
years and it is thought that it
was in 1823 during their occu-
pancy that additional stories
were added to the house changing
the style entirely. Miss Amey M.
Macmillan later owned the house.
It is to the 1823 period that
the Moellers plan to restore the
house retaining as much of the
Spanish as is feasible. They will
finish the third floor for a com-
fortable family room and pre-
serve and rearrange the best of
the two eras evident in the house.
One feature which the Moellers
discovered and are using in their
plans now is what at one time
was called a stairwell sitting gal-
lery, unique in other old houses
in the city. The staircase had
been moved and one window of
the four-window gallery had been
sealed but the Moellers have con-
verted it back to its original
English mantlepieces.
Mr. and Mrs. Moeller invite
local friends and business ac-
quaintances to call late in the af-
ternoon in order that they too
might view the house in this
state of restoration. -Many had
been interested previously but
the owners were afraid of acci-
dents until enough progress had
been made to make it safe.


AIR-CONDITIONING

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SEE PAGE TEN-B


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-mom