Oldest House Museum

Gonzales Alvarez House: history and modernity

The Oldest House Museum is known as the oldest house in the USA. Along with other city attractions, it has preserved the unique "Spanish" atmosphere in St. Augustine for centuries. Tourists rushing to it are surprised to find that this is not just an old building, but a whole museum complex with unique exhibits of the colonial heritage.

A piece of Spain in the United States — tourists call the town of St. Augustine and its environs in the northeastern part of Florida. This small resort owes its atypical way of life and mood to America to many buildings erected three hundred or even more years ago. Like, for example, an atmospheric stone house, but what's the house — a whole architectural and museum complex - this is the Oldest House Museum!

The Spanish colonial long-lived house was built in 1702 from shell rock. Although many of the city's buildings dating back to that era are wooden. This is no accident — the use of stone became a necessity after the devastating Third Indian War. But the dwelling turned out to be rich and required decent decoration: statues decorating colonial life are still preserved in the corners of the house.

All these details create the feeling that the house seems to be turning into a portal, a bridge between modern America and the era of colonial expansion. And we like these excursions! And you, dear subscribers? Are there such portal museums in your picture of the world?

Monument to the spiritual and material culture of the United States Oldest House Museum is under the auspices of the urban historical society. The complex includes 2 museums, a unique art gallery of Edwards with temporary exhibits, an ornamental garden and a museum store. Its composition also includes an architectural object erected during the era of the Spanish colonial expeditions and known in tourist booklets as the “Oldest House in Florida”.

The title of the oldest residential building in the state is the House of Gonzales Alvarez. It was made up of a shell rock right after the British retreated from Fort Castillo de San Marcos, and the city itself suffered enormous destruction due to clashes with the Indians. The date of construction is considered to be 1702.

The double "surname" of the oldest Spanish colonial development was formed according to the names of the owners — the one who built and the one whose family owned it the longest. The first owner was the gunner Thomas Gonzales. According to museum data, he served in the fortress of Castillo de San Marcos.

In the War of Independence, the hostess of the first stone house in the United States was Mary Evans Pivet, according to museum data, a local midwife. And in 1791, the baker Geronimo Alvarez acquired the house of Gonzales, and for the next 100 years, representatives of this family lived in it.

Excursions around the oldest house in the USA give a complete picture of colonial life, tourists especially enjoy visiting the kitchen. You can look at a house with a Spanish spirit and the rest of the Oldest House Museum complex with one ticket. And entrusting the organization of his inspection of our company, you will receive an exhaustively interesting tour and a comfortable stay!