The Gonzalez-Alvarez House (The Oldest House Complex)

Saint Augustine, Florida

February 17th, 2022

The Gonzalez-Alvarez House, also known as a part of the Oldest House Complex, is Florida's oldest surviving Spanish Colonial dwelling. This house has been a national landmark and a museum since 1893. This complex is owned by the St. Augustine Historical Society, including Florida's Oldest House, two museums, a changing exhibition gallery, an ornamental garden, and a museum store. 

The Oldest House Complex Informational Link

Artifact #1

This artifact was Richard Twine's Camera, an 1886 Rochester Optical Co. Glass Plate Camera. Richard Twine was a professional photographer who captured scenes of Lincolnville, St. Augustine's Historic Black neighborhood in the 1920s. His career may have been short-lived, but he managed to immortalize the residents' diversity, pride, and grandeur, commemorating and celebrating their black heritage and lives. 

Artifact #2

These life-size statues are found in the Gardens of the Oldest House. The Gardens of the Oldest House has seen many seasons, so each statute represents "spring," "summer," "fall," and "winter." These statues were features in the formal planting of the 1890s after Dr. and Mrs. Charles P. Carver; then, the house owners brought them here from the 1893 Columbian exposition in Chicago. 

Exterior #1

This image was taken of one of the side gardens found inside the Oldest House Complex. A typical Spanish colonial residence was a one-story rectangular-shaped building. These homes had either loggia (an open-side room) or a porch. The main entrance was through either the loggia or patio, which opened into a walled garden in the rear. During the British occupation of saint Augustine, British settlers expanded porches and moved entrances from the walled gardens to the fronts of the houses facing the streets. 

 

Exterior #2

This house exhibits both Spanish and British colonial architectural details and styles. A visit to this house reveals a record of life in saint Augustine for over 400 years, throughout the British, Spanish, and American occupations of Saint Augustine. 

In conversation #1

This is Jericho es-Sultan or Tel Jericho, a UNESCO-nominated archeological site. This site lies in an oasis in the Jordan Valley north of the Dead Sea in Israel. Due to its old age, I connected the Gonzalez-Alvarez House to this image and this city. Hence, Tel Jericho is one of the oldest cities in the world. 

Ancient Jericho (Tell Sultan)

In conversation #2

This is the Etruscan Gold Book. I chose this book because it is the world's oldest book, using 82 carat gold in six sheets of pages with text and illustrations of a horse-rider, a male horse with deer horns with a griffin.

The Etruscan Golden Book

Creative component 

Literature component 

The literature I chose to correspond with this site is poetry from Habitat Threshold. "We do not know which to fear more, the terror of change or uncertainty..." This line reminds me of how important conservation and preservation are to the city of Saint Augustine—keeping the oldest and wealthiest parts of the city's history alive and well. The constant thoughts of what-ifs and how's badgering their minds with uncertainty.