Villa Zorayda facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Villa Zorayda
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 Location in Florida
Location in the United States
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| Location | St. Augustine, Florida |
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| Architect | Franklin W. Smith |
| Architectural style | Moorish Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 93001002 |
| Added to NRHP | September 23, 1993 |
The Villa Zorayda (also known as the Zorayda Castle) is a unique house located at 83 King Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It was built in 1883 by a wealthy man from Boston named Franklin W. Smith. He used it as his winter home.
Smith designed the house to look like the famous 12th-century Moorish Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. He named it "Villa Zorayda" after a princess in a book called Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving.
In 1913, Franklin Smith sold the building and some of his art and antique collection. The buyer was Abraham Mussallem, who was a merchant from Syria. On September 23, 1993, Villa Zorayda was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Today, the Mussallem family still owns the Villa Zorayda Museum. It holds the original art and antique collections gathered by both Franklin Smith and Abraham Mussallem.
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The Story of Villa Zorayda
Franklin W. Smith was not a professional architect, but he loved designing buildings. He was also one of the first people to experiment with building homes using poured concrete. This means he poured wet concrete into molds to create the walls.
His winter home, Villa Zorayda, was special for a few reasons:
- It was the first house in Florida built in the Moorish Revival style. This style brings back the look of old Moorish buildings.
- It was the first building in St. Augustine made from poured concrete.
Smith's special concrete mix used crushed coquina shells. These shells are found locally. His method of pouring concrete in layers was later used by Henry Morrison Flagler. Flagler was a partner in Standard Oil and a big developer in Florida. He used Smith's method to build his large hotels and churches nearby. Villa Zorayda is also seen as one of the first examples of fantasy architecture in Florida. This means it was designed to look like something from a story or a dream.
Smith was involved in many efforts to improve public life. He is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Just one block east of Villa Zorayda, Smith built an even larger building called the Casa Monica Hotel. Henry Flagler later bought this hotel and renamed it the Cordova Hotel.
What You Can See at the Museum
Over the years, the Villa Zorayda has been used for different things. Besides being a private home, it was also a restaurant, a nightclub, a gambling casino, and a hotel.
The building was renovated starting in 2003 and reopened to the public in 2008. When you visit, you can take audio tours in English, Spanish, and French. These tours tell you all about the building's history. They also explain its role in St. Augustine's past and describe the amazing antique and art collection inside. The museum is open every day.
The Unique Collection Inside
The Villa Zorayda Museum has many detailed and beautiful features inside. One of the most notable parts is the cast plaster work. This plaster has ground alabaster mixed in, and it looks just like the walls of the Alhambra Palace in Spain. These plaster designs are called traceries or arabesques. They are copies of the walls found in the Alhambra Palace.
Above the front entrance, you can see an Arabic saying: "There is no conqueror but God." This exact phrase is also found in the Alhambra's designs. The building's architecture also includes:
- Hand-painted wood panels
- Beautifully designed tiles
- Intricate fireplaces and doorways
- Windows and stained glass with geometric shapes
The museum's collection also features:
- Brass lamps with delicate patterns from Damascus and other parts of the Middle East
- Oriental rugs
- Sculptures
- Carved furniture
- Decorative tiles
- Artifacts from ancient Egypt
Images for kids
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The Villa Zorayda, a unique house in St. Augustine.
See also
In Spanish: Villa Zorayda para niños
