Dave Ferro
Please click here to view the site plan and 1st story floor plan.
Spring Arts House Bio
The Spring Arts House, an Arts and Crafts-style bungalow, was built in 1913 and was occupied by the Lee Graham family from 1914 until the 1970s. It was later purchased and used by the Gainesville Housing Authority in 1979 until their offices were moved in the mid-1990s. They are currently located across the street at 703 NE 1St Street. The house stood vacant for 2 years until the Santa Fe Community College Endowment Corporation, now known as the Santa Fe College Foundation, purchased the Graham house in 1999 to provide a permanent administrative and management facility for the Spring Arts Festival and its related activities.
The Spring Arts House was rehabilitated in part with a grant from the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Historical Resources, and with in-kind donations from many local contributors. The prime sponsor for the Spring Arts House was M&S Bank, under the leadership of Mr. G. Thomas Mallini. M&S Bank's generous gift served as matching funds for the State grant to replace the roof and begin renovations on the facility. The M&S Bank's sponsorship enabled the college to initiate its first support organization, the Patrons of the Spring Arts House, whose purpose was to provide support and maintenance for the Spring Arts House in perpetuity.
The state Historic Preservation grant was written by and managed by Kathryn Lehman, the coordinator of the SFCC Spring Arts Festival and Cultural Programs until she became Santa Fe College's Grant Coordinator this year.
Renovations took 4 years to complete, in some cases with use of decades-old heart of pine and rare tiling. The house features Ludowici clay roof tiles, in the home's original French style, that were purchased from a company in Ohio. The fireplace downstairs was stripped of many layers of paint where underneath workers found a red mahogany mantel with mini-columns and detailed carvings. Chico Villamore restored both fireplaces with period tile.
The home's original glass and brass doorknobs are nearly all accounted for, but there had been many other alterations of the house over the years. Aside porch had been replaced with a sliding glass door and an elevator had been installed for the second floor sleeping porch in the back. Formica cabinets had been installed below some first-floor windows and linoleum floors had been laid in the back portion of the house. Nearly every room had water damage caused by air-conditioning units. Philip Baker, the Spring Arts House's major private donor who charged nothing for contracting work he did on the house, said that they had to replace stucco on one whole side of the house and the garage had to be completely rebuilt; it was about to fall. The front porch had major repairs also, as it had large holes making it impossible to walk on.
Kathryn Lehman said that she spent the 4 years applying for grant money and researching details of the home's architecture, even down to the color of the walls. The interior has been painted with period colors and the heart-pine floors were uncovered and refinished. With services from architect Frank Walrath, general contractor Baker, and landscaping provided by Garden Gate Nursery, the property was methodically rehabbed. The sliding glass doors and windows on the south side of the building were replaced with an ADA compliant ramp using materials in the same 1913 Arts & Crafts style. The original windows were restored, and the upstairs back porch was restored to its original look. The side entrance was tiled in a manner like the nearby Thomas Center,
All the planning, research, and hard work paid off and has made the Spring Arts House an inviting cultural center for Gainesville and the annual Spring Arts Festival. The grand opening took place on January 16, 2003 prior to the Spring Arts Festival that April. The building also won a Gold Award for Restoration and Adaptive Reuse by the Gainesville City Beautification Board that same year.
The Spring Arts House has now hosted 14 Spring Arts festivals and will soon welcome the 48th Annual Spring Arts Festival on April 1 & 2, 2017. It holds part of Santa Fe College's art collection and the recently acquired letter opener and bronze collections donated by Dr. William Brown. The letter opener collection boasts 5,000 letter openers for which the college holds the Guinness Book of World Record, as documented on October 25th, 2012.
