08/30/2026
Repost from Villa Zorayda Museum:
🏰🏫🕍This iconic view of St. Augustine’s Gilded Age grand hotels taken from Hotel Ponce de Leon (Flagler College) in 1901 is one of few images of Franklin W. Smith’s Hotel Granada, seen to the right of the image. Hotel Granada, later named Hotel Alhambra, was eventually lost to fire on September 21, 1954. It sat next to the Villa Zorayda, a winter residence built in 1883 by Smith. That structure inspired Henry Flagler to build his hotels using Franklin W. Smith’s method of poured concrete.
SECOND PHOTO:
“I decided to build a home in St. Augustine after the model which the experience of centuries had proved desirable in semi-tropical countries. An oriental house of wood would be an anachronism; yet there was no stone in Florida. To freight it from the North would be an extravagance.”
“I saw henceforth an age of stone for St. Augustine instead of pitch-pine-wood.” - Franklin W. Smith
Franklin Smith’s winter home, Villa Zorayda, set an architectural precedent which inspired an architectural revolution in the city. Smith’s choice of Moorish and Spanish revival architecture paired with his innovative method of poured concrete building construction, sealed his fate as the “Father of Architecture in St Augustine.” His poured concrete construction became the prefered building method and the Moorish and Spanish Revival theme resonated throughout the city during the late 19th century.
Here is a chronological list of some of the buildings in St Augustine built with Smith’s method:
📍Villa Zorayda, 1883, 83 King St
📍Lyon Building, 1886, corner of King and St. George streets
📍Horace Walker House, 1886, 33 Old Mission Ave (built by Franklin W. Smith)
📍Castle Warden, 1887, now Ripley’s
📍Grace Methodist Church, 1887
📍Cathedral Basilica restoration and Bell Tower, 1887
📍Casa Monica Hotel, 1888
📍Ponce de Leon Hotel, 1888, now Flagler College
📍Hotel Alcazar, 1888, now City Hall and Lightner Museum
📍Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church, 1889
📍Brooks Villa, 1891, 174 Avenida Menendez
