The Veillard House

Hearn Law, a St. Petersburg based full-service law firm, is proud to celebrate the history of St. Petersburg and is honored to maintain and preserve the Veillard House as its officeslocated at 262 4th Ave. N, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.Built in 1901 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Veillard House is one of St. Petersburg’s earliest surviving masonry residences and a distinctive blend of Queen Anne and bungalow design.

The building, originally a home, was built in 1901 for local merchant, politician, and civic leader Ralph Veillard.

About

The Veillards

Mr. Ralph Veillard was born in 1864 in Laval, France. When Mr. Veillard was roughly 15 years old, he began his migration to St. Petersburg—“The Sunshine City”. First, Mr. Veillard traveled from France to Canada in 1879. Then Mr. Veillard lived and worked at his family’s farm near Federalsburg, Maryland, where he met his wife, then Ms. Minnie Florence Jeffords, whom he later married in 1886. However, a hard freeze in 1894 and 1895 froze the Eastern Shoreof Maryland solid. Determined to leave this part of the country, and seek a warmer climate, Mr. Veillard studied a map of the American South. Upon doing so,Mr. Veillard put his finger on the city“Ocala” and said, “this is where we will go.” So, the Veillards sold everything they owned and embarked for Ocala, Florida. Initially by steamboat to Savannah, Georgia, then by train to Ocala. Eventually, Mr. Veillard operated a grocery and general store andlater opened a sawmill in Marion County, Floridanear Ocala. As part of his operations, Mr. Veillard owned a small steamboat, the “Ella Louise”, which ran supplies and freight from Silver Springs up and down the Ocklawaha River.He also served as the postmaster for the area.

A few years later, friends invited Mr. Veillard to visit St. Petersburg. Naturally, it was a bright and sunny day, and upon sailing the crystal blue waters of Tampa Bayand arriving in St. Petersburg, Mr. Veillard was so stunned and impressed with St. Petersburg’s beauty and climate that hedecided to relocate his family to St. Petersburg around 1900.Mr. Veillard lived and workedin St. Petersburg forthe next 30 years until his death in 1931 at the age of 67.

On June 10, 1901, Mr. Veillard purchasedthe lot where the Veillard House originally stood from theSt. PetersburgLand and Development Company. Construction on the house itself began in the summer of 1901. The St.Petersburg Times of September 11, 1901, recorded:

“Work is well along on Mr. R. Veillard’s new residence on the corner of Second Avenue (later renamed Fourth Avenue North) and Lake Drive (Fifth Street North). It will be a 10-room residence of modern design and finish and a creditable addition to the elegant homes of St. Petersburg.”

During Mr. Veillard’s residency in St. Petersburg, he owned and operated an orange packing, feed and general store. He was also very active in local politics and civic projects. Mr. Veillard helped start the St. Petersburg Building and Loan Association, where he served as the director and later became president in 1910, and the Vegetable Growers Association. Mr. Veillard also served on the St. Petersburg Board of Trade and was elected to the St. Petersburg City Council in 1908 where he pushed for waterfront beautification. In fact, Mr. Veillard wrote the resolution of the city’s intention to purchase the entire downtown waterfront, preventing its development by private investors, and thereby preserving the waterfront for all the public to enjoy. A resolution that has had an everlasting impact on the city’s beauty and the public’s access to the waterfront. Mr. Veillard was also a member of the delegation representing St. Petersburg at a meeting in Clearwater in 1911 that led to the split of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. Mr. Veillard stayed active in local politics and served intermittently on the City Council until his death in 1931. Mrs. Minnie Veillard was also active in local St. Petersburg civic projects and was part of a group that helped develop Williams Park. Mrs. Veillard remained in the home until the 1950s.

The House

The Veillard House is a large, two-story masonry and balloon frame structure. The structure is one of the city’s earliest surviving masonry buildings in the bungaloid style. Stylistically, the house combines elements of the chalet-like bungalow style withthose of the picturesque Queen Anne, producing a unique architectural statement. As was typical of the bungalow style, the house includes a large, open-front porch and bell cast gable roof punctuated by two oversized dormers. Mock half-timbering set in a stucco field details the building’s gable ends and dormers. The waning Queen Anne style is in turn reflected by a distinctive hexagonal tower capped by a graceful multifaceted bell cast roof set at the building’s northwest corner.

Perhaps the home’s most distinctive feature is its construction. The open-front porch, first story and hexagonal tower are constructed from blocks custom made by Farmer and Company and tinted with a soft venetian red oxide pigment. The mortar was also tinted to match the fresco-like pigmentation of the rusticated blocks.

Fenestration on the north and western elevations is set with artistic stained glass transom sand upper sashes, as are those of the second story tower. A hexagonal attic vent details the building’s eastern and western gable ends. Entrance door sare of double-beveled glass with a stained glass transom.

The interior features the original wood floors, the tower’s original hinged window seats, a fine Colonial Revival mantel with a full entablature, fluted columns and a mirrored over mantel.

The Architect

The Veillard House is attributed to architect Henry H. DuPont, with Theodore Anderson as its builder. Mr. DuPont is arguably best known for designing ‘The Pink Lady’ — aka the Don CeSar Hotel on St. Pete Beach. Mr. DuPont also designed the Casa de Muchas Flores, a waterfront estate in the Jungle area of St. Petersburg which was used in the Ron Howard film “Cocoon.”

The Don CeSar was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 and became a founding member of the National Trust Historic Hotels of America in 1989. The Casa De Muchas Flores (also known as the Miller-Babet House) was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

The Relocation

In 1979, when a nonprofit church-affiliated organization purchased the home’s original property with the intention of demolishing the home and building a 15-story senior living facility, the house was saved by Dr. John Crayton Pruitt and Frances McSwain “Sissy” Pruitt who purchased the home and moved it to its current location. On October 10, 1979, the Veillard House was moved from its original location at 450 Fourth Avenue North to its new site two blocks east at 262 Fourth Avenue North. Relocation was the only alternative to the building’s destruction. The architectural integrity of the Veillard House does not suffer from the fact that the house has been relocated. The building’s present location, as was its original site, is a corner lot which provides the house with approximately the same orientation as did the previous location.

National Register of Historic Places

In 1982, thanks to the efforts of Dr. and Mrs. Pruitt, the United States Department of the Interior placed the Veillard House on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Preservation

A complete restoration of the house was executed shortly following its relocation. The Pruitts allowed the Junior League of St. Petersburg to use the home, at no cost, as its headquarters for many years. Following the Junior League’s occupancy, the house served as the headquarters of Blake Investment Partners, a private equity and real estate firm founded in St. Petersburg. The house now serves as the main office of Hearn Law, a St. Petersburg based full-service law firm, which relishes its role as caretaker and steward of the Veillard House.

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