Apalachicola, Florida

The House

Charles Dobson built the house in 1907 from heart pine and cypress and had the millwork cut by Apalachicola shipbuilders. It shows most in the stair hall, where the paneling and the balusters are original.

The restoration finished in 2024. Every wall and room layout stayed where it was. The kitchen and bathrooms were taken back to the studs and rebuilt, and the floors, cypress wainscot and carved mantels were refinished by craftspeople from the area. Florida building code required that the whole structure be raised.

Air conditioning, wired-in light fixtures and an elevator were added at the same time. The elevator serves both floors.

Built: 1907
Style: Greek Revival
Moved to this site: 1974
Restoration completed: 2024
Grounds: 4.4 wooded acres
Water: St. Vincent Sound frontage
Fireplaces: 8
Elevator: Serves both floors
Bedrooms: To be confirmed
Bathrooms: To be confirmed
Sleeps: To be confirmed

3 of these are still being confirmed with the estate. We will answer them directly when you write.

The Stair Hall

Original throughout

The floors, walls, coffered ceiling, corbels and balusters are all original, refinished to a gloss during the restoration. It is the first room you walk into.

The Rooms

Sage, celery and pale blue

The interiors are by Jacksonville designer Nellie Howard Ossi, who took the palette from the marsh grass and the water outside the windows. The furniture is largely rattan, with floral upholstery and curtains made for these rooms.

A sage-green sitting room seen through the original carved fretwork arch, with rattan and floral upholstery and a bay window onto the water. — The front room, seen through its original carved archLaurey W. Glenn / Southern Living

The paneled dining room with a coffered wooden ceiling, laid with linen and crystal, water beyond the windows. — The dining roomLaurey W. Glenn / Southern Living

The kitchen: marble checkerboard floor, white cabinetry, an antique wooden island, and a window over the sink looking to the water. — The kitchen, rebuilt during the restorationLaurey W. Glenn / Southern Living

The principal bedroom, pale blue walls, a bay window with full-length curtains, and an upholstered bed. — The principal bedroomLaurey W. Glenn / Southern Living

A second sitting room in blue and white: two tall curtained windows, a slipcovered sofa, and a bamboo lantern over the coffee table. — The blue sitting roomLaurey W. Glenn / Southern Living

The principal bathroom: a freestanding tub against marble tile, two sash windows onto the oaks, and a coffered ceiling. — One of the bathrooms rebuilt in 2024Laurey W. Glenn / Southern Living

Original Detail

What the restoration kept

A marble firebox under a deep carved mantel with an overmantel mirror, beside a built-in bookcase. — Eight fireplaces
Carved mantels above handmade tile, some of it set with small scallop shells.

Three tall Art Nouveau stained-glass panels in amber, green and rose above the turned balusters of the stair landing. — Stained glass
Three panels light the stair landing. All the original leaded glass is still in its openings.

The front door in polished mahogany under a leaded glass transom, flanked by carved capitals and leaded sidelights. — The front door
Mahogany under a leaded transom, between carved capitals and leaded sidelights.

The screened porch with a blue-painted floor, rattan seating, ferns, and the sound visible through the screens. — Screened porches
Blue-painted floorboards, rattan seating and a view of the water through the screens.

A butler's pantry under the eaves: two open shelves of gilt-edged china and coupe glasses above an antique wooden counter set out as a bar. — The pantry, set up as a barLaurey W. Glenn / Southern Living

A bathroom vanity in marble beneath a large mirror framed entirely in shells, with a rattan stool at the make-up counter. — The shell mirror, made for the roomLaurey W. Glenn / Southern Living

Accessibility

Moving through the house

The hallways are unusually wide, the door openings are generous and the rooms are large. The restoration added an elevator serving both floors, and the interiors were specified with low-pile rugs and furniture placed to keep the routes clear.

If someone in your group uses a wheelchair or has limited mobility, mention it when you write and we will go through the house with you before anything is confirmed.

The Grounds