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North Brevard
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Pritchard House Restoration and House Museum
2000
June, 2009
Restoration Gallery
Artifacts GalleryThe Foundation is assisting Brevard County in the restoration of the 1891 Pritchard House in Historic Downtown Titusville. The Foundation will actively participate in raising funds, planning and supporting the restoration, and operating the preserved house as a house museum.
Detailed article in the Fall/Winter 2009 edition of The Indian River Journal
FAMILY HISTORY:
James Pritchard was born in New York City on October 21, 1839. They family moved to Missouri and when the Civil War began, he enlisted in the Confederate Army. He served as Captain of Company E, First Regiment, Missouri Infantry, and his father, John N. Pritchard, served as Colonel in the Union Army. In Galveston, Texas on January 17, 1867 he married Mary Haley Boye, daughter of Christain and Frances Delespine Boye of Key West, Florida. The Pritchards and their three children came to Florida in 1876 and settled on the Delespine Grant which Mary inherited from her grandfather, Joseph Delespine.At "Pritchard's Landing" they grew sugarcane and citrus. In 1886 when a hard freeze destroyed most of the crops, the Captain turned to selling real estate and moved his family to Titusville and lived in a cottage on Palm Ave. He organized the Indian River State Bank in 1888 which was the first bank in Titusville, incorporated in 1889 and was located at the corner of Washington Ave. and Julia St. He served as president for 37 years. In 1890 he built the first electric generating plant in Titusville, sold it to Southern Utilities Co. in 1914, and they sold it to Florida Power and Light Co.
In June 1891 on a lot purchased from Mary Titus, contractor Pleasant J. Hall began building the Queen Ann style house of heart pine. The Pritchards moved into their new home in October 1891 with furniture, pictures and painted portraits they brought from Missouri. The original occupants of the house were Captain Pritchard, wife Mary, teenage children "Boud" and youngest sister Kate, Mary's mother, Frances Delespine Boye, and the family maid, Julia Stewart. Frances Amelia and Frank T. Budge were married in 1889 and living in their own house. Frank owned a hardware store on Washington Ave., and when the couple moved to Miami, Captain Pritchard and son "Boud" bought the business named it James Pritchard and Son Hardware. In 1913 "Boud" married Lola Pauline Smith, known as "Miss Lovie" and they continued to live in the house until their deaths.
Captain Pritchard passed away in 1926 and is buried in the family plot at Oak lawn Cemetery in Titusville. Their daughter Mary Pauline married Frank Schuster in 1935, and raised their children, James, Johanna and Polly in this house.
The house was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. Pritchard family members continuously lived in the house, with Mary Pritchard Schuster living there until it was purchased for historic preservation by Brevard County in May 2005.
THE HOUSE:
The Pritchard House is an outstanding example of the Queen Anne architecture, a distinctly American form that was popular from approximately 1876-1910. The house appears today much like it did when it was built in 1891.The house features a conical corner tower, one of the key distinguishing aspects of this style. Other characteristics are the wrap around porch, the variety of materials used on the exterior, and the jig saw decorative work. The elaborate use of shapes and textures produce a highly picturesque effect, accented by its steep gables, veranda and second floor balcony.
On the first floor is the main entrance hall, which has a fireplace, the stairway to the second floor, a parlor, which has a fireplace, and the dining room, which has a built in "china closet" and pantry. The kitchen was separated from the main living area by an open passage, now closed in with an entrance door on the south side. A narrow stairway ascends from the kitchen to the maid's room above. The latticed porch provided privacy and was a place to do the laundry.
The second floor has four bedrooms, and the maid's room, all with built-in closets. Notes on the original plans show that a window in the south side bedroom was changed to a door. When the house was built, both the master bedroom and south front bedroom had doors onto the upper balcony. The master bedroom has the only fireplace on the second floor. The passage between the main house and maid's room at the end of the hall later became a bathroom, complete with a claw foot tub and sink. A pipe connected to a hand pump located next to the tub carried water from the cistern below. The small pipe located under the window on the north side is still visible.
SPECIAL NOTATIONS:
All four fireplaces have the original wood mantels and tiled hearths. The window screens are half screens that run on wood slides located on each side of the window frame. Each corner of the screen has an embossed metal corner bracket. The door hinges and pins are also embossed metal.The exterior storm shutters are original and hand made of cedar or cypress. They are hinged to be opened and locked into place, or when closed are secured by a hook and lock system. The exterior "fish scale" shingles were hand cut from cedar or cypress. Turned wood finials that were attached to the scrollwork facers we have and will replicate and replace.
The porch is in bad shape. The house must be jacked up, the brick piers repaired, new footers set under them, stabilizing the structure. The columns will be replaced as will the bases and headers, and porch flooring, siding repaired/replaced.
PROPERTY AND OUTBUILDINGS:
Sanborn Insurance Maps are used to provide information about structures that were located on the property. In the 1893 there was a windmill, elevated water tank and a stable/shed all located on the northwest side of the property. In 1899, there was a shed, elevated water tank and a round cistern that was located on the northwest side of the house. The windmill had been removed. In 1908 the elevated water tank was removed and an outhouse added on the northwest side of the house. By`1915 the cistern becomes oval shaped and is located on the northwest corner of the house where it is now. The only remaining outbuildings are the shed and outhouse located on the northwest side of the house.According to family members, the oval cistern had a concrete dome over the top that was destroyed by "Boud," by knocking it down with a sledgehammer in the 1950s. The broken concrete fell to the bottom and the cistern was filled in with dirt. "Boud" later planted a rose garden there. They also remember that the outhouse was not moved, since it was an outside toilet with a septic tank. The shed was also taken down.
By doing an archaeological survey of the property, we hope to find visual evidence of what was in these areas from 1890 - the present, and possibly before the house was built on this property.
The North Brevard Heritage Foundation is proud to take part in the historic restoration and preservation of the Pritchard House.
Thanks for your continuing support of Historic Preservation.
PRITCHARD HOUSE RESTORATION PROJECT
Brevard County, assisted by the North Brevard Heritage Foundation received a $350,000 historic preservation grant from the Florida Historic Commission. Funding will provide much needed resources to start priority work, which has been identified by an assessment architect. An additional $80,000 has been appropriated by the Brevard County Commission to begin the stabilization of the house under the direction of a historic restoration architect/engineer.This funding is not enough to complete restoration, and the Foundation is actively soliciting members and donations to raise additional funds.
Skilled craftsmen, such as carpenters, electricians, plumbers, plasters, concrete workers, A/C technicians may volunteer services to help in restoration. Sponsorships of buildings supplies and materials are also solicited. All donations of in-kind services and materials are tax deductible.
For additional information about the North Brevard Heritage Foundation and our projects, visit our website, www.pritchardhouse.com and click on the picture of project you are interested in.
Photos from our first open house - December 3, 2005. Click on picture to see an enlargement. Use the BACK button of your Browser to return.
The Pritchard House is listed in the "Guide to Historical Landmarks in North Brevard County."
