Avero House

The Avero House is a historic house located at 41 St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida, United States. The building is locally significant as one of 30 remaining houses within the historic district that pre-date 1821. It was once the site of a Minorcan Chapel. Today, the building is home to the St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine.

Avero House
Location41 St. George Street, St. Augustine, Florida
Coordinates29.896341°N 81.313044°W / 29.896341; -81.313044
Built1749
NRHP reference No.72001459[1]
Added to NRHPJune 13, 1972

Description and history

The Avero House is a two-story rectangular block with an open loggia on the southeastern portion of the lot. The walls are made of coquina stone laid in roughly horizontal courses with lime mortar, which are plastered both inside and outside. At the flat roof, there is one coquina masonry chimney with two flues.

Although the house was apparently built around 1749, the first detailed information on its layout does not appear until a map from 1763, which depicts it as having a U-shaped floor plan.[2]

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America purchased the building in 1966 and restored the house to its 1730s appearance.[3] Today the house is open to the public as the St. Photios Greek Orthodox National Shrine, dedicated to the first colony of Greek people who came to America in 1768. The Shrine includes the St. Photios Chapel which features Byzantine decorations, and a museum with exhibits about the life of early Greek settlers and the development of the Greek Orthodox Church in America.[4]

It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on June 13, 1972.

  • Historic marker on exterior
  • Entrance to St. Photios Shrine

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Arnade, Charles W. (1961). "The Avero story: An early Saint Augustine family with many daughters and many houses". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 40 (1): 1–34. JSTOR 30139808.
  3. Gordon, Elsbeth (2015). Walking St. Augustine : An Illustrated Guide and Pocket History to America's Oldest City. Gainesville, Florida. ISBN 9780813060835. OCLC 889164908.
  4. Laurie, Murray D.; Bardon, Doris (2008). Florida's Museums and Cultural Attractions (2nd ed.). Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press. ISBN 9781561644087. OCLC 212627234.


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