One of Temple Terrace’s original homes is for sale

TEMPLE TERRACE — When developing Temple Terrace, the founders wanted to go big.

The initial construction phase in 1926 was to include 120 homes designed by Dwight Baum, a nationally renowned architect whose previous work included the Sarasota mansion of circus pioneer John Ringling.

“The new residences will be the finest of any structures of their type in Florida,” the Tampa Tribune reported. “They will be gems of architectural beauty.”

Due to the economy, it appears that only a quarter of those Spanish Mediterranean-style homes were built.

Now, one at 215 Willowick Ave. is for sale for $870,000. Realtor Sarah DiMonaco believes it’s one of 19 of Baum’s Temple Terrace homes remaining.

“This house has been meticulously maintained,” she said. “It has all the original wood floors. The bathroom floor in the bathroom upstairs has the original little, teeny hexagon tiles. It’s just beautiful.”

Little of home’s exterior has been altered, DiMonaco said, so the current owners have been told that it might qualify as a local historic landmark or earn a place on the National Registry of Historic Places if the next owner wanted to pursue that route.

The status would let an owner acquire grants for future restoration work, but it also means the exterior must remain authentic to its original look.

Baum’s other works include 13 structures on the National Registry of Historic Places, including the Sarasota Times Building, which is now home to a restaurant. The 56-room Ringling home, also known as the Ca’ d’Zan mansion, is on the grounds of the Ringling museum complex.

Named for the Temple oranges that populated what was known as the world’s largest grove in 1922, Temple Terrace was incorporated in May 1925. It was “at the peak of the Florida land boom,” said the Tampa Bay History Center’s Rodney Kite-Powell. “By then, the agricultural development specializing in Temple oranges had a number of houses, as well as Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club.”

The city’s development plan was announced in 1926.

“In selecting Mr. Baum, the designer of these classic dwellings, we feel we have chosen one of the foremost designers of palatial homes in the country,” H.H. Jacobs, president of the Temple Terrace Construction Company told the Tampa Tribune. “Mr. Baum just recently returned from Spain where he made an extensive study of Spanish architecture, which he will embody in the homes of distinct beauty on Temple Terrace.”

The initial development of Temple Terrace was also to include five apartment buildings. In all, the Tampa Tribune reported, $2 million was to be invested in building the city.

What stopped progress? “A year after Temple Terrace’s incorporation, property sales decreased, signaling the onset of the Great Depression.” Kite-Powell said. “The market dropped considerably ... and the boom went bust.”

It’s believed that only 30 Baum homes were completed. In 1931, five of those were up for auction.

“It seems a shame to put them on the block,” reads a Tampa Tribune advertisement for the auction, “but the owners’ hard luck can certainly be your good fortune.”

The current owners of the the 2,797 square foot home with three bedrooms and 2 ?-baths, Michelle Westich and Tracy Brown, purchased it in 1999 for $213,000, according to the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser’s website.

Since then, through restoration efforts, “they’ve done as much as they can,” DiMonaco said, “to make this house the piece of history that it is.”