"dream homes"

tonight while looking through cds of old pictures I came across a folder titled "dream homes". these pictures were taken in 2004 while driving by them and happening to have my camera. I remember the day I saw this house. I made my then "boyfriend" stop so we could get out & look. he thought I was crazy.


we went in this house and I was in LOVE. there is just something about an older home. the character and charm. while standing in the living room I said, can we buy it? bry said, do you see how the roof is sloping down? that means the foundation is not sound. I said, who cares, we can fix it! as I was staring at HUGE rosettes. the biggest I had ever seen.


I will say I was nervous to go upstairs as the stairs were not sturdy. but I made it and when I got up there I just imagined the life that had once been lived in this house.


someone built this house for their family long ago. I can imagine it. how many holidays were spent in the house together. how this house survived the great depression and many presidents. the kitchen was on the back of the house and had a screen door. I imagined hanging laundry out on the line. orange trees were everywhere and land was ALL around us. this is not common for the area it was in.


I went home and researched the history of the house. I found out it was about to be restored and become a historic home and tours would be given. I was sad I couldn't buy it but was so happy that the house would always be there. that people could go and find out the history of the area that is now fully congested with cookie-cutter houses that are built on top of one another. there is very little history left in this part of the city. the road the house was on was named for L.E. Mobley, a son of William L. Mobley and his first wife, Sophonia Mobley. He and his family lived in a two-story wood frame house on the south side of the road near Lake Maurine Drive. William L. Mobley, who moved from North Carolina in 1860 with his wife, Cornelia Ann, and their family and slaves. At first, he located near the Gulf of Mexico, but feared the slaves would escape across the water. He then moved inland to this area. When the slaves were freed, he gave them land along this road east of Gunn Hwy.
The Keystone United Methodist Church had its beginning in Mobley's home. Settlers would come to the house when circuit riders stopped by.


literally days later the house had burned to the ground. I then found out from the newspaper article that the land was owned by a prestigious golf course. hmmm, I wonder who started that fire?
I am so glad I had my camera that day. I remember not bringing it inside because there was a "NO TRESPASSING" sign on the house and I was scared to go in. I sure wish I would have now.