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Local Historic Landmarks |
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Robert McCutcheon House
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The circa 1926 Robert McCutcheon House is significant for its association with former mayor of St. Petersburg, Robert James McCutcheon, Jr., who was not its original resident but certainly its most prominent. McCutcheon would live at the property from 1933 to 1936 with his family before moving to a house at 3615 4th Street South that would serve as his mayoral residence. Since this latter building has been demolished and the subject house is the only surviving structure associated with McCutcheon and the contributions he made to the city, the property is eligible for consideration as a landmark. McCutcheon, born in Missouri in 1892, moved to Dade City, Florida, with his parents in 1897, eventually moving to St. Petersburg in 1911. In 1914, he married Beatrice Farmer with whom he would raise three daughters. He started work at First National Bank as a cashier, eventually ascending to its presidency where he served until 1929. In 1930, he founded the McCutcheon-Miller Corporation to handle real estate, municipal bonds, tax collections and insurance. He would serve as president of the firm until his retirement in 1963. McCutcheon would serve St. Petersburg as councilman and mayor from 1939 to 1943. During his mayoral administration, McCutcheon secured acquisition of the 334-acre tract that would serve as park and public lands for Lake Maggiore. During the Second World War, McCutcheon lobbied to bring troops to St. Petersburg for training. He was also actively involved in the civic and religious affairs of the community. McCutcheon was president of the St. Petersburg YMCA Board of Directors from 1931 to 1946 and was vice-president of the Kiwanis Club and served for many years as the treasurer of the First Baptist Church in St. Petersburg. The McCutcheon House is also associated with the development of Mission Revival residential architecture in St. Petersburg. The two-story dwelling has many of the characteristics indicative of the Mission Revival style including a smooth-finish stucco exterior and is marked by a Mission-style parapet, tile-roofed window and entry hoods, clay-tile vigas for roof drainage and a covered entry loggia with ceramic tile used liberally on the deck and risers. The Mission Revival style predates its more ornate and celebrated Mediterranean Revival cousin by a decade in St. Petersburg and is represented by significant buildings which existed in St. Petersburg during the period such as La Plaza Theater, the Florida Theater, St. Petersburg Yacht Club, and the Museum of History. The Mission style emerged from influences dating after the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago with architect A. Page Brown’s Spanish mission-style design for the California State Pavilion. In St. Petersburg, Spanish-influenced architecture designed between 1914 and 1932 would have a tremendous impact on the physical fabric of the city in both residential subdivisions like Snell Isle, Granada Terrace and Pasadena, as well as on individual landmarks. |
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