As I write this, I’m sitting in a little first-floor lounge area across from French doors that open onto a lovely back courtyard. The space is dominated by a towering royal palm tree and landscaped, mostly by the owners here, with all manner of flowering plants and greenery. A Grecian-type statue of a woman carrying a water jar presides over this garden, which is embraced by the two back “wings” of the building.
The Flori-de-Leon, now a cooperative apartment complex for persons age 55 and older, is both historic and beautiful. Yankee legends Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig owned two of the four penthouses, and the place has long been a winter mecca for Northerners looking for a warm place to hang their hats. It is said that “the Flori” was the first cooperative apartment complex in the state of Florida. Surely, it was the first in St. Petersburg.
In the mid-1920s, when the Flori was just a twinkle in the eye of its architects, Fourth Avenue N between First and Second streets was just a graceful slope down to the Vinoy Basin and Tampa Bay. And C. Perry Snell, Pennsylvania druggist-turned builder, was falling in love with the Mediterranean Revival style of architecture we now see most vividly in the Spanish-influenced Flori and in other structures all over the northeastern end of the city. Pastel colors, stucco exteriors, and red-clay tile roofs abound, although nothing prepares one for the pure European flavor of the Flori-de-Leon.
The building is on the National Register of Historic Places in part for its exterior architecture. Within are beautiful lounge areas and roof deck areas that face the rising and setting suns. There is a baby grand piano to die for. Art is everywhere. Lee West, a local artist who has made her home here for years, was commissioned at one point to create a stained-glass piece for a White House Christmas tree. Christy Edwards is a painter from New York whose work lines the halls and gallery walls. Today, the Flori is home to all manner of artists, writers, musicians, designers, and entrepreneurs, all attracted here as if to a magnet. (In my own case, I purchased my winter home sight unseen several years ago after being riveted by an online color photo of the yellow Mediterranean front of the Flori. I have no regrets!)
The front courtyard features dozens of private balconies with wrought-iron decor, plus little terrace gardens. There is soft night lighting, and the two “wings” of the front of the building embrace a fountain that attracts birds.
The Flori-de-Leon always was intended for and used to shelter a community of people. In the old days (the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s), most owners spent time in their units simply to sleep and eat. The rest of the building was used for living. Parties and events such as potluck dinners, game nights, Victorian-themed entertainment, and music performances took place every night of the week. Today, residents are working to bring back that ethos. Are you alone on Thanksgiving? Not for long. Christmas? Don’t worry about it. Somebody will prepare food, and someone else will organize a dinner for as many guests as desire a place to go. Yes, we are a cooperative, but in a strange way we’re also a family. Our doors are mostly always open.
From the day it opened to occupants in the fall of 1927, the Flori has been the beneficiary of owners who fell in love and stayed that way. Donations of all sorts are recognized in tile and in wall plaques. Owners have tiled and painted, planted flowers, and cleaned the grounds. We have a board of directors and a budget; in addition, many of us just want to get our hands dirty and be involved!
Recently, the Flori has started to see more year-round residents. Historically a place to escape the cold North in the wintertime, that season for many of us seems to be getting longer. We’re a couple of blocks from the Beach Drive shopping and dining experience, we’re a couple of blocks from the Central Avenue night-out social experience, and we’re a stone’s throw from North Straub Park and all of the celebrations held there.
Although some of the seven-story Flori-de-Leon’s vistas have been eclipsed by new development, now we sort of nest in the center of it all. I sit on my balcony by the fountain and watch as people pass by, stop to read the Historic Register plaque, and take selfies with my building in the background.
The only drawback I can see for potential buyers is the the age requirement; for me, it is a payoff well-earned. Buildings are more than steel and concrete, elevators, roof decks, and views. They have a spirit all their own. The truly beautiful ones such as this living entity, the Flori-de-Leon, seem somehow to breathe. I still can’t believe it all started for me with a snapshot on Zillow.
For more information: Website www.florideleon.us; telephone (727) 894-7971; email [email protected]
