The "Strawberry Walrus" was built in the 1890s and has housed a photographer, a musician and an antiques store.
By TERRI D. REEVES
Published May 5, 2004
CLEARWATER - This old house, built in the 1890s for railroad tycoon Henry Plant, has creaky bones, tired joints and noisy pipes.
But with a body built of cypress and heart of pine, it still possesses some youthful charms.
The Carpenter Gothic structure has been home to a turn-of-the-century photographer, a prominent musician and a trio of antique dealers who dubbed her the Strawberry Walrus. (Well, it WAS the 1970s.)
The structure withstood a kitchen fire, a move from what is now the Belleview Biltmore golf course, and termites, which left pitted marks in a second floor bedroom.
Soon, the structure will say goodbye to its Clearwater address at 1324 S Fort Harrison Ave., probably forever.
It will, no doubt, be a loss for the city - and a gain for Largo, its new destination.
"It is one of the last pre-1900s houses left around here," said Bill Wallace, president of the Clearwater Historical Society. "It is one of two houses in Clearwater on the National Register of Historic Places."
The home was placed on the register in 1979. The other structure, the Donald Roebling Estate, is on Orange Avenue.
In late June, the big pink house with white gingerbread trim will be moved one mile south to 1480 Clearwater-Largo Road, where it will rest on a tree-filled lot on the opposite side of the road.
"We tried to stay in Clearwater but they have more stringent requirements and the impact fees are higher," said Jill Heath. "Largo offers better incentives."
She and her husband, Brent, bought the house for only $10 with the understanding they had to pay to move it. Digestive Disease Associates, a doctors group with offices next door, plan to expand their parking lot and needs the structure moved, Jill Heath said.
Heath plans to turn the home into a studio for her photography business, Jillian's Photography.
"With its tiny closets it's functionally obsolete for a family, but it's perfect for a small business," said the 44-year-old Clearwater resident.
Though the Heaths paid for the house in spare change, it will cost $45,000 just to have it moved. That will happen between the hours of 1 and 5 a.m., while the city sleeps. The couple will have to pay another several thousand to the utility companies to move and replace the wires and poles during the process.
"It's still a good deal, and we are saving a historical piece which may have been torn down," said Jill Heath. "We expect it to survive another hundred years."
The house was built for Plant to house Louis Ducros, his official photographer (and possibly Clearwater's first photographer). Ducros was brought over from France to photograph the construction of the Belleview Biltmore Hotel in 1896.
Ducros, who took the first picture of the house in 1896, was a familiar sight to the neighborhood as he wheeled around town on his "boneshaker" bicycle with his camera strapped to his back. He never left Clearwater, died in 1919 and is buried in the Clearwater Municipal Cemetery.
Later Rocco Grella, one of the original members of the John Philip Sousa band, known for its famous patriotic marches including Stars and Stripes Forever, moved into the house. He became a band instructor at Clearwater High School, which was then at the corner of Greenwood Avenue and Laura Street, and held concerts for the town in his backyard. In the 1970s, it was owned by John and Kay Sloan and Jim Thornton, who renovated it and turned it into an antique furniture and crafts boutique. They named it the Strawberry Walrus on a whim, after a figurine they had found at an art show.
Over time, the 1,382-square-foot, two-story house has had some additions and renovations. It has five gables on its roofline, a front porch, a burled wood fireplace and a bay window on the north side.
"The parlor will be turned into the Louis Ducros historical room with pictures and information about him," said Heath, who feels the home has come full circle with its return as a photography studio.
Heath plans to paint the outside sage green with white trim and install old-fashioned, black wrought iron lighting fixtures.
"Green was a popular color back then because it was the cheapest color of paint you could buy," she said.
Heath wants to restore the interior plaster walls, now covered with wallpaper and painted fruit colors like banana yellow, lime green, and cherry red. She said she would repair and refinish the heart of pine moldings and window frames. Some of the windows, with rippled glass, are believed to be original.
"See these old window pulls?" she asked. "I'm going to get them working again. It might cost thousands of dollars but I'm going to get them to work."
She pulled out an old wooden ironing board from the wall in what was the old kitchen. The metal plate on it reads "Curtis, 1866."
"I keep finding surprises," she said.
Clearwater historian Mike Sanders said he regrets the city of Clearwater will be losing the home. However, he is relieved it will be saved, although he's uncertain whether the move will affect its historic status.
"This house is important for its history and its architecture," he said. "It is rare Carpenter Gothic and two important people lived here."
