Sam Stoltz for Sale

Plymouthonian No.1, the first of artist/builder Sam Stoltz's Mt. Plymouth homes, is now for sale. The realtor opened the house for me this weekend so I could get a glimpse of it before it hit the market. This is the third home created by the Central Florida builder once hailed as "America's greatest poultry artist" that I've had an opportunity to see, and it was full of his trademark details.

Unlike the other Plymouthonian I've visited, this was not designed in the "Storybook" style but rather the more traditional Mediterranean Revival that was all the rage in the 1920s. The house was built in either 1922 or 1927, depending upon which source you believe, and is located on close to 2 acres in the the small Lake County community between Sanford and Mt. Dora. It's a pretty gorgeous house from the outside and the first thing I noticed when I drove up were large coquina rocks edging the driveway, one of Sam Stoltz's signature elements, as he loved his rocks. Entering through the pecky cypress back door, we were in a Florida Room that was probably originally a back porch. The eye-catching feature of this space was an elaborate fountain in the corner that supported by two pelicans that look just like the one near the fountain in Plymouthonian No. 2.

Adjacent to the Florida Room is a kitchen that connects to a dining room with a two-sided fireplace that goes through to the living room. The hearth has a colorful tile mosaic similar to others I've seen in other Stoltz homes. The living room has a pecky cypress in the ceiling beams, staircase railings, and front door. One of the previous owners, however, painted the ceiling and staircase railings white and they would have to be sandblasted in order to recover the original dark wood tones. It looks to me that the there might have been a medallion or some kind of detail above the fireplace in the living room, but that too has been removed. So while the evidence of Stoltz's artistry is still noticeable in this home, it might take the right owners to bring it back to the full "Stoltzness" as displayed in Plymouthonian No. 2. It takes an imaginative homeowner to live in one these houses – someone who appreciates its eccentricities and embraces living in a "whooping piece of big art" as Martin Cushman recently said about life in a Plymouthonian. It is my hope that that someone with creative vision will buy Plymouthonian No. 1 and the this new owner recognizes the potential of this wonderful house.

Fireplace as viewed from the dining room

Reverse side of fireplace from the living room

Pecky cypress stair railings and ceiling

The view through the pecky cypress front door


Original door hardware

Wonderful coquina and tile front steps

Front facade

Stoltz signature bas relief bird imagery

Colorful details in the bathroom

Fantastic bathroom floor tile

A mature century plant and behind it note the "Romeo and Juliet" pecky cypress balcony

If you are interested in seeing this one-of-a-kind home, contact realtor Terry Ward at 352-638-2556 or email terryward@mymtdoraagent.net

Postscript: Alana Brenner, who's parents own Plymouthonian #1 said this:

"Seems like the perfect house for someone who doesn't have to schlep into downtown too often, an artist like Martin or a writer or a bird lover...There are so many cool birds up there. When we were sprucing up the yard, we were amazed by a baby hawk that was hanging around...it is a lovely place. It just got to be too much for my elderly parents to take care of...

My dad had a garden for a while and also raised small trees which he then donated to Habitat for Humanity for landscaping. I just donated the bulk of them to the City of Orlando's green up program last week so that's why you didn't see them. We have a lot of great memories there...especially at christmas time. It's a beautiful place with candles in the windows and luminaries along the front walk. It's also nice in the fall with the windows open. I think the arched windows in the front are my favorite feature!"

The House that Sam Built

Occasionally my obsessions and my vocation are in alignment and the result is pure inspiration and joy. Such was the case when working on an issue of the History Center's quarterly journal dedicated to Florida architecture led me to revisit Sam Stoltz's Plymouthonian #3. I had visited the fairytale-inspired structure when the contents were auctioned off a year or two ago, but since then it has been acquired by the perfect owners, Martin and Bob. Martin is a gifted potter and lover of all things Florida, and Bob literally helped write the book on Sam Stoltz. So I was excited to see what the place looked like in their hands.

Stoltz in front of the Mt. Plymouth Hotel, courtesy of Martin Cushman

Copy on this promotional piece reads: "A Plymouthonian
This new type of home marks a new departure in the attractive domiciles which are beautifying NATURE'S PLAYGROUND. The above home on Interlachen Drive overlooks the sporty number ten fairway of the St. Andrews links, and beautiful Lake Plymouth."

Sam Stoltz was a talented commercial artist in Chicago before he moved to Central Florida and turned his talents to creating one-of-a-kind buildings complete with his murals and bird- themed relief decoration. The pinnacle of his work was in Mt. Plymouth, where he designed the hotel and some of the fantastic homes around the course. Of his surviving homes, Plymouthonian #3 is easily the finest example of his talents.

Much of the work Martin and Bob have done has been to painstakingly uncover Sam's handiwork around the exterior of the home including restoring the fountain that flows from the front of the house through a rock-lined stream to a lily pond. Stoltz signature details like painted stone walkways continue to emerge.

But the main difference in the house I first visited and now is the wonderful collection of Floridiana on display. From beautiful Joy Postle bird paintings to Silver Spring pottery, I was envious of this exciting collection of artwork. The space seems meant for this homage to the sunshine state and Martin has found the perfect space for his pottery studio in the garage.

It's a wonderful thing when unique artistic creations are preserved to be admired by future generations. Fortunately, Plymouthonian #3 has the perfect caretakers to ensure that this happens. The brilliant creativity Sam Stoltz exhibited in his buildings is now carried on by this home's latest owners.

Exploring "Little Switerzland"

Ever since I found out that one of Sam Stoltz's Plymouthonian houses was for sale, I've been chomping at the bit to see it. In the months since I first learned about it, the price has dropped substantially, so now the 2,200 sq. ft. four bedroom, three bath home is available for just $199,000. So when I learned they was an auction at the property, I hoped it would be an opportunity to get to see the house first hand, because it appears to be headed for foreclosure.

After working with developer Carl Dann on homes around the Dubsdread Golf Course in the College Park suburb of Orlando, artist/builder Sam Stoltz continued the collaboration in the tiny Lake County town of Mt. Plymouth. In 1926 Dann built a majestic resort hotel around a Scottish style links golf course and Stoltz surrounded it with whimsical storybook-like homes. In a marketing ploy that is so very Florida, they nicknamed Mt. Plymouth "Little Switerland". Hotel guests included baseball legend Connie Mack, gangster Al Capone, Kate Smith and Margaret Truman according to this Mt. Plymouth history website.

Stoltz is quoted as saying this about his Plymouthonian homes: "Nature confines her lines entirely to curves. Mount Plymouth, with its beautiful hills and valleys is full of curves. When we created The Plymouthonian, we followed the teachings of the old masters and modern artists, elimination the usual harsh lines and produced a type of home in keeping with its surroundings, just as if it grew there - a part of landscape."

Reportedly there are four of his homes left in Mt. Plymouth and the fairy tale house we visited is known as Plymouthonian No. 2. Local legends say that the house is full of secret passages and that Al Capone's bookkeeper once lived there. One thing is for certain, it is not your ordinary house.



Much more Gothic and fairy tale-like than the Mediterranean inspired homes of College Park, Plymouthonian No. 2 has the steepest pitched roof I've ever seen. The chimney soars like one of the many palm trees on the site, and the painted plaster surfaces are punctuated with coquina rocks and irregularly placed windows (flanked by wooden shutters with hearts cut out of them). A small waterfall trickles from a rock feature in the front of the house and the water follows a 12 inch wide steam under a footbridge to a small pond, long since dried up. The landing is paved with colorful rocks and it appeared to me that the original main entrance is no longer functioning, so the only way to enter is through the garage.


Immediately upon entering the house one notices the soaring Pecky Cypress ceilings that were painted by Stoltz, as is almost every surface not made of rock. And it appears to me that Stoltz was quite the "rock hound", as coquina, chert and other colorful stones are precisely placed for maximum impact. The bird decorations that are his trademark, are present on the exterior and in the interior; a duck medallion hangs over the fireplace, flamingos and pelicans dress up the bathrooms, and cardinals and egrets dance beneath the overhanging roof. His technique used to create the relief sculpture looks as if he manipulated the plaster with his fingers and his brushwork is very gestural, reminding me of the abstract expressionists who followed later in the century. Or maybe finger painting.

Floor detail in front of the fireplace

Medallion over fireplace

Master bath with Stoltz flamingos

Mother-in-law suite from the inside

Mother-in-law suite from the outside

Pecky Cypress back door

Exterior ornamentation

The rooms are small by today's standards, some are dark and somewhat gloomy, others are bathed in light from double french door-sized windows. The bathrooms seem to have the most ornamentation, it is possible to see Stoltz fingerprints literally on almost every vertical surface. Pointed archways separate many of the rooms and the kitchen has an oddly placed column in the middle separating what once was probably a breakfast nook. As I am partial to attics, one of my favorite spaces was the mother-in-law "suite" over the garage, accessible only by rickety stairs from the garage or the backyard.

The house is unlike any other I've ever seen, full of whimsy and charm, but it's hard to imagine actually living there. Skipping the auction, we went in search of the other Stoltz creations and stumbled across a home that was one quarter log cabin, three quarters rock house. The owner confirmed that it was indeed a Stoltz house that was originally built for Carl Dann, then later occupied by the President of the NY Stock Exchange. When the Mt. Plymouth Hotel became a boys' school years later it became home to the schoomaster.

This Stoltz house is being remodeled, a bit at a time
photo by Joy Dee

Mt. Plymouth has some hidden gems of architecture hidden in its hills. But with all things vintage in Florida, if you want to see them, get there fast, because I can't guarantee that they will last.

One of the other Plymouthonian houses
photo by Joy Dee