WARDEN WINTER HOME
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SONOTECH
N 29° 53.960 W 081° 18.863
17R E 469647 N 3307672
WARDEN WINTER HOME
Waymark Code: WMVRR
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 10/19/2006
Views: 165
The Warden Winter Home was built in 1887 for William G. Warden of Philadelphia. A partner with Henry Flagler and John D. Rockefeller in the Standard Oil Company. Warden was also the President of the St. Augustine Gas and Electric Light Company and Financial Director of the St. Augustine Improvement Company. One of the most imposing private residences in the city, it was a center of winter social activity. Its Moorish Revival architecture and elaborate interior reflect the exuberance of the Gilded Age and St. Augustine's role as a winter resort. It remained in the Warden family through the 1930s. In 1941 it was purchased by Norton Baskin and remodeled as the Castle Warden Hotel. Baskin and his wife, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (author of The Yearling), had an apartment on the top floor. Many writers and other distinguished visitors came here during its decade as a hotel. Locally know as Warden Castle, it has served as Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum since 1950.
Marker Number: F-336
Date: 1992
County: St Johns
Marker Type: Roadside
Sponsored or placed by: Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum In Cooporation With The Florida Department Of State
Website: Not listed
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