Talk:Rogers Building (Florida)

History
The Rogers Building is located at 37-39 South Magnolia Avenue in Orlando. The building was constructed in 1886, but its history began99.159.212.112 (talk) 00:46, 5 November 2011 (UTC) three years earlier.

In 1883, Gordon Rogers, an English immigrant, moved to Florida. Rogers looked around the area in search of a location to build an English gentlemen’s club. In late 1886, he decided to build in Orlando.

Rogers hired William H. Mullins, a well known architect at that time, to design the building. The style was to be Queen Anne. It was to be elaborately fashioned from pine and cypress timber and plastered with stucco. Eventually, zinc panels were added giving a look of carved stone over the building’s faded stucco.

In July 1926, Arthur N. Huggins purchased the building for $80,000. The building underwent a complete interior and exterior renovation and it was reinforced with steel beams. He purchased the building next door at the same time. He had it covered with the same zinc panels giving the illusion that the two buildings were one. Originally, the two buildings that make up the Rogers Building were separate entities, including title and deed.

From when the doors first opened until now, the building has housed a number of successful businesses. It first housed two gentlemen’s clubs, The Cosmopolitan Club and the English Club. In the mid 1900’s, the building was home to the Arthur Murray Dance Studio, one of the most spotlighted studios in the United States. Today, The Rogers Building is home to Guinevere’s Coffeehouse, the Gallery at Avalon Island and the Mad Cow Theatre.

The shingle hanging over the doors has changed names several times, but notably each owner of the zinc-clad building kept the original English architecture envisioned by Gordon Rogers. Metal pane buildings are not common in the United States, so to see this building standing is a treasure. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on July 7, 1983. 99.159.212.112 (talk) 00:46, 5 November 2011 (UTC)


 * All very interesting. All that's needed are reliable sources for this so it may be added to the article. -- ‖ Ebyabe talk - Union of Opposites  ‖ 17:30, 6 April 2017 (UTC)