Sam Stoltz Plymouthonian, County Road 435, Sorrento, Florida


It takes a special sort of person to appreciate a Plymouthonian house, and not just because it's nearly impossible to pronounce or spell.

These are Plymouthonian houses...


...so called because many of these 1920's "Spanish Orlando" homes were built in Mount Plymouth, Florida. 

This is their architect, artist Sam Stoltz:


If you're thinking he looks like a colorful character, you would be right, because aside from incorporating Tudor influences in his homes, Sam included fantastic Floridian frescoes:




These flamingo reliefs on our listing house are in line with what you'd expect from the "World's Greatest Poultry Painter." They also set the tone for the unusual interior.




I think that's a shark relief over the fireplace. (Which makes it only fitting that I'm posting this on the last day of Shark Week 2021.)

How do you decorate around a wall with 3 triangular arches, 1 curved, and 1 big shark fresco? Like this:


Research a lot of decorator Robert Kime's rooms, and then divide the motifs into their own seating areas.

Sam Stoltz's houses typically include massive stone fireplaces, pecky cypress ceilings and moldings,


and mosaic tile floors.



And lots of triangles.




This Plymouthonian is 1,346 square feet and has 2 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms. It was built in 1926.





As Kelly at the Old House Dreams listing commented, "That's paint." I'm not saying all of Sam's ideas were good ones.


Sam also liked to incorporate coquina rock walkways, ponds and waterfalls into his houses' landscaping. The listing house doesn't currently have any of those, but has room to add them.



After all, the backyard needs to live up to Sam's grand Plymouthonian vision.


"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."

Lastly, because I couldn't find a master list of his houses, I've compiled what I found (so far) here. Contact me if you know of one I should add!

The Old House Dreams listing for 30308 County Rd. 435 Sorrento is here.






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