Condition Survey: 535 Donnelly Street, Mount Dora, Florida

The Donnelly House was built in 1893 in Mount Dora, Florida, by John P. Donnelly, originally of Pittsburgh, PA. Mr. Donnelly had moved from Pittsburgh to Mount Dora in 1879 and became the town’s first mayor. This house was built years later and was designed by the architect George Franklin Barber, as a mail order house in the Queen Anne style. He was very famous at the time for his mail order houses which were sent to various towns and cities across the nation. Currently this house is the home of the Mount Dora Lodge No. 238 F&AM, where they host meetings and gatherings of the club.

The house is rather large, as there are about three stories and it’s evident there is either a crawlspace or a basement, due to the presence of an accessway in the rear of the building. The structure is primarily wood with a concrete foundation. There is stained glass detailing in some of the windows and wood scrollwork and detailing can be seen through designs along the front facade of the building. There is detailed paneling along the sides of the second level. The shingles appear to be aluminum and there are metal finials and detailing atop the roof.

In surveying the exterior structure, it appears to be in decent condition. There is some evident moisture damage, as seen in the form of mildew on several parts of the wood siding. Also it appears as if the humidity and heat have caused some warping, noticeably on the wood siding, exterior wood floors and exterior wood ceilings. The wood flooring of the veranda is quite uneven, worn and there are some gaps and cracks here and there. The exterior wood ceiling of the veranda has several areas where there are holes or gaps, almost as if there were slight replacements of wood and they were never properly patched.

Considering the building is only used for meetings and gatherings, it is quite often left empty for majority of the time. The public is free to walk the grounds and access the veranda, but the interiors are restricted for use only by club members. The veranda gives the appearance that the space is occasionally used, as there are quite a lot of leaves and dirt strewn about. The wood door frame to the rear, right side is split and cracked and needs some attention.

Paint appears to be peeling and chipping only where moisture has seemed to sink below the paint’s surface, like on the wood siding, where there are a few patches of mildew. There is slight chipping along the seams where the wood flooring meets due to warping and uneven surfaces. As well, there is further chipping of paint along the balustrade where the wood has split and broken apart from the posts.

In regards to possible remedies of issues afflicting the Donnelly House, attention needs to be given to the mildew which has taken hostage of several areas of the wood siding. The siding needs to be scrubbed with a soft brush and a mixture of nonammoniated detergent, household bleach, and water; then rinsed and allowed to dry. The paint surrounding the area could be scraped off, primed and then repainted according to historic regulations. This same method of the scraping, priming and repainting could also be applied to the peeling paint issue.

The veranda’s wood ceiling and floors also need to be checked for excess moisture leaks, in the case of the ceiling, from the roof, and the flooring, from below. Excess rain and heat exposure can cause soft flooring, along with warping. If the wood is too soft it will begin to deteriorate and break down. If there is significant damage then it will need to be replaced. The areas along the wood ceiling where there have been uneven and unfinished patchings also needs to be fixed, otherwise it will begin to compromise the integrity of the surrounding wood.

As for cleaning and maintenance issues, the building obviously needs more attention. Prevention is better than the cure, and in this case if left to the elements much longer without frequent cleaning and maintenance, the siding and flooring will continue to deteriorate faster than expected. The leaves and dirt need to be cleaned up, as not to create further moisture issues and so as not to further break down the wood.