Charles N. Hildreth, Sr. House | Suwannee County, Florida | c. 1905
This massive home sits at the center of town and has been seemingly stuck in time for more than 20 years as restoration has stalled over time. According to Suwannee County records, this two-story house was built in 1908 by Charles Nathaniel Hildreth, a prominent businessman in Suwannee County at the turn of the century.
Charles Nathaniel Hildreth
Charles N. Hildreth, Sr. (1842-1934), originally from New York, came to Florida with his wife Ella and their two children, Charles Jr. and Eva, sometime before 1880. Over the next decade, he acquired timberland for naval stores near Branford, Florida, and the settlement was named Hildreth in his honor.
Besides timber, Charles also dealt in real estate, as well as construction so around 1900, he and his family relocated nearby to the city of Live Oak where business opportunities were more plentiful, still maintaining their timber holdings east of town.
About 1905, Charles began the manufacture of cement stone for buildings, sidewalks, and various other purposes, and soon, he was responsible for laying more than 90% of the sidewalks in his town of Live Oak.
In 1908, a strong storm brought down much of the timber in the Hildreth settlement and the lumber from those trees was used to build several homes in Live Oak, including this home that Charles built for himself on Ohio Avenue.
The kit, design, and parts for the home were ordered from the Sears and Roebuck catalog and cost approximately $1,999 in 1908. The wood frame structure on brick piers follows the four-square plan with a central entry and porch on two sides. Several additions have been made to the rear of the original building.
Alongside his timber and cement businesses, Charles N. Hildreth, Sr. was responsible for building many of the fine homes in town. Along with J.W. Hillman, Hildreth built the Kirby Home, the Roach Home, the O.O. Williams Home, the Captain Williams Home, and the McDonald Home.
Charles Hildreth, Sr. passed away in 1934 and the home changed hands. For many years, it served as the office of Paul Byrd Real Estate and then in 1970, it was the office of the Sullivan Agency. In the early 1990s, a plan was presented to build a Hardee’s on this site, so in order to save the Hildreth House, it was loaded onto a truck bed in 1993 and moved a few blocks south on Ohio Avenue and then moved once again to its current location. Locals recall that the powerlines had to be taken down temporarily so the massive house could be trucked six blocks down the street.
Today, the owners are making progress on interior repairs and hope one day to complete their rehabilitation of the home, but work has been costly and time-consuming.
