Building Name:McEwan House
Address:407 Peachtree Road, Orlando, FL 32804
Year Built:1939
Architect of Record:James Gamble Rogers II
Design Architect (if different):Laura Huttig (his cousin)
General Contractor:W.A. McCree Jr.
Other Contributors:Lawrence Hitt
Noteworthy Architectural Features:Perhaps the first house in Orlando designed by James Gamble Rogers II, however not the first constructed, as the clients waited until their contractor returned to Orlando. Synthesis of styles. Placement and design of a large house to take advantage of lakefront setting.
How to Visit:Not available to visit, Please respect the owners privacy.
Architectural Style:French Provincial / American Colonial Revival Style
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Description:
The house at 407 Peachtree Road, designed in 1938 by James Gamble Rogers II assisted by Lawrence Hitt, exemplifies the fact that people who still had money after the Florida Bust and Great Depression could buy land and architects’ services at attractive prices. The house is one of four estate homes built on the south shore of Lake Concord in the 1930’s. Three were designed by J. G. Rogers II; the fourth, by Richard Boone Rogers, no relation.
This French Provincial/American Colonial Revival house shows Rogers’ skill in adapting traditional styles for 20th century living. The clients were prominent surgeon Dr. Duncan McEwan and his wife Marion, who decided to put the construction contract out for bid. They delayed the bidding until the doctor’s loyal patient, W.A. McCree Jr., returned from his honeymoon. McCree got the contract, and the house was completed in 1939.
In 1979 new owners delayed their move-in while designers and decorators turned the two-story white block and brick house into the Orlando Opera Guild’s sixth Designer Showhouse. At some time during their ownership the gable and hip roof coverings may have been replaced. In 1990 Klaus Moeller, a golf course developer, and his wife Shelley engaged McCree to update the house in the spirit of the original. Improvements included installing central air, rewiring, updating the kitchen and bathrooms, closing louvres, enclosing porches and adding several windows and a swimming pool.
The current owners, who purchased the house in 2012, also contacted McCree and keep copies of Rogers’ plans on display. The plans enabled them to reproduce the herringbone brick floors of the former porches in the summer kitchen and the landings of the large new patio, which is mostly constructed of granite. They also plan to recreate faux dormers that were originally used in conjunction with a giant attic fan. They have already removed and restored all 80 of the original double hung sash 6/6 windows and reinstalled them. Other changes include improved wiring, a more efficient air conditioning system, a morning kitchen, 1 and 1/2 new bathrooms and a bathroom enlargement, for a total of nine, and a laundry room, as well as a new driveway and an eight-foot-tall fountain in the front yard. They have also added a new dock using reproduced corner posts from the porches, a waterfall and an infinity edge pool.