THE CARTER FAMILY HOMETHE CARTER FAMILY HOME 126 Grannis Ave. Titusville, Florida 32780 (Roz Foster...

THECARTERFAMILYHOME126GrannisAve.Titusville,Florida32780

(RozFoster6/7/15)

BuiltablockfromMainStreetabout1915,thetwo-storywoodhouseconstructedintheCrackerVernacularstylereflectsFloridalivingattheturnofthecentury.Patricia and Brig. Gen. EllerbeWinn Carter moved into the house in1946 after General Carter’s retirement from the Army at the end ofWorldWar II. The couple left Fort Braggwith three young children –Robert(Barker),MaryWinnandPatricia.Inthenextdozenyearsorso,the family grew to nine childrenwith the arrival of siblingsWinifred,Molly,Lila,Ted,Clare,andDouglas.The following is a description of the Carter Family Home asrememberedbysonTedCarteranddaughterMollyCarterCalhoun.Wide open porches extended across the east and west sides of thehouse. Breezes from nearby live oak trees gave relief from the heat,and those same breezes passed through a wide screened porch thatkept the mosquitoes away. An inside porch (still there today) isborderedby the twoopenporcheson theeast side. Large roofover-hangs provided protection from the sun and the steep pitches of theroof provided quick drainage.Awidedrivewaymadeofcoquinagravelextendedfromthewestsideof the house to the east side opening on Grannis Avenue. Sidewalksmadeofcoquinaranalongsidethefrontofthehouse,andanextensionofthewalkwayranfromtheporchentranceonthefrontofthehousetoGrannis Avenue.Openporcheswere reachedby slate stone steps.

Forthree-quartersofthehouse’s100-yearlife,orangegroves,liveoakandmagnoliatreesfrontedtwosidesofthehouse,andBougainvilleaandpoinsettiascoveredthenorthandsouthsides.In theearly1960s, theCarters installedwhitealuminumsidingontheentire exterior of the large house. The west porch was removed toextend the dining room and the roof was replaced at that time.

Inside thehouse,windowsandopenareasaresituated to take in thesummer breezes and thecrisp coolness of fall. The three fireplaceswerelocatedinthelivingroom,thelargeentryroomanddiningroom.The tiles around twoof the fireplacesweremade fromnative Floridamaterialsandthefireplaceinthediningroomwassurroundedbybrick.Mollyrecallsthatthechildrenwouldgetdressedforschoolonthefewcold winter mornings around the dining room fireplace.

Eventually,centralheatusingtwofurnaceswasinstalledbyMr.Carter.Atrioofhigh-ceiling livingroomswithwoodfloorsservedasacentralhallway leading to the dining room, which at one time the CartersenclosedwithFrenchdoorsontwosides.Onesetofthedoorsremain,leading into a roomnext to the kitchen. The formal dining roomhadbuilt -in cabinets with lead glass doors. The doors leading into thehousefromthefrontandbackporches(laterclosedintomakealargerbreakfastroom)areoldleadglassalmostfloortoceiling.Facingthefrontofthehouseyouwillseeadoorontherightsideoftheporch. That door leads to the room thatwas used as the library andinsidethehousearetwootherdoorsthatleadtothelibrary,withfloortoceilingshelves.Thelargechimneybuiltontheoutsideofthehouseandlocatedonthesouth side is constructed of native coquina rock. Molly remembers,“Thatchimneywassonicetolookat.Iwouldclimboutontotheroof,gotothefargableendoftherooftogetacloselookatthechimney.Thetopsideofithadacrossmadeofbrick,andIalwaystookcomfortinthistakingitasanoutwardsignGodtookcareofthehouse.”Untilthelate1960sGrannisAvenueandBlantonStreet(locatedonthesouthside)were2-waydirtstreets.Thestreetswereimprovedthroughthe City of Titusville’s “Project Betterment.” The paving of GrannisAvenuerequiredloweringtheroadwayandthecityinstalledasidewalkthatextendedmuchofthelengthofSouthGrannisAvenue.LilaCarterreplacedthestairwayintheearly1990s.Theyleadupstairsto a small bedroom on the left and another larger bedroom on thesouthsideofthehouse.Eachbedroomhasclosedpassagewaysleadingtotheroof.Apairofroomsaresituatedontheeastandwestsidesjust

before the entrance to the larger bedroom. Fire escapes that werebelowthemainwindowsoftheupstairsbedroomsarenowgone.In May 1995, The Brevard Heritage Council presented a BrevardRegister of Historic Buildings Plaque and certificate in recognition ofoutstandingpreservationandmaintenanceofahistoricbuildingtoLilafor“CarterManor”.Inmanyyears,thehomewasagatheringplaceforsocialoccasionsthatranged from dinner parties, teen parties, weddings and large familyreunions. Current and former Titusville residents recall their visits tothehousewithmuchfondness.

April2015

126GrannisAve,Titusville,Florida32796

ParcelID:22-35-04-AU-00006.0-0022.00TaxAcct:2201149Note:BrevardCountyTaxRecordshavethefollowinginformationforpropertyhistory:PlatBk2,page12–ParkAdditiontoTitusville1913DB58,page462Robbins&GrahamAdditiontoTitusville,

soldtoJohnF.Bishop&wifeLouisaPlatBk-505soldtoIdaE.Glenn1915DB52page288soldtoIdaE.Glenn1921DB83,page287soldtoGeorgeH.AldermanDB90,page108soldtoAdelaideL.Winslow1929DB296,page1&7soldtoEliaby(Ellerbe)Carter1943

Probatedeathcertificate25-50page104,wifePatricia24-14page1357,2518page153

DB2720pages1806thru1809probate&exchangedhandsfromfamilymembers Foreclosures2958page1962978DB3249pages3424&3425LilaD.Carter&PaulSanders,Jr.