Chances are you’ve heard of Henry Flagler, the railroad magnate and co-founder of Standard Oil. Today he’s entombed in a mausoleum at Memorial Presbyterian Church on Valencia Street, but 120 years ago he lived next door at his winter home called Kirkside (“kirk” is an old Scottish term for church). The house was built for Flagler’s third wife, Ida Alice Shourds. Designed by John Carrére and Thomas Hastings, Kirkside incorporated classical forms to create a southern colonial mansion with grounds that covered 5 acres. The 15 room house was finished and occupied in 1893.
The appearance outside was striking; the house gleamed white with green blinds. A four foot coquina wall surrounded the house, and two coquina columns at the front gate glowed at night under electric lamps. A defining characteristic was the four massive corinthian columns that supported the porte cochere at the main entrance. To call the interior of the house extravagant would be an understatement. A local newspaper (The Tatler) deemed it “baronial,” having rooms finished with dark hand carved oak, mahogany, and cherry and marble floors. There was also a ladies’ salon, designed to emulate Versailles. Regal antique furnishings filled the rooms and paintings and tapestries adorned the walls.
Sadly, after only 3 years at Kirkside Ida Alice succumbed to mental illness and was institutionalized in 1896, after which Flagler left the home. The Model Land Co. acquired the property in 1950 and the house was demolished. An article in the Record on March 11, 1951 noted that for a time the four columns had remained and stood among the rubble like the ruins of the parthenon, but lamented that “the columns were being knocked down yesterday.” The land from the house and grounds were subdivided into 13 lots, which created the Kirkside subdivision.
