St. Johns Quarter: 4-plex With a River View

We continue the tour of the St. Johns Quarter neighborhood in Jacksonville's historic Riverside with a look at another interesting 4-plex.  This brick building has a river view despite its location on St. Johns Avenue, a block away from the river.

2236 St. Johns Avenue, St. Johns Quarter, Jacksonville, built in 1930.  This building repeats the "H" pattern seen in so many Riverside 4-plex apartment buildings.  The porches on the front flank a courtyard entry, while a similar courtyard on the back of the building provides space for back stairs.  The front door opens to a hallway and staircase, and access to the four apartments.  This ensures that all apartments, including the two downstairs units, have private porches.  Contrast this with the front porch entry to apartments at 2126 St. Johns Avenue in my October 29th post.

Here's a look through the door to the hallway and stairs.  It's a simple, light-filled lobby, and pleasant entry to the four apartments.  The one-bedroom units are appoximately 950 square feet, and include original fireplace, separate dining room, and hardwood floors.  The house has been renovated.

The lines of this brick building are clean and simple.  A single column stands between the two archways on the front of each porch.  There are archways on the sides of the porches as well.  The only decoration around the archways is the brickwork itself.

A view of the upstairs porch gives a better look at the column in the archway.

The pattern of arches on the front of the building is repeated in the arched central window over the front door.  Above this window, at the roofline, brickwork and tiles provide the only ornamentation on the building.

A side view shows the chimney for the fireplaces on this side of the building.  You can also see the barrel-tile roof.

Here's the rear of the building, with the inset containing the back stairs.  Most St. Johns Avenue buildings back up to other buildings on the next block.  This apartment house has the good fortune to back up to the wide side lawn of a River Boulevard neighbor, giving the back of each apartment a view across the lawn to the St. Johns River.

Here's the river view enjoyed by the residents of this building a block away from the river.

The view is courtesy of the family living in this famous home, the Leon Cheek house at 2263 River Boulevard, built in 1928, and one of the most dramatic and celebrated homes in Jacksonville for obvious reasons.

This house by architect Roy Benjamin was built for the head of the Cheek-Neal Coffee Company, which later became the Maxwell House Coffee Company.  This house is significant enough to warrent its own look in a future post.