The Marybuilt

This is one of my favorite mixed-use buildings in Jacksonville's historic Riverside neighborhood, a Spanish-style two-story building with commercial spaces downstairs and apartments upstairs.

The Marybuilt, 879 Stockton Street, Jacksonville, Florida, built in 1923, Henrietta Dozier architect.  This happy building at the corner of Stockton and College Streets was named for the wife of the man who owned it, Atlantic Coast Line railroad conductor Oscar Singletary.  His wife Mary opened a restaurant on the first floor.  Her name is inscribed on the facade over the little balcony that helps anchor the center of the building.

There are six commercial spaces on the first floor, including one popular restaurant, 13 Gypsies.  Perhaps it occupies the same space where Mary Singletary opened her restaurant in 1923!  13 Gypsies got national publicity when it was featured on Drive-ins, Diners and Dives.  Of course, it's really none of those three.  It is a place where you can enjoy a fine meal.

Other businesses in the Marybuilt include a bicycle shop.  There is also one storefront for rent, so if you're looking for commercial property in Riverside, here's an opportunity!

There are two entrances to the apartments, one on the front and the other on the College Street side of the building. 

There are six efficiency apartments.  A Florida Times-Union article on the building's restoration in 2002 noted that each apartment included a large room with space for a Murphy bed, a small bathroom-dressing room, and a kitchen.  There is outdoor space adjacent to some of the apartments.

The building's decorative features are simple, but pleasing.  There are brickwork arches around windows, tile work, and red barrel tiles along the roof line.

Henrietta Dozier was an interesting lady; she was Jacksonville's only female architect in the early part of the 20th century, a native of nearby Fernandina Beach, and a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  Here's a link to a very interesting interview she gave to a writer from the Federal Writers' Project in 1939:  http://www.jaxhistory.com/Dozier.html

Now, I'm off to Los Angeles for a few days.  I'll be a judge this weekend for the Radio-Television News Association's "Golden Mike" awards.  I'm taking a couple of extra days of vacation to enjoy the city, and no doubt will drag my wife around more old neighborhoods than she cares to see!  I'll be back next Wednesday and may feel compelled to share some of my LA favorites!  See you then.