In 1936, title to a
tract of land known now as Washington Oaks Gardens, a Florida State Park, was
received by Louise Powis Clark (1887-1965), a widow with three children. It was
to become a winter home for her and her third husband, Owen D. Young (1874-1962), also recently widowed. Both were from New York. Louise owned a
lingerie company in the Philippines. Owen had been a lawyer, diplomat, and chairman of the boards
of General Electric Company and RCA. But there's very little about Washington
Oaks that immediately suggests the owners' wealth.
The area had been
home to diverse residents, from aboriginal people to Spanish and English
Colonists. In 1818, Jose Mariano Hernandez acquired the tract as an addition to
his plantation, Mala Compra (Bad Purchase), to the south. Since it overlooked
the Matanzas River, he called it Bella Vista (Beautiful View).
Eventually it passed
to heirs, one being George L. Washington. Members of the family lived on “The
Washington Place” occasionally from the 1870s to 1890s. The Washington lodge no
longer exists.
In 1923, the property
was sold to developers to be subdivided into residential lots known as Hernandez
Estates. But the financial crash of the ‘20s and the Depression of the ‘30s put
an end to that dream.
Louise and Owen
discovered the property along old highway A1A in 1935 while visiting her mother
in St. Augustine, FL. The developers had failed to pay taxes on some parcels,
land values were way down, and the romantic couple from up North had money to
spend. Louise acquired title in 1936. She and Owen were married the following
year.
Rather than rename the
place, they called it “Washington Oaks.” Perhaps they liked the sound of it, or
named it so because George L. slept there.
Being a designer with
interests in weaving and pottery, Louise went to work designing the house and
gardens with an artistic eye. Their home was modest, and took full advantage of
the view of the river. She combined native and exotic plants in the garden, and
included oriental motifs.
Owen Young was a
businessman who took an interest in horticulture, so he planted a citrus grove.
Naturally, he set up a fruit stand beside old A1A where he occasionally tended
and sold citrus to passersby.
My parents often took
us boys to Florida in those days, sometimes traveling that scenic highway. I
like to imagine we passed the old man hawking oranges by the road, not
realizing he was the co-founder of RCA, NBC, and a consultant to presidents.
The Youngs eventually
purchased land across the road, allowing them beach access. Owen built an
office on that side so he’d have a quiet place to do business and study. He built a nice home there for the caretaker,
too.
Traffic increased,
and road noise began to disturb the Young’s idyll, so they prevailed to have
A1A relocated closer to the beach. A quiet, scenic portion of the old road still
exists, reminding visitors of those
days long gone.
Follow me to see what
grows beyond the garden wall by clicking on the links below.
Travelers might have
barely noticed Washington Oaks simple coquina gates. Coquina stone is
sedimentary rock consisting of coquina shells and sand. It was often used as a
building material.
Curcuma provides pops
of color in the tropical garden.
In The Compleat
Angler, Izaak Walton observed “the Carp is the Queen of Rivers: a stately, a
good, and a very subtil fish”. Koi are glorified carp. For bait, Walton
instructed, “Take the flesh of a Rabbet or Cat cut small, and Bean-flowre;…and
then mix these together, and put to them either Sugar, or Honey, …beat together
in a Mortar, …and then make it into a ball, or two, or three…” Since I had none
of those things, nor a fishing license, I simply watched them laze about.
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