Princess Place Livery Stable Restoration Nearly Complete

The restoration of the Princess Place livery stable is nearly complete. Exterior painting, the finishing touch, could be completed by Friday if dry weather prevails.

PALM COAST, FL – July 30, 2015 – The restoration of the Princess Place livery stable is nearly complete. Exterior painting, the finishing touch, could be completed by Friday if dry weather prevails.

Flagler County contracted with DiMare Construction – a company that also does restoration at Flagler College – to complete the work, which included replacing the foundation, re-framing the front and back of the stable and adding interior supports, replacing termite-damaged siding and stalls, new windows, and a new roof. Ken Smith Architects, also specializing in historic restoration, provided the architectural services.

“We are really pushing to finish the work by Friday (July 31), but the rain may not allow it,” project manager Charlie Owen said. “You really can’t paint while it is raining.”

The total project budget is $440,000 and is currently $45,000 under budget.

“We probably won’t spend all of that,” said Heidi Petito, Flagler County General Services Director.

Funding for the project is coming from a Florida Bureau of Historic Preservation grant in the amount of $183,400; a $150,000 Tourist Development Council grant; and, from money raised for capital projects through the half-cent sales tax to cover the remaining $106,600.

“I am thrilled with the restoration of the Princess Place stable and bathhouse,” Commissioner George Hanns said. “The restoration has been needed for a long time.”

Cherokee Grove, locally known as Princess Place Preserve, was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1997. The Flagler County Board of County Commissioners documented its vision of preservation of historical places by including it in the 2010-2015 Strategic Plan.

The lodge was built in 1888 and was restored by the county from 1997 to 1999 and remains much as it was in 1888. The Princess Place livery stable is located within the preserve and is included in the historic designation. It is the largest outbuilding in a complex of the oldest standing buildings in Flagler County.

“The stable will be restored to its original appearance,” Petito said. “We have recreated the north portion, using old photos, which had been removed prior to the county’s ownership. Additionally, it will be restored to its original color – light tan with white trim and dark green windows and doors.”

Environmentally, the property is the anchor for a coastal greenway system that runs some 30 miles along the Atlantic Coast and 7 miles west into the interior, and is within a designated National Estuarine Research Reserve and State Aquatic Preserve. The preserve plays an integral part in the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve.