223 W 4th St
Jacksonville, FL 32206

223 W 4th St, The Gould House, FAQ, Facts and Features

FAQs

     Utilities - JEA Provides Electric, Water, Sewer and Trash and runs $150 Winter to $275 Summer.  TECO provides piped gas for the Rinnai Insta-Hot Water Heater and Gas Stove - Approx $40/mo          
The roof is metal, age is unknown.
An Old Republic “Ultimate Protection Plan” home warranty will come with the house
A termite Bond with Rivers Pest Control, who tented the house in 2019, comes with the house
There is an ADT system and Ring Doorbell
XFinity Provides Cable and Internet
The lot is 35’x205’ with paved alley access to the east and access to the north with room for an RV, boat, or to build a pool, guest house or garage.
Historic Springfield is in an Historic District of Jacksonville and requires a COA (Certificate of Appropriateness) in addition to building permits.

Features

There are two VERY large magnolia trees on the property, one in the back and one in the front.  Master Arborist Danny Lippy provides care guidance. 

There is a Rinnai gas instant hot water heater
The molding around the walls one front off the ceiling is called picture molding and it is to hang pictures from without damaging the walls.  This is better for the walls as they are plaster and not like drywall. There are many options of hanging hardware to do this.
All new GE kitchen Appliances
The countertop is called Cielo and is Dolomite stone, a rare type of natural stone “that generally has higher densities and lower absorptions than Marble”
The kitchen and pantry tile are encaustic cement tile - “Until the 1920's, colorful cement tiles were considered high-end ultimate flooring that decorated the palaces of the Tsars, the mansions of the Côte d'Azure, Gaudi's Barcelona and Berlin's official buildings. Later on, the encaustic cement tile expanded as a creative and durable flooring all over Europe, and the former colonies of France, Spain and Portugal”
Most of the panes of glass are still the original wavy glass
Two Honeywell programmable thermostats that are controlled with an app
The light switches are from Antique Hardware and are new yet keep in the style of when electric would have first been available in the home (after it was built)

History

          
The home was moved from what was the center of the vacant lot next door and this lot, to allow a duplex to be built.  The duplex was later sold and ultimately burned in the last 20 years.  The lot next door is not for sale and a very nice gentleman owns it.
The kitchen used to be a separate building further back from the house.  This was done to protect the home from heat, smells and risk of fire.
The kitchen, baths, plumbing and electric were added later, in the early 1900s. You can see where plumbing was added in the exposed plumbing lines on the back of the house.
The stairs originally went all the way to the top north wall but now turn on a landing, allowing room for the upper bathroom to be built. You can see where the ceiling is lower below in the lower hallway to allow for the plumbing.
There used to be a door between the two larger bedrooms, to allow for ventilation prior to AC being developed.  This is also why the windows are so tall (ventilation).
There used to be a horse stable in the back of the property.
The porch ceilings are painted Haint Blue - “The blue color was meant to ward off “haints” or evil spirits who might want to harm the house or the family inside. Tricking Insects. Many people argue that painting your porch ceiling blue actually keeps insects away.”
There is one blue brick being left with the house. This was one of the very few blue bricks in the brick street that was taken up in 2021 and re-installed when new sewer and water was installed.  There are also some of the same blue bricks in Klutho in a display off of Silver St south of 2nd St.  Each neighbor on the 200 block of W 4th got one blue brick, that was all we were able to locate in the brick street when the bricks were removed.
The Railroad Spikes over all of the doors came with the house and are a superstitious tradition to “Tie the House Down” to avoid foreclosure or eviction, so I kept them there! They served me well!
The Gould House is one of the oldest homes in Springfield as well as Jacksonville and the owners watched Jacksonville burn from the porch in 1901.  The creek at Klutho stopped the fire from spreading to Springfield. 
There is a shadowbox of things and items an historic metal detector specialist found on the property.