Villa Zoraya, built in 1883 as the private residence of Franklin Smith, a wealthy Boston hardware merchant, was modeled after the 12th-century Moorish Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. It was built with courses of a poured concrete mixture consisting of Portland cement and crushed coquina stone. Henry Flagler, who later developed resort cities all along the eastern Florida coast, liked the construction method so much that he built the spectacular Ponce de León Hotel, the Hotel Alcazar and the Grace United Methodist Church in St. Augustine, all using poured concrete construction.
The house was bought by the Abraham Mussallem in 1913 and is still owned by the family. Many of the oriental rugs, furniture and fine arts are from the collections of Smith and Abraham Mussallem.
The accessible entrance, at the rear of the building, is kept locked so you must call or have a member of your party contact the museum staff to open it. The second floor is not accessible therefore there isn’t a charge for visitors in wheelchairs. Touring the museum is self guided with handheld audio devices making it possible to listen to the second floor audio information without actually going to the second floor. One small room near the admission desk has a very narrow doorway which may block access to that room for some wheelchair users.
The parking lot is small and RVs are not permitted but we were allowed to park for easy wheelchair access. I’m not sure if this would be allowed on a busier day or with a larger RV. Museum
29.89159, -81.31529
Two great museums, side by side.
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