We’re Speechless: Historic Florida Home Brimming With Decor Hits the Market for $789K

by Tiffani Sherman

This scene stealer is a real eyeful when you first open its doors.

Dating back to 1900, the Baya House is in a historic area of Jacksonville, FL. Listed for $789,000, the 4,250-square-foot home is packed to the hilt with period pieces.

The sellers “have tried to take it back to the opulence that it had in its infancy,” explains listing agent Joanie Heighes, with Engel & Volkers First Coast. “Their decor is to match the timeframe that would have been in line from when it was built.”

The current owners bought the place in 2011, after the previous owners gutted it.

“They took it down to the studs and then restored it lovingly to the mansion it used to be,” Heighes explains.

So much decor

The furniture-stuffed home has new mechanicals but original staircases, floors, fireplaces, and more.

So much more.

A dizzying amount of decor fills each room. Patterns, prints, and window treatments abound from floor to ceiling.

The sellers “just have embraced the fact that this property should have been decorated in the Victorian-era style, and that’s what they’ve done,” Heighes says. “Everything in there works; it’s just that the decor comes from an era when more is better.”

There are four bedrooms, four full bathrooms, a large butler’s pantry, and a top-floor bonus room.

“It has a wow factor, and when you walk in, it’s very warm,” Heighes says. “It has more furnishings than we see in a modern house, but it’s in historic Springfield, so there are homes there that are decorated in the same style.”

The property includes a large pool in the backyard and a picturesque wraparound porch.

With a large living space and plenty of places to entertain, the home’s history is on full display.

“Every room tells a different story,” Heighes says. “The things in there have been lovingly procured from all over the world.”

She adds that once you look past the current furnishings, there is a lot of potential.

“It’s a beloved house; that’s for sure,” she says. “It’s almost a universal house. You could put modern furnishings in that house and have the backdrop of original floors, nice woodwork, and high ceilings. I think whoever buys it is going to be incredibly lucky to have found it.”