This house sits on land granted to Juan Bousquet and Gaspar Papy, separately, in the late 1770’s. They planted one of the first commercial orange groves in Florida on the site. “Yallaha” the Seminole word for “Orange,” came from owner Peter Skenandoah Smith in 1838, a developer of North City. The house, built in 1845 by Peter & Rose Dumas is the oldest surviving building in that portion of the City and one of the few surviving pre-Civil War buildings. Dumas held political offices in the City, County and State and was related to the famous writer, Alexander Dumas.

Michael Spades, a successful dry goods merchant, bought the house in 1893 and remodeled it into “one of the most beautiful homes in St. Augustine,” where his wife and daughter entertained much of the winter society. Other owners include A.J. Marble, a founder of the Art Institute of Chicago; and J.C. Heartt of a prominent Troy, NY family. His sister, Francis Heartt Raub, acquired the house on his death in the 1920’s.

Charles F. Usina purchased the house in 1954 and sold it in 1955 to William Forrester, a local contractor, who remodeled the house several times.