Know
Harvard-designed Snell Isle home falls to the wrecking ball
Architect William Bloxham Harvard’s distinctive designs, blending dramatic curves and stark angles, can be found all over St. Petersburg past and present: The Williams Park bandshell, Pasadena Community Church, the beloved “inverted pyramid” iteration of the St. Pete Pier (1973-2015), Derby Lane, the Federal Building, Redington Beach’s iconic Tides Hotel and even the St. Petersburg Public Library’s Main Branch, which has been closed for renovations since 2021.
And now, another of Harvard’s one-of-a-kind St. Petersburg designs has fallen to history.
The house at 411 Cordova Blvd, on a 1.2 acre Snell Isle waterfront lot, was demolished Thanksgiving week, after reportedly sustaining damage from the twin 2024 hurricanes. The home is located in Evacuation Zone A.
Dec. 5, 2024: The last rubble from 411 Cordova Blvd. is cleared away. Photo by Bill DeYoung.
Harvard, known for his distinctive mid-century modern style (sometimes called “Tropical Modernism”), designed the 8,000-square-foot home in 1956 for hotel operator John Franklin Knowlton, his wife Betty and their five children.
Knowlton and Harvard were friends, and the single-level home was built with specific instructions: Separate bedrooms for each of the kids, a fireplace with bookshelves, an interior garden space for orchids, lots of green space outside. Betty Knowlton, in particular, asked for a living room and dining room that weren’t connected to the other rooms – she disliked “pass-throughs.”
The family gave the architect a 14-page list of what they wanted; as for the design of the building itself, that was left to Harvard. And he created one of the most distinctive (and iconic) structures on mid-century Snell Isle, with jarring angles, high ceilings, deep eaves, an entry courtyard, floor to ceiling windows and doors, a 60-foot lagoon-shaped pool and garden walkways. It was thought to be one of the first homes in the city to be built with steel framing.
Harvard died in 1995, Knowlton in 2010. The latter’s family sold the home for $2.3 million in 2013.
The buyers, who still own the property, did not immediately respond to phone calls and emails from the Catalyst.
The house, however, has been razed to the ground.
Harvard’s grandson, realtor William “Billy” Harvard IV, spent a lot of his childhood in the Knowlton home. “My feelings are not dissimilar from what they were when the pier was torn down,” he said. “I don’t think there was necessarily a reason for the pier to be torn down. At the time, my father and grandfather’s architectural firm had a phenomenal way to renovate it, and I think it would have been more aesthetically pleasing to the eye – the pier itself – than the current iteration.”
Harvard recently learned of another local home, designed by his grandfather, that flooded during Hurricane Helene and was subsequently demolished. “I can’t necessarily fault an owner for taking a situation that comes, especially a natural disaster, and reacting to it.
“But the fact that this (the Knowlton house) is gone is sad. From my point of view. Everybody that I’ve talked to feels that way. I wish I had gotten over to see it before it was torn down.”
JAMES
December 18, 2024at3:49 pm
This Very Sad News……Another Historic Landmark Disappears Almost Without Concern While A Battle Rages Over A Baseball Stadium …….
Page Obenshain
December 12, 2024at1:19 pm
I first saw the home under construction as a child and my folks told me the construction cost was a whopping $97,000! Many happy memories at the home.
ML
December 12, 2024at1:06 am
FEMA 50 percent mandate formulated in cohorts with property builders and investors stealing flooded damaged homes from property owners. Investors buying these homes for pennies on the dollar to rebuild as the County and FEMA won’t allow owners to do the repairs necessary to a flooded house under the 50 percent rule. So then, what is the use of having flood insurance with this unjust theft from FEMA mandates. FEMA should be completely dismantled. The new 2.0 risk flood premiums reversed to what it used to be and the 50 percent rule eradicated. Otherwise no one owns a home in the USA cause it would be stolen by FEMA rules and it’s collaborating investors / builders.
Rosemary Sampson
December 11, 2024at8:06 pm
Such a lovely home. Was stunning then & even more so here recently. So much character. Hard to find anymore. Sad day
Clay
December 11, 2024at7:57 pm
There should be a law against the demolition of historic gems. It’s truly a shame how people disregard incredible innovative masterpieces.
Lauren
December 11, 2024at3:28 pm
Nooooooo!This was one of my favorite homes here in St Pete! Sad to see it go 🙁
Debbie Dunbar Kniffin
December 11, 2024at12:15 pm
Was so happy when the new owners maintained the home & honored its iconic beauty. Have many wonderful memories of times spent in that home. A wonderful family. Betty Knowlton loaned me her pearls on my wedding day,(something borrowed) they were perfect. Very sad to see.
Maybe Bill Harvard IV could design the new home?
Tim K
December 10, 2024at6:08 pm
They’ll probably build 5 ugly mc mansions on the property!!
Sylvia Rusche
December 10, 2024at4:49 pm
That’s sad. It was stunning 🙁