Goodrich Bungalow - 540 North Thorpe Avenue

The Goodrich Bungalow. This house was built in 1915 for Alfred and Nellie Goodrich of Madison County, New York. The house was built in the popular Bungalow architectural style of the early nineteen hundreds. The house is unseen from the street as it sits back 150 feet from the street and is largely obscured by vegetation.

The house at 540 North Thorpe Avenue was built in 1915. Today, the structure is virtually unseen from the street because of the native vegetation and its distance of 150 feet from the street. Built for Alfred Lindsey Goodrich and his bride Nellie L (Holden) Goodrich, both hailing from New York. Alfred graduated from Cornell University and was a retired cigar distributor and Nellie was a retired school teacher. They met and married late in life, and this Bungalow served as their winter retreat.

Bungalow architectural style is characterized by a low pitched roof on a gabled or hipped roof with large over hanging eaves with exposed beams that embodies the Craftsman style of 1900-1920. A prominent feature of the Goodrich Bungalow are the four hip dormer windows that pierce the roofline. Each window sidewall is finished with wood shingle siding that also covers the gabled ends of the roof. The lower walls are covered in drop siding. Single pane hopper windows in the dormers are contrasted by fifteen over fifteen light double-hung sash windows below. A porte-cochere extends off the north elevation. The front porch incorporates tapered columns with decorative carved brackets in the eaves.

The Bungalow at one time had a decorative pergola covering the driveway entrance, which was unique to this site. The pergola was listed as a contributing structure to the City's National Register Historic District in 2004. Unfortunately, the structure was deconstructed due to rot in the mid 2000s. A description of the pergola indicates it was about ten feet wide by about twenty feet in length and stood about twelve feet high. The tapered posts were surfaced with a stucco finish. The posts supported purloins and trusses with carved rafter ends similar in size and design of those employed in the house.

Alfred and Nellie Goodrich sold their bungalow in 1921 and returned to Oneida, New York, where Alfred passed in 1931 and Nellie in 1943. Their home remains a unique example of Bungalow architecture in the City's historic area. A low wooden lattice fence that once lined the property boundaries can still be seen at the corner of N. Thorpe and E. French Avenues.

https://lakehelen.com/Gateway/Frame%20Vernacular%20-%20Style%20Guide.pdf

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service (2004). National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Orange City Historic District Orange City, Volusia County, Florida

Orange City Pioneer Family Tree, Ancestry.com. Accessed March 31st 2020. https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/78235748/person/242176169084/facts.