By Jeff Dahlberg
Location: Thorton Park, Wadeview Park, Colonialtown South, Lawsona Fern Creek
When people visit Orlando as a vacation destination, I’m fairly certain the first things that spring to mind are theme parks, the characters associated with them and crowds of tourists laden with armloads of tacky souvenirs.
But to me, Orlando has a different kind of character that has nothing to do with tourist trap destinations.
It’s true character is reflected in the charming homes in the neighborhoods that surround me.
These homes date back to WWII and some go even further back to the late1900’s.
A time when things were built to last.
What strikes me is how different one home is from the other, existing side by side on the same block. It’s a metaphoric bouquet of cute Florida bungalows, craftsman, Mediterranean, traditional, ranch and Victorian style homes. No cookie cutter construction will be found in these neighborhoods.
Recently I’ve noticed a disturbing trend however. As people, for whatever reason, sell these homes, they’re being bought by developers that seem to have no appreciation for architectural diversity. They’re are being torn down in favor of square boxes with zero personality. Featureless slabs of faux stucco facades that are sterile and lacking of character. They dub these “modern contemporary”.
That just seems so out of character.
