PRESS RELEASE: Secretary Byrd Announces the Designation of the Perry House in the National Register of Historic Places

Tallahassee, Fla. –

Secretary of State Cord Byrd announced today that the Perry House in Lakeland, Polk County, has been listed in the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places.

“I am pleased to announce that the Perry House has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places,” said Secretary of State Cord Byrd. "The Perry House is a remarkably intact example of a Mid-Century Modern Style home designed by architect Mark Hampton, known for his association with the Sarasota School of Architecture."

The Perry House was built in 1957 in a neighborhood south of downtown Lakeland for Rayburn and Fleenor Perry. Architect Mark Hampton designed Mid-Century Modern Style residences in several Central Florida communities including Lake Wales, Lutz, and Lakeland. Hampton gained experience by joining Ralph Twitchell and Paul Rudolph’s architectural firm in Sarasota, where he practiced a regional interpretation of modernist architecture, since termed the Sarasota School. From 1952 to 1965, Hampton had his own architecture firm in Tampa, where he developed his own modern style using a variety of materials and minimalist approaches.

The Mid-Century Modern Style was developed in response to architects’ desire to experiment with new materials, simplicity, and open floor plans. It developed from European Modernism as filtered through American schools of architecture. The Sarasota School of Architecture is a subtype of the Mid-Century Modern Style and was created by a prominent group of architects who worked in Florida, including Paul Rudolf, Ralph Twitchell, Jack West, Gene Leedy, Victor Lundy, and others.

West side and facade of the Perry House

Perry House interior

An excellent example of the Sarasota School, Mark Hampton’s design for the Perry House utilizes a minimalist approach with an open floor plan and sliding divider walls between the two bedrooms. The Perrys desired an open plan, with a modern appearance and connection to Japanese design principles. The east side of the house has a glass wall, bringing in a large amount of natural light. Slatted, wooden privacy screens are placed over the windows of the house to add dimension to the building by contrasting with the white stucco walls.

The design, materials, and workmanship of this house have all been preserved, maintaining the simplistic, flat Mid-Century Modern aesthetic. Most significantly, the house retains its original glass windows and doors, and all of the original internal doors and cabinetry are maintained and in use. The property continues as a private residence, with the current owners dedicated to its preservation.

###

About The National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is a list maintained by the National Park Service which includes historical and archaeological properties including buildings, structures, sites, objects, and districts, that are considered worthy of preservation because of their local, statewide and/or national significance. Nominations for properties in Florida are submitted to the National Park Service through the Florida Department of State’s Division of Historical Resources. Florida has over 1,700 listings on the National Register, including 295 historic districts and 175 archaeological sites. There are more than 50,000 sites contributing to the National Register in Florida. For more information, visit flheritage.com/preservation/national-register. For more information about the National Register of Historic Places program administered by the National Park Service, visit nps.gov/nr.

About The Florida Department of State’s Bureau of Historic Preservation

The Bureau of Historic Preservation (BHP) conducts historic preservation programs aimed at identifying, evaluating, preserving, and interpreting the historic and cultural resources of the state. The Bureau manages the Florida Main Street Program, and under federal and state laws, oversees the National Register of Historic Places program for Florida, maintains an inventory of the state's historical resources in the Florida Master Site File, assists applicants in federal tax benefit and local government ad valorem tax relief programs for historic buildings, and reviews the impact that development projects may have on significant historic resources. For more information, visit flheritage.com/preservation.