C. 1723 coquina landmark — the oldest surviving house in St. Augustine and a National Historic Landmark
14 St. Francis St, St. Augustine, FL 32084
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
Admission fee; see website for current pricing
Access
Wheelchair OK
Ground-floor coquina construction accessible; narrow period doorways in some rooms
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1723 · National Historic Landmark · Oldest Surviving House in St. Augustine · Spanish Colonial Architecture · Five Flags History
Spain founded St. Augustine in 1565, and the site at 14 St. Francis Street has been continuously occupied since at least the early 18th century. The original structure on the lot was destroyed during the British siege and burning of St. Augustine in 1702. The current ground floor was built around 1723 for Tomás González y Hernández, an artilleryman stationed at Castillo de San Marcos. The coquina construction — native seashell limestone that hardens upon exposure to air — placed it within the standard building tradition of colonial St. Augustine, though wooden structures remained more common.
The house passed through five distinct political eras in a span of less than a century. During the British period following the 1763 Treaty of Paris, Major Joseph Peavett acquired the property and added a wood-frame second story as well as glass windows, introducing English domestic conventions to the Spanish-built shell. The British period ended in 1784 when Spain reacquired Florida; subsequent owner Gerónimo Álvarez, for whom the house is jointly named, added a coquina wing and operated a general store from the ground floor. After American acquisition of Florida in 1821, the house passed to Dr. Seth Peck, who renovated it in 1837 and added additional wood-frame structures.
The St. Augustine Historical Society acquired the property in 1918 and has operated it as a museum since. The complex includes the main house, a detached building housing a colonial military collection, and a garden. On April 15, 1970, the González-Álvarez House was designated a National Historic Landmark, recognized as the oldest surviving house in St. Augustine and one of the best examples in the United States of a dwelling that accumulated Spanish, British, and American layers over a single site's history.
Sources
The González-Álvarez House appears regularly on St. Augustine ghost tours, which situate its haunting within the colonial layers of the property. José Tovar is cited in ghost tour literature as the spirit of an 18th-century Spanish infantryman who first occupied the corner in 1763, during the transition to British rule; his name appears in the historical record as a Spanish artilleryman. Martin D. Hardin, a Union Army general who was wounded at the Battle of Wilderness in 1864, later lived in St. Augustine and is cited in some tour accounts as a presence in the house — though the connection between Hardin and this specific address is not established in primary sources.
Staff and visitor accounts in paranormal literature describe objects moving in one room referred to as Maria's Room, strange light effects in various interior spaces, and at least one tourist's report of a dog becoming distressed inside the building before calming once taken outside. A circulated video is described in paranormal sources as showing a dark humanoid figure walking through a doorway into a sunlit room without fading.
The St. Augustine Historical Society's own FAQ directly states that 'there are no records of haunted events taking place at the site.' The paranormal material derives entirely from ghost tour operators and visitor accounts rather than institutional documentation. The historical significance of the structure — continuous occupation across Spanish, British, and American regimes — is not in question.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
The self-guided tour moves through the González-Álvarez House across five distinct historical periods — First Spanish (1565–1763), British (1763–1784), Second Spanish (1784–1821), Territorial (1821–1845), and Statehood Era — with period furnishings, interpretive material, and the architectural layering visible in coquina walls, later wood-frame additions, and the two-story Peck-era wing.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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