1975 HERITAGE AWARD RECIPIENT
The Redlands Area Historical Society, Inc.
Heritage Award 1975
Frank E. Brown Home
815 West Cypress Avenue
1882
The residence was judiciously placed 400 feet west of the proposed center of Redlands, Center and Cypress Avenue. There Frank E. Brown could watch carefully the growth of his colony.
Construction of the house began in 1882 and by May, Brown occupied the first plastered house in the Redlands colony. Here he installed the first telephone in Redlands, but later moved that “modern convenience” to Lugonia.
The home has undergone some radical structural changes. In fact it is nearly impossible to recognize the original building. The 1882 house had a porch surrounding the north and east sides. The supporting pillars on the front porch were rather plain and far less decorated. The roofline sloped on a north and south line.
The carriage barn was located on the east side of the house in what is now Gerrard’s Market rear parking lot. This barn burned before the market was built.
The interior of this residence features oak which carries a north of elegance. The owners over the years have extended the south rooms and the entire back of the house has been elongated.
The successive owners have been Frank E. Brown, Mrs. K.M. Day, J.W. Wood, Clarence E. Taylor, Mrs. M.E. Norwood, the Jack Wileys, the Jerry T. Ellis’, and presently the William T. Browns.
