Gianopoli/Genopoly Residence

Gianopoli/Genopoly Residence

Oldest Frame House

Old Cedar Schoolhouse Restaurant

Old House Photo Shop

Oldest Schoolhouse

School House

Oldest Wooden School House

c. 1800-1810

Btw. 1860-1888

This building was originally a house.

Part of this building was repurposed as a schoolhouse.

This building operated as a tourist or photo shop.

This building was run as a tearoom/restaurant.

This building is now a tourist and educational attraction.

When the Minorcans arrived in St. Augustine in 1777, they settled at the north end of St. George Street. Jesse Fish owned or had been deeded many of the properties owned by the Spanish settlers who left in 1763 at the beginning of the British Period, including Tomas Ramos who had a house of boards on the lot where the Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse now stands. Fish sold this empty house to Juan/Ionnis Gianopoulos/Gianopli/Genopoly. Gianopli was a carpenter by trade. On the de la Roque map of 1788, the property is listed as owned by a "Juan Yenoply" (Gianopli) picturing a east-west orientated home slightly set back from the street.

Between 1800 and 1810 the original house was replaced by Gianopli with the current cedar shingle structure. It is now the only surviving wood building from the 2nd Spanish Period.

After the Minorcans from the failed New Smyrna colony took up residence in St. Augstine, their children were in need of an education which would help them thrive under firstBritish rule, and then Spanish. Juan Gianopli converted part of the first floor of his home into a schoolhouse and persudaded parents to send their children. The date at which Juan Gianopli converted part of his home into a schoolhouse is fuzzy (original structure or current structure). His daughter, Maria Gianopli (whose name changed upon marriage to Mary Darling) was the principal teacher because she was well versed in languages, making her effective at understanding her charges as she taught them to read and write. The Gianopli's operated their school until 1864 and for many years, was the only co-ed school in St. Augustine.

Then between 1860 and 1888, the kitchen as an outbuilding was built.

After the Gianopli heirs sold the house in 1904, Thomas and Cora Kearns created a novelty shop called the "Oldest Frame House," and made additions of windows and a new floor. During the 1920s, the home exchanged hands several times, from Hannah Irwin's tearoom, to Abraham Weinstein, who leased the building to the Old Cedar Schoolhouse Restaurant and the Old House Photo Shop. In 1931, W.J. Harris acquired the building and began the tourist attraction called the "Oldest Schoolhouse." Between 1937 and 1939, Walter B. Fraser purchased the building and his heirs continue to run the attraction to today. The "School House" is one of the sites in St. Augustine to be added to the Historic American Buildings Survey published March 1, 1941.

This site is open to the public. For access information, please visit the Oldest Wooden School House's website.

Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse
14 St. George St.
St. Augustine, FL 32084
Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse

This building is located on St. George Street.

Flagler College’s Rare Books, Floridiana & Institutional Repository are neither the original nor current copyright owner for the photographs. Please contact the publisher or source cited for each photograph to obtain a copy and/or permission to reproduce these items.

The following St. Augustine Fiction books feature this building as a location:

Best Behavior
Grandmother in Cellophane
St. Augustine A to Z
Sarah Faith Anderson
The Seminole Trail

This record was last updated on June --, 2025.