Casa Avero-Salcedo House

Casa Avero-Salcedo House

Jose (Josef) Salcedo House

Salcedo House / Salcedo Kitchen and Smokehouse

Salcedo House & Kitchen

Salcedo House Kitchen

Spanish Bakery

Spanish Bakery & Cafe

Whetstones

Joaquin Blanco

Andreas Rainsford

Jose Salcedo

Pre-1732-1733

Btw 1765 and 1784

c.1880s

1962-1965

The original structure at this location was a house.

The original structure was replaced by a dry good store.

The building was turned into a museum with a public kitchen.

The building morphed into a restaurant, only.

The Jose Salcedo House is a coquina block house with a detached kitchen located on St. George Street.

In the First Spanish Period, the Avero family owned several properties north of Hypolita Street that became the dowry's for four daughters born between 1713 and 1723. Alfonsa/Alphonsa (b.1713), the eldest Avero daughter, inherited this property from her mother, Francesca Maria Garcia de Aevedo Penalosa, around the time of her marriage when she was fifteen (1732 or 1733). Her sisters inherited the neighboring houses, including the Avero, Arrivas, and De Hita Houses. This property somehow came into the possession of her brother-in-law, Joaquin Blanco, who was responsible for the Castillo's military supplies by 1763 when St. Augustine became British.

In the British Colonial Period, spanning from 1763-1784, the house was owned by Captain Andreas Rainsford starting in 1765. During his ownership, the detached kitchen was added.

During the Second Spanish Period (1784-1821), Don Pedro Jose Salcedo owned the property by 1788. Originally from Havana, he served as the captain of artillery at the Castillo de San Marcos. While Jose Salcedo continued to own the house, he rented it to black Haitian revolutionary, General George Biassou from 1797-1801.

In the 1880s, a new(?) structure on the foundations was turned into a dry goods store. During the 1960s restoration of St. Augustine, the foundations of a dilapidated wood building on this lot were determined to date to between 1702 and 1788 (date of the Siege of St. Augustine after which time the Penalosa family rebuilt their properties and a map listing Salcedo's home as built of masonry), and the house was rebuilt to look as it did during the 2nd Spanish Period. The reconstructed Salcedo House is built of coquina with a shingle roof of cedar.

The Jose Salcedo House was originally a tobacco shop and then a candy store in the early 1970s and is once again a candy store for Whetstones, a local chocolatier. The now-Spanish Bakery operated in the Salcedo Kitchen after being rebuilt in 1965, and served empanadas, sandwiches, soups, freshly baked bread, and more. The 1965 rebuild of the British era kitchen included the addition of a smokehouse as the British smoked rather than salted meats for preserving them, to blend the Spanish and British history of this reconstructed colonial home and detached kitchen.

The Spanish Bakery is open to the public seven days a week. For current hours of operation, please visit their Home page.

Spanish Bakery & Cafe
42 1/2 St. George Street
St. Augustine, FL 32084
Spanish Bakery Cafe

The following books, articles, websites, and photographers were used to find the above photographs or illustrations:

Photograph 1 (c.1962): San Agustin Antiguo: The Restoration of Old St. Augustine, 1960-66. St. Augustine Historical, Restoration and Preservation Commission and St. Augustine Restoration, Inc., [1967].

Photograph 2 (c.1967): San Agustin Antiguo: The Restoration of Old St. Augustine, 1960-66. St. Augustine Historical, Restoration and Preservation Commission and St. Augustine Restoration, Inc., [1967].

Photograph 3 (2025): Zufelt, Holly. "Spanish Bakery." July 22, 2025.

Photograph 4 (2025): Owens, Katherine. "NRHP Marker." June 3, 2025.

The following books, articles, and/or websites were used to find information about this location:

Gordon, Elsbeth “Buff.” Walking St. Augustine: An Illustrated Guide and Pocket History to America’s Oldest City. Univ. of Florida Press, 2015.

Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board. Guide Book, Including Descriptions of the Buildings, Crafts, and a Brief History of the Restoration of the Nation’s Oldest City. [Tallahassee, FL]: Department of State, 1971.

Manucy, Albert C. The Houses of St. Augustine: (Notes on the Architecture from 1565 to 1821). St. Augustine, FL: The St. Augustine Historical Society, 1962.

Rajtar, Steve, and Kelly Goodman. A Guide to Historic St. Augustine, Florida. 1^st edition. The History Press, 2007.

San Agustin Antiguo: The Restoration of Old St. Augustine, 1960-66. St. Augustine Historical, Restoration and Preservation Commission and St. Augustine Restoration, Inc., [1967].

Spanish Bakery & Café. “Our Story.” http://www.spanishbakerycafe.com/our-story.html.

Whetstone Chocolate of St. Augustine. “Come Visit Us at Your Nearest Chocolate Shop in St. Augustine, Florida!” https://www.whetstonechocolates.com/page/locations.

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:

The Bones of the Holy

This record was last updated on October 22, 2025.