Ximenez House
Dublin Core
Creator
Title
Ximenez House
Alternative Title
Mrs. Whitehurst Boarding House
Mrs. Anderson's House
Madame Fatio's Boarding House
Old Fatio Hotel
Ximenez-Fatio House
Ximenez-Fatio House Museum
Contributor
Mrs. Margaret Cook & Mrs. Eliza Whitehurst
Miss Louisa Fatio
The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America
Date Created
1797-1798
Date Modified
c.1819
1838
1855
1939
1978-1979
2002
Type
These buildings were originally a private home, and businesses run by Don Ximenez.
These buildings served as a boarding house for many years.
The buildings are now operated as a museum.
Description
In 1798, Don Andrés Ximenez built a three-story house for his wife, Juana Pellicer, and their children. Juana's father, Francisco Pellicer, led the Minorcans to St. Augustine in 1777, fleeing recapture by Dr. Andrew Turnbull. The building(s) on this lot prior to 1797 had fallen into disrepair and would have been torn down to make way for the current structures built by Ximenez. Only a portion of the present-day kitchen space remain from the 1750s home and outbuildings of Cristóval Contreras.
The house featured a bookstore, grocery store, billiards room, family living quarters, and warehouses. After Juana's death in 1802 and Andrés's in 1806, the estate passed to Francisco Pellicer who managed the property on behalf of his under-age grandchildren until 1819 when he requested the government to relive him of guardianship and responsibility for maintaining the property. The three surviving Ximenez children shared ownership equally but sold their inheritance to Mrs. Margaret Cook between 1827 and 1830. In 1830, Mrs. Cook renovated the buildings into a boarding house, managed by Mrs. Eliza Whitehurst. A Northern guest, Clarissa C. Fairbanks, in 1832 turned out to be the future Mrs. Dr. Andrew Anderson, mother to the second Dr. Anderson, friend of Henry Flagler, and owner of Markland House.
In 1838 the home/business was sold to Mrs. Sarah Petty Anderson. In 1851 Miss Louisa Fatio began working for Mrs. Anderson and then bought it in 1855, maintaining the home/business until her death in 1875. Authoress of several books with St. Augustine settings, Constance Fenimore Woolson stayed at the Madame Fatio Boarding House for several winters in the 1870s. Prior to the building of the big hotels in St. Augustine, Miss Fatio's boarding house offered the best accomodations for visitors.
The Galleon Club began in 1924, later to evolve into the St. Augustine Art Association, was first organized in the Ximenex-Fatio home, and there was talk of turning it into the Longfellow University. The property remained in the Fatio family, and continued to operate as a boarding house until 1939 when The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in The State of Florida purchased and restoring it as a historic house museum. Today, the house continues to be owned and operated by women.
The Ximenex-Fatio House is one of the sites in St. Augustine to be added to the Historic American Buildings Survey published March 1, 1941. The Ximenez-Fatio House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. By the last 1970s, deferred maintenance of the buildings had to be addressed and numerous archeaological findings proved the import of this site. A 2002 archeaological dig dates European habitation on this lot back to the 1650s.
The house featured a bookstore, grocery store, billiards room, family living quarters, and warehouses. After Juana's death in 1802 and Andrés's in 1806, the estate passed to Francisco Pellicer who managed the property on behalf of his under-age grandchildren until 1819 when he requested the government to relive him of guardianship and responsibility for maintaining the property. The three surviving Ximenez children shared ownership equally but sold their inheritance to Mrs. Margaret Cook between 1827 and 1830. In 1830, Mrs. Cook renovated the buildings into a boarding house, managed by Mrs. Eliza Whitehurst. A Northern guest, Clarissa C. Fairbanks, in 1832 turned out to be the future Mrs. Dr. Andrew Anderson, mother to the second Dr. Anderson, friend of Henry Flagler, and owner of Markland House.
In 1838 the home/business was sold to Mrs. Sarah Petty Anderson. In 1851 Miss Louisa Fatio began working for Mrs. Anderson and then bought it in 1855, maintaining the home/business until her death in 1875. Authoress of several books with St. Augustine settings, Constance Fenimore Woolson stayed at the Madame Fatio Boarding House for several winters in the 1870s. Prior to the building of the big hotels in St. Augustine, Miss Fatio's boarding house offered the best accomodations for visitors.
The Galleon Club began in 1924, later to evolve into the St. Augustine Art Association, was first organized in the Ximenex-Fatio home, and there was talk of turning it into the Longfellow University. The property remained in the Fatio family, and continued to operate as a boarding house until 1939 when The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in The State of Florida purchased and restoring it as a historic house museum. Today, the house continues to be owned and operated by women.
The Ximenex-Fatio House is one of the sites in St. Augustine to be added to the Historic American Buildings Survey published March 1, 1941. The Ximenez-Fatio House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. By the last 1970s, deferred maintenance of the buildings had to be addressed and numerous archeaological findings proved the import of this site. A 2002 archeaological dig dates European habitation on this lot back to the 1650s.
Has Part
The Ximenez-Fatio House Museum is owned and operated by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America: Florida (NSCDA-FL).
Mediator
The Colonial Dames offer several tour options for the Ximenez-Fatio House, for information please visit their "Tours and Experiences" page.
Rights Holder
Relation
This building is on Aviles Street.
Source
The following books, articles, websites, and photographers were used to find the above photographs or illustrations:
Photograph 1 (c.1860): Tellier, Mark. St. Augustine’s Pictures of the Past: The Second Discovery. 1st edition. [United States]: Mark Tellier, 1979.
Photograph 2 (1937): Historic American Buildings Survey. Historic American Buildings Survey: Catalog of the Measured Drawings and Photographs of the Survey in the Library of Congress, March 1, 1941. Washington, DC: Department of the Interior; National Park Service, 1941.
Photograph 3 (2023): Augusty, Jean-Marc. "Modern Ximenez-Fatio House." February 22, 2023.
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. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press, 2015.
Nolan, David. The Houses of St. Augustine. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 1995.
Tellier, Mark. St. Augustine's Pictures of the Past. St. Augustine Historical Society, 1979.
Waterbury, Jean Parker. The Ximenez-Fatio House: “Long Neglected, Now Restored.” St. Augustine, FL: The St. Augustine Historical Society, 1985.
"The Ximenez-Fatio House: Our Story." The Ximenez-Fatio House Museum. https://www.ximenezfatiohouse.org/our-story/.
Photograph 1 (c.1860): Tellier, Mark. St. Augustine’s Pictures of the Past: The Second Discovery. 1st edition. [United States]: Mark Tellier, 1979.
Photograph 2 (1937): Historic American Buildings Survey. Historic American Buildings Survey: Catalog of the Measured Drawings and Photographs of the Survey in the Library of Congress, March 1, 1941. Washington, DC: Department of the Interior; National Park Service, 1941.
Photograph 3 (2023): Augusty, Jean-Marc. "Modern Ximenez-Fatio House." February 22, 2023.
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. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press, 2015.
Nolan, David. The Houses of St. Augustine. Sarasota, FL: Pineapple Press, 1995.
Tellier, Mark. St. Augustine's Pictures of the Past. St. Augustine Historical Society, 1979.
Waterbury, Jean Parker. The Ximenez-Fatio House: “Long Neglected, Now Restored.” St. Augustine, FL: The St. Augustine Historical Society, 1985.
"The Ximenez-Fatio House: Our Story." The Ximenez-Fatio House Museum. https://www.ximenezfatiohouse.org/our-story/.
Rights
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.
Is Referenced By
The following St. Augustine Fiction books feature this building as a location:
Guns of the Palmetto Plains
Love and Honors
Margaret's Story
St. Augustine A to Z: A Young Reader's Guide to America's Oldest City
The Picolata Road
Voices in St. Augustine
Guns of the Palmetto Plains
Love and Honors
Margaret's Story
St. Augustine A to Z: A Young Reader's Guide to America's Oldest City
The Picolata Road
Voices in St. Augustine
Date Submitted
This record was last updated on June 10, 2025.
Collection
Citation
Don Andres Ximenez , “Ximenez House,” St. Augustine Fiction, accessed June 22, 2025, https://staugustinefiction.omeka.net/items/show/432.