Farragut Hall featured in Architectural Digest magazine
Admiral Farragut Academy’s beautiful Farragut Hall was featured in Architectural Digest’s June 15th, 2017 article, “This Sleepy Florida Beach Town Is Home to the Most Amazing Architectural Hideaways”. We were featured alongside such gems as the Don Cesar Hotel, the Dalí Museum, and the historic open air post office in downtown St. Petersburg.
Previously known as the Jungle Country Club Hotel, the Academy catered to wealthy Northerners during their summer vacations back in the Jazz Age. In 1945, the textured stucco structure was sold to Admiral Farragut Academy, which uses the building’s two wings as part of its best boarding school in US campus. Today, the main entrance is still easily recognized by its two-story sopraporta, capped by four urns. – Architectural Digest
On November 5, 1992, the City Council of the City of St. Petersburg, Florida passed a resolution designating Farragut Hall as a local historic landmark. While the hotel rooms on the second and third floors were converted into dorm rooms and the first floor was converted into administrative offices, great care has been applied over the years to maintain and preserve the historic land and buildings that were constructed during the 1920’s Florida Boom Era.
In the last school year alone, many windows and doors have been repaired or completely refurbished by maintenance worker and carpenter Jose Ferrer and his son Rafael. These improvements have included a brand new front door built to match the old one, and a new door in the stairwell near the mess hall.
The same care has been taken towards the rest of campus to maintain the historic feel of the area. The Jungle Country Club was host to the first in-ground pool in Pinellas County, in the same spot where our pool is today. The tennis courts are in the same spot too, and until their refurbishment last year they were original to the campus. The Roy M. Speer Student Center (formerly the William G. Parrott Memorial Library) takes many architectural cues from Farragut Hall, including a white stucco exterior and a red tile roof, and the New Building will follow this trend.
We are very proud of our history here at Farragut, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds.