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The House on Cherry Street

Bed-and-Breakfast Brings Urban Gardens Back to Jacksonville

Feb 28, 2009 Devan Stuart

Tucked away on a tree-lined, riverfront spot in Jacksonville's historic Riverside neighborhood is the House on Cherry Street.

It’s a cozy bed-and-breakfast hotel that not only romances the area’s history, but seeks to bring a part of it into modern day urban living.

“During World War II, 42 percent of America’s foodstuffs were grown in back yard victory gardens,” says proprietor Victoria Freeman, author, journalist and former teacher.

Victory gardens were vegetable, fruit and herb gardens planted in the yards of private homes during both World Wars to reduce pressure on the public food supply brought on by the war efforts. Turns out, the gardens proved morale boosters as well. Gardeners felt empowered by their contributions and enjoyed the satisfaction of growing their own food. Considering today’s economic climate, environmental concerns and statistics that show America is fighting an obesity battle, Freeman sees the answers in a return to the past.

“The average tomato has more frequent flier miles than I do,” Freeman says, noting the costs of transporting produce. “Yet we talk so much about how to reduce our carbon footprint. It hit me that I could farm on my lovely, sunlit yard.”

And so she did, and invited her neighbors and friends to do the same. Freeman is founder of Urban Farmers United, a loosely organized co-op wherein members plant their own gardens in a small plot of the House on Cherry Street’s sprawling, riverfront back yard. Some raise “secret chickens” in their own yards – zoning requirements be damned – for eggs and poultry.

There are no meetings, save for monthly potluck dinners to which members bring dishes made with items from their gardens. Ginger pork collard soup, arugula rice, rosemary bread and Ponderosa lemon squares often are on the menus. It’s a unique, friendly feature of an already wonderful place to spend a vacation.

Originally part of a pecan plantation and once home to famed attorney T.G. Crawford, the House on Cherry Street features four guestrooms with four-poster beds, antique soaking tubs, stained glass windows and the like. An upstairs parlor offers a selection of books, antique board games, classic movies and a comfy, pillow-filled sofa. And the back yard gardens offer a perfect sunlit respite on the edge of the St. Johns River. Watch for “Mallory the Warrior Princess,” cat who actually belongs to a neighbor, but frequents the gardens.

Literary fans will recognize the Crawford name. His firm represented beloved Southern author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, who lived in nearby Cross Creek and often visited the home. If she alive today, Rawlings and Freeman, whose own works have appeared in Glamour, Self and McCall’s magazines, might well be good friends.

The copyright of the article The House on Cherry Street in SE U.S. Travel is owned by Devan Stuart. Permission to republish The House on Cherry Street in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

House on Cherry Street gardens