Yesterday, I stopped by the Nolan House in Altamonte Springs. I’ve been meaning to for a while, after numerous “trips” there on Google Street View. I serendipitously ran into owner Carmen Bierman, who was hanging out on the porch.

The Bierman have owned the home for over 20 years. She leads the Altamonte Springs Historical Society (which is still trying to reboot) and is involved in the Seminole County Historical Society. We had such a great conversation!

Carmen has invested tens of thousands of dollars and many years into the labor of love to repair and preserve this gem. Sure, it looks absolutely lovely from the outside, but with these old homes, there’s more than meets the eye. There have been a lot of problems for them to overcome!

The house was built in either 1880… or 1890… or 1898, depending on which record you read; Bierman said 1898, so I will go with her word! It was built by Peter Nolan in the early days of the Sanlando area settlement west of Lake Florida, tucked unassumingly into a neighborhood behind Hermits Trail.

It has also been known as the Juthe House, after Kristian Juthe, who lived here with his family for many years. Perhaps we should add “Bierman” to that name list. The Donihi family owned it in the 90s.

When she first saw it, Carme believed it was only made to look old. But, nope, other than a couple of additions, it’s the real deal 1890-era construction.

The front porch was once screened in but has been restored to its original open format. Giant trees formerly dotted the property. Most are gone now. Their massive roots (as in six feet around) devastated the foundation and were, at one point, literally holding up the house. During the foundation repairs, they found a cistern under the house. It had to be filled in to stabilize the home.

What a beautiful place! Thank you, Carmen, for sharing the story with me!