Historic Mandarin farmhouse may have reached the end

The future of a historic 145-year-old farmhouse in Mandarin may be in jeopardy. A vote by City Council on Tuesday would provide only $65,000 to save it and 90 days to move it.

Tracey Arpen, whose great-uncle built the Henry Arpen farmhouse, says he now has limited time to wrap up a deal to save the structure, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. And he would have far less money than he expected to pay for it, he said.

City Council twice deferred a request from the home’s current owner — developer Michael Danhour — to demolish it, giving Arpen time to firm up details of moving the house. But securing a final estimate has taken longer than expected.

Arpen is still awaiting final figures on a second estimate, but he said he cannot see a circumstance where the house could be moved for $65,000 or a new owner would absorb the extra cost to do so.

“I would say I have gone from cautiously optimistic to absolutely pessimistic, and not just pessimistic, but very disappointed and angry,” Arpen said. “I won’t give up, but with the constraints that the developer is now putting on the move, it’s going to be extremely difficult to work out.”

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City Council member Michael Boylan has twice delayed the legislation for demolition. Time has run out, so the current owner wants the house off his property, one way or another, Boylan said.

“Conditions include an investment of no more than $65,00 on the part of the applicant to support relocation of the home,” Boylan said. “Part of the delay was to get some clarification of what the cost would be. … They clearly do not want to delay this action any further, so I fully expect the appeal will be approved by the full council with the conditions.”

Farmhouse history

The two-story wood frame home was built in 1880 on a 17-acre tract on O’Connor Road, and farmer Henry Arpen moved in with his family.

The home was paced on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019. It is one of only two buildings in Mandarin on that list, Arpen said. The other is the Mandarin Store and Post Office.

After the house was added to the National Register, the land where it sat off O’Connor Road was rezoned to allow a 33-home subdivision. The Arpen farmhouse was to be preserved by moving it to a new site within the development, but that did not happen.

In 2022, Danhour ultimately moved the home 1,400 feet to its current site because the subdivision was being built.

Danhour said the home “barely survived” that move, then sat untouched for 18 months and deteriorated further as he tried to find someone who wanted it.

One group offered a new site on Sunbeam Road where the house could be restored. But in early 2024, an engineering review said the deteriorated home might not survive the 7-mile move and demolition was a more suitable option.

The city condemned the home as the deal to move it to Sunbeam Road folded, Danhour said. He requested city permission for its demolition, but the Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission denied the request. That led to the current appeal filed in January with City Council.

“The developer moved the goalpost and is now refusing to pay for some of the costs that were directly a part of the move, like dropping utility lines and so forth,” Arpen said.

That means finding a company willing to safely move the farmhouse for less than $65,000 or finding someone who is willing to help pay whatever it might ultimately cost, Arpen said.

“We have people who can do all of the work involved in relocating the house. We have someone willing to take it, with plenty of land for it, to absorb some of the cost of the move, but not in a position to absorb some of the cost that the developer is now demanding that anyone who takes the house would have to pay.”