The Henry C. Arpen farmhouse sits on Linjohn Road. The 19th century farmhouse is being recommended for local landmark designation. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today
Published on April 23, 2025 at 5:35 pm
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
A 145-year-old farmhouse in Mandarin appears to finally be facing demolition due to the costs of trying to save it.
Some parts of the Henry Arpen farmhouse, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, may be saved, but the rest will be razed in a few months.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
City Council had deferred the demolition in March, giving Tracey Arpen, whose great-uncle built the home, time to get it moved.
Closer inspection shows it would have cost the potential new owners too much to remove some of its newer parts and keep its historic section, so it cannot be saved, Arpen said. But parts of the tin-roofed home on Linjohn Road may survive, Arpen says.
A local contractor experienced in restoring old buildings has expressed an interest in salvaging some of the windows and possibly doors, Arpen said.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
“It looks like the hardwood floors are in great shape too,” he said. “I don’t know if that can be saved or not, but we will certainly be able to save anything that’s useful out of it.”
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 placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019, 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 originally sat off O’Connor Road was rezoned to allow a 33-home subdivision. So the Arpen farmhouse was moved 1,400 feet to its current site in 2022.
Current owner and developer Michael Danhour planned to save the house by securing new owners. But damage incurred during the move, then further deterioration in the intervening years, prompted the city to condemn it.
City Council twice deferred demolition so Arpen could find a new site for the home. Danhour agreed to a 90-day delay a month ago so final work on the planned move could be done. He offered to help pay for some of that.
But Boylan announced during a City Council meeting Tuesday that the house will ultimately be demolished as soon as the 90-day period runs out.
Arpen said he hates to see the house torn down, but he said he has “exhausted about every avenue that we could” to save it.
