FLORIDA VICTORIAN
ARCHITECTURAL SALVAGE · DELAND
What can
we keep?
An appreciation by Rob Urban
OLD WOOD.
COLORED GLASS.
ANOTHER CHAPTER.
Someone has to notice what is worth keeping.
That thought is at the heart of my appreciation for Florida Victorian Architectural Salvage in DeLand.
The DeLand Arts District’s account dates the business to 1981 and describes its founding concern: architecturally significant Central Florida buildings were being demolished, taking their details and materials with them.
Salvage offered a way for some of those parts to have another life.
I find that work moving because it begins with attention. Before a piece can be recovered, someone has to recognize its value and make the effort to keep it in the world.
Florida Victorian has made that effort its business.
Look closely.
The company’s history describes a collection that includes heart-pine, stained glass and vintage hardware.
Each category invites a different kind of looking.
Wood carries grain and the marks of earlier use. Glass can change the light in a room. A piece of hardware can remind us how much design and labor went into an object people touched every day.
These are the details that make me curious about older buildings. They offer evidence of choices made by people we may never know.
A salvage business helps that curiosity become practical. It gathers material where another person can encounter it, consider it and imagine a place for it.
The possibility of a next use is part of what makes the work hopeful.
A life spent
paying attention.
Florida Victorian identifies Mark Shuttleworth as its owner and proprietor.
His published biography describes a long relationship with DeLand, including degrees from Stetson University in 1971 and 1979 and work in education before his full-time salvage career.
In 2021, the West Volusia Historical Society named him Preservationist of the Year. Its account connects his preservation work with his role managing the restoration of the James W. Wright Building.
That recognition gives the story a wider setting. The same concern for what can be saved also belongs to the shared history of a town.
I admire people who bring their knowledge into work that other people will inherit. A restored place or a recovered detail may continue to be useful long after the original effort has passed from view.
An object.
Several possible futures.
The company describes serving historic homeowners, restaurant owners and film and television prop teams.
That range is fascinating.
Someone may be searching for a piece that belongs with an old house. Someone else may be considering the character of a restaurant. A production team may be looking for the physical details of another period.
The material can connect with different kinds of imagination.
I like the thought that a recovered object has more than one possible future. Its next meaning depends partly on who notices it, where it goes and what they choose to do with it.
The salvage business makes those encounters possible by keeping things available to be found.
A new home
for the useful past.
Florida Victorian’s own history follows the business from Sanford to its long Georgia Avenue chapter in DeLand, then to La Hacienda on East Voorhis Avenue.
The current contact page gives the address as 319 East Voorhis Avenue. That is the place to confirm visiting arrangements; older Georgia Avenue references belong to an earlier chapter.
A move is an interesting part of a preservation story. The business itself changes settings while continuing to carry materials, experience and a purpose forward.
It is a reminder that continuity can involve movement. Something can remain valuable while finding a different home.
Affection,
put to work.
What I admire about Florida Victorian is the combination of affection and effort.
Seeing beauty in an old detail is a beginning. Recovering it, moving it, caring for it and helping somebody else recognize a use for it asks more.
That work gives the past a practical place in the present.
A building’s original chapter may end. Through people who pay attention, parts of its story can still find somewhere to go.
Find more stories in Companies I Admire. If your work gives something valuable another life, I would enjoy hearing about it.
Rob Urban
The business and its history.
When did Florida Victorian begin?
The DeLand Arts District dates Florida Victorian Architectural Antiques to 1981, describing its purpose as salvaging and reusing details from significant Central Florida buildings.
Who is Mark Shuttleworth?
Florida Victorian identifies him as owner and proprietor. The West Volusia Historical Society named him its 2021 Preservationist of the Year.
What kinds of materials are discussed here?
The company’s history includes recovered heart-pine, stained glass and vintage hardware. These are examples from its published account, not a guarantee of current inventory.
Where should visitors confirm arrangements?
Use Florida Victorian’s current contact page for arrangements at 319 East Voorhis Avenue in DeLand. The site contains differing hours, so confirm your visit directly with the business.