The Erwin-Linke-Shirley Home (aka: The Pink House) | Putnam County, Florida | c. 1886
DO NOT TRESPASS HERE! THIS HOUSE IS MONITORED.
This old Florida home is pretty in pink but its fanciful details and flashy color aren’t all that’s interesting about it. Its history is tied to the founding of the lakefront community where it stands called Pomona Park. Over the years, it has been owned by generations of families who came to be prominent in Pomona Park, but after years without an occupant, locals are concerned about the future of this local landmark.
Pomona Park, Florida
Named after the Roman Goddess of fruit trees, the Town of Pomona Park was incorporated in 1894 and became known for its citrus, grape vineyards, farm produce, and long-leaf yellow pine. But 20 years before it was incorporated, a group of settlers arrived in the area after the Civil War- many of them veterans- both Union and Confederate soldiers who took Florida real estate for their patents. These early settlers began to propagate the citrus groves which came to define Pomona Park.
Among these early settlers were: E.B. Olmstead, C.A.Knowlton, G.W.Otterson, W.H. Cook, C.I. Rodgers, and Holmes Erwin, a vineyardist and Civil War veteran from Tennessee.
Holmes Erwin
Holmes Erwin was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1838 and served as a lieutenant in the 3rd Maryland Artillery during the Civil War. After the war, he settled in Florida at Pomona Park and it is thought that he built this home in the 1880s- likely around 1886. In 1888, he took a new bride, Mary Emily Erwin, and they resided with their live-in servants, James and Mary Bradly. Holmes was also active in the local community politics, including an 1888 appointment as a county road commissioner.
A Fanciful House on the Lake
This Gothic Revival, gingerbread structure is more than 3,000 square feet, with Juliette balconies on the north and south elevations and a Chinese Chippendale railing on both porch railings that adds to the fanciful feel of this home. And while it’s pink and flashy now, pink was not its original color.
Inside, the house can be found features that are rare in Florida- four fireplaces, a root cellar, and unique interior woodwork made of cypress. All of which indicated that very skilled craftsmen worked on this home.
Although foundation atop brick piers was common in Florida, the height of this home atop its brick piers was purposefully higher than usual to accommodate rising waters from Lake Broward because the home had a lake view in the early days. In the years since, the water has dried up substantially- changing the edge of the lake border which at one point was directly across the road.
Abundant Fruit Vineyards
In addition to his community involvement, Erwin Holmes was a prolific agriculturalist who planted groves of citrus and grapes on his home property along Lake Broward in Pomona Park. I found a newspaper article from 1887 that described his wine.
“Mr. Holmes Erwin, of Ionia [in Pomona], this county, is entitled to the premium for fine wine. The wine, which is of as fine flavor as the most choice imported, was made from grapes grown on Mr. Erwin’s place, and was made under that gentleman’s personal supervision.
The wine which we have just tasted is as good port as we ever drunk, rich in color and flavor, and pure juice of the grape, and taken in due moderation gives a most exhilarating effect. It is a perfect wine, and we would be glad to know that all that was sold was so pure.”
Palatka Newspaper- May 1887
The House Changes Hands
In May 1906, while eating dinner at a restaurant in Jacksonville, Erwin Holmes passed away of heart failure. His obituary described him as follows…
“Holmes Erwin for many years one of the most prominent men in this county, and whose beautiful home and vineyards are at Pomona, was stricken with heart failure just as he had completed his supper in Till’s restaurant, Jacksonville, last Tuesday evening.
Deceased had lived in Putnam county many years, and at one time took an active part in political affairs. His beautiful home and vineyards on Lake Broward, near Pomona, was an ideal country estate, and here he lived the quiet life of a country gentleman of affluence. He had been in poor health for the past two years.
Mr. Erwin was a Confederate veteran and of the best type of the old time courteous southern gentleman. His death will cause general regret throughout the county.”
Palatka News Obituary, Friday, 1 Jun 1906.
A new family named the Linke’s moved in next and restored the home.
The Adolph Linke Family
Sometime after Mr. Erwin passed away, Adolph Linke and his wife, Pauline Telzer Linke, purchased his home and vineyards on Lake Broward. Both Adolph and Pauline were born in Arnsdorf, Austria, where they married in 1901. Soon after they wed, they came to America, first settling in Pennsylvania where Adolph worked making gold-decorated table glassware- a fine skilled trade during this era. After a succesful career in Pennsylvania, he retired to Florida, settling in Pomona Park in this home.
Mr. Linke’s ‘Lady Wine’
Mr. Linke continued the legacy of his predecessor here, making wines from oranges, grapes, peaches, strawberries, and other fruits in the wine cellar of this home. He called it ‘Lady Wine’. In 1926, Adolph Linke purchased a cypress water tank to place on this property and thus became the provider of Pomona Park’s first water works.
In 1943, Mrs. Linke passed away and Adolph sold the home to Mrs. Fern Maxon Cook and her daughter, Marjorie Cook Jacobs. In 1987, Mrs. Jacobs sold it to James and Annette Shirley who lived in the house until Shirley passed away in 2017. The home is owned by descendants but hasn’t been lived in since that time.
The Pink House Today
Because it sat empty for many years, local and state historians became concerned for its future so in 2021, the house was listed on the Places in Peril List by the Florida Trust for Historic Preservations to bring attention to its significance. Sometime after, the house was foreclosed on and in January 2023, the house was listed at public auction. New owners purchased the property shortly after, but it isn’t clear what is planned for this home. I hope it will ultimately be preserved due to its connection to the founding era of Pomona Park.
DO NOT TRESPASS HERE! THIS HOUSE IS MONITORED.
