This continues article of Biglow-Helms Mansion and notes on restoration.
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II. PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Biglow-Helms House is a one and one-half story masonry structure located on a two-acre lot on the northwest corner of Bayshore and Gandy boulevards. Although set back approximately 150 feet from Bayshore Boulevard, the main east facade of the house faces Hillsborough Bay. Originally the property extended across Bayshore Boulevard to the waterfront.
The asymmetrically massed house has a hipped roof and is constructed of ashlar type ornamental concrete blocks and narrow concrete masonry units on a raised foundation above a full basement. The roof features gabled dormers on the east, west and north slopes. Now substantially altered by additions, the north and northeast gables originally contained Palladian-like windows. These have been replaced by small aluminium ones. Shed dormers pierce the east and southeast roof slopes. Located on the ridge of the hipped roof, a square cupola with twelve double-hung windows has a hipped roof with flared eaves. Original composition shingles laid in a hexagonal pattern have been replaced recently by asphalt shingles. The brick chimneys, with corbeled caps and recessed panels, allude to the earlier Queen Anne style. Only one of two survives and it is located on the roof's north slope. The second brick chimney, located on the southeast roof slope has been removed.
A three bay porch dominates the main elevation and extends the width of an east-facing pavilion comprising the north half of the facade. Square posts of ornamental block support the porch's flat roof. The poured concrete block staircase leads to a center entrance. The main entrance door retains its original configuration with sidelights and segmentally arched transom.
Three-sided bays appear on the south and east elevations, and a five-sided bay projects from the north facade. Many of the single lite, double hung sash windows are oversized. Their condition varies, however, and all of those on the west elevation have been removed and the openings boarded.
The 10,000 square feet interior appears to have been divided ~nto approximately ten rooms on the first floor where the ceiling height is ten feet. Walt finishes vary between the public spaces and the private rooms. In such rooms as the parlors, dining room and bedrooms, they are clad with a six foot dado of varnished yellow heart pine milled in a corduroy pattern. Halls and stairway have a raised panel dado and cornice of heart pine and cherry, respectively. A three foot frieze between the paneling and the cornice was originally lined with cheesecloth and covered with a tropical pattern wallpaper. Most of the paper has been removed but a few remnants remain. (page 4 of report)
The floor plan is irregular, but with a central entrance hall between double parlors or sitting rooms terminating at the south rising stair case. Dining room, butler's pantry and two built in china closets open off of a curvilinear hall in the south part of the first floor.
Despite exposure to the elements and vandals, approximately seventy-five percent of the original wall paneling remains. On the second floor, walls and ceiling have been removed and only original wood floor planks remain. The basement rooms have unfinished concrete block walls and sand or concrete floors, although ceilings were originally plastered. Fixtures in all parts of the house have been removed, including two fireplace surrounds.
Contributing to the site but altered is a one-story coach house originally used as a garage and chauffeur's quarters. It has been converted to office space. The east boundary in front of the house is delineated by a low ashlar-face concrete block wall.
The Biglow-Helms house, with its the extensive use of concrete block construction, horizontal emphasis, low-hipped roof and flared eaves, is a subtle reminder of the Prairie vernacular architectural style. The combination of this architectural style and building material was commonly repeated throughout the United States between 1905 and 1915. The prevailing popularity of concrete block at the turn-of-the-century was part of the infatuation with machine-made products and considered a novel new building material. The economical production of concrete block, along with the durability and resistance to both termites and high winds made it the perfect building material for Tampa's tropical conditions; yet, it never achieved the degree of popularity characteristic of more industrial regions. Vernacular examples of the Prairie architectural style were widely published in architectural pattern books and popular magazines of the period. As a land developer, Silas Biglow may well have been familiar with such trends in the building trades and influenced the design of his house accordingly.
III. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: HISTORY
The Biglow-Helms House, constructed in 1908 by Silas Leland Biglow, is one of the most distinguished and historically significant early twentieth-century residences on Bayshore Boulevard. It is significant for its association with an early medical clinc and three locally prominent individuals: developer and public official Silas Biglow; surgeon and pioneer diagnostician, Dr. John Sullivan Helms; and Jack Willson, regionally known artist and medical illustrator. Constructed of "artificial stone" made from precast concrete blocks, the house is also important as an exceptional example of the use of that material locally. Ornamental concrete block construction, while popular nationally in the early twentieth century, was less common in Florida.
Silas Biglow began public service as a member of Tampa's
first City Council, subseqently serving as President in 1891. He continued
his interest in muncipal work as a member of the Board of Public Works
and built his prominently situated home while serving as Clerk to that
board. During this period he was also active in Ybor City's development
with the Ybor City Building and Loan Association and as Secretary-Treasurer
of the Ybor City Land and Development Company. In 1919, the property was
purchased by Dr. John Sullivan Helms, who converted it into the Bayside
Hospital. This private hospital was an important medical facility, considered
one of the outstanding clinics on Florida's West Coast.
The Bayside Hospital was one of several private hospitals in Tampa and quickly established its reputation because of the fine staff assembled by Dr. Helms, and because of the emphasis he placed on proper diagnosis. Dr. Helms believed that the activities of a hospital should revolve around the clinical and pathological laboratory rather than the operating room. The proper treatment of a disease was predicated by a correct diagnosis through the use of a fully equipped laboratory. He made this available at the Bayside Hospital and added a frame wing to the west side of the house in 1920 to accommodate the hospital activities.
For the next eight years the Bayside Hospital served prominent residents of the Hyde Park and Bayshore area. The hospital was closed in 1927 after the new Tampa (General) Municipal Hospital opened on Davis Islands. Dr. Helms, as a member of the Hillsborough County Medical Society (now known as the Hillsborough County Medical Association), actively lobbied for the establishment of the new hospital. By 1930 Dr. and Mrs Helms had removed the west addition and the former hospital became their private residence again.
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Following World War II, Jack Wilson, artist and nephew to Mrs. Helms, occupied the second floor of the house until his death in 1965. Trained initially as a medical illustrator, Wilson actively pursued the organization of his first profession and the founding of its first regional school at the University of Georgia as he trained for and became a portrait artist. His work during the 1950s and early 1960s was exhibited both locally and nationally.
The house remained in the Helms family until Mrs. Helm's death in 1974.
The Biglow-Helms House represents a part of the early development of the City of Tampa and, for over eight decades, has been an established and familiar visual feature of Bayshore Boulevard. The original owners contributed significantly to the growth of the city through involvement with the development of Ybor City, the establishment of City Council and municipal services, and the expansion of medical services in the Tampa Bay area. Their biographies below indicate the extent of their contributions.
SILAS LELAND BIGLOW
see Silas L. 8 Bigelow
Silas Leland Biglow was born in Brooklyn, New York on December 12, 1841. He attended public schools until the age of fourteen. For the next six years he worked as a clerk for various business establishments. During the Civil War, while stationed in Virginia and North Carolina, he served as a clerk in the Quartermaster Department of the 18th Army Corps. In 1865 he traveled West and worked for railroad and express companies for the next eighteen years.
In 1884 he moved to Tampa as an agent for the Southern Express Company. When the City of Tampa was incorporated in 1886, Biglow became a member of the first City Council and served for five years. In 1891 during his last term, he was elected President of the Council. Biglow became the Chief of the Sanitation Department for the City of Tampa for the next four years. In 1895 when the Board of Public Works was formed, he served as Clerk of the Board until 1909. While serving as Clerk, he also became involved in the development of Ybor City. He held the position of Secretary for the Ybor City Building and Loan Association from 1901 through 1909 and Secretary-Treasurer of the Ybor City Land and Development Company from 1902 to 1909. Biglow died in 1913 at the age of 72.
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Rod Bigelow (Roger Jon12 BIGELOW)
< rodbigelow@netzero.net
> 
