What you need to know:
- City Council voted 6-1 to decline a historic landmark nomination for the Lubbe House at 215 E. Central Blvd., with Commissioner Patty Sheehan the sole dissenter.
- The city's Historic Preservation Board had unanimously recommended the designation on March 4.
- The nearly century-old home is part of an $18 million Lake Eola Gateway project funded by $160 million in CRA bonds.
- Mayor Buddy Dyer said on the record the building will not be demolished but said landmark status would increase restoration costs.
- Five residents spoke in favor of preservation, including a descendant of the family that built the home.
Orlando City Council voted 6-1 on March 16 to reject a historic landmark nomination for the Lubbe House, the last surviving lakefront home on Lake Eola.
The vote overrode a unanimous recommendation from the city’s own Historic Preservation Board and leaves the nearly century-old building without formal legal protection from demolition. The home sits at 215 E. Central Blvd., on land the Community Redevelopment Agency purchased in March 2025 for more than $2.5 million as part of a planned new southwest entrance to Lake Eola Park.
The vote
Mayor Buddy Dyer made the motion to decline the nomination, saying he wanted the city to have flexibility to determine the building’s best use. Commissioner Shan Rose seconded the motion.
“While I’m mayor, this isn’t going to be demolished,” Dyer said. “I think it would cost us more if there’s a historic designation mark that’s placed on it.”
Commissioner Sheehan cast the only vote against the motion. She told the council she had been “told by staff” that the building was going to be torn down.
“I was told this building was going to be torn down and I was very upset and that was done without any public hearing, without any public process,” Sheehan said. “Now to say, well, you know what? It’s really great that the community had this interest in helping, but now let’s just throw their interest out the window. Let’s just throw the citizen board recommendation out the window, and we’re going to do whatever we want. I just don’t think that’s fair.”
Dyer pushed back: “It’s not going to be demolished, Commissioner Sheehan, despite whatever you might have been told.”
Sheehan responded: “I just want to clarify. I was told by staff.”
“Okay. You’ve said that a couple of times,” Dyer replied.
The majority’s argument
Rose led the case against the designation. “Fiscal responsibility should always come first when making decisions that impact our community,” she said. “Designating the Lubbe House as a historic landmark may sound very appealing, but it could cause and place an extremely long-term financial obligation on the taxpayers and limit the responsible development that benefits Orlando residents today.”
Sheehan countered: “It’s okay to be fiscally responsible when the money is being spent in another district.”
Commissioner Roger Chapin confirmed that nothing prevents the city from seeking landmark designation in the future.
Public comment
Five residents spoke in favor of preservation before the vote. Among them was Connie Geller, who identified herself as the great-niece of Helen Lubbe and a court-recognized heir to the Lubbe estate.
“This home represents the quintessential American immigrant story,” Geller said, describing how John and Helen Lubbe immigrated from Germany in the late 1800s and built the home on the lakefront. Both Lubbe children died of tuberculosis, Geller told the council, and she brought four pages of family photographs.
Mark Line, representing the Orlando Land Trust and the Orange Preservation Trust, cited the precedent of the Black Bottom House of Prayer, which received landmark status from the City Council and later secured a $500,000 state grant after its roof collapsed. He argued landmark designation opens the door to state preservation funding.
Diane Martens, a Lake Eola Heights resident since 1979, told the council that only two homes remain around the lake. The other, Eola House, serves as the city’s park maintenance office and is already protected with landmark status.
“Landmarking is necessary to ensure that the Lubbe House survives. That is too remarkable a place to lose,” said Tana Porter of the Orange Preservation Trust.
The bigger picture
The Lubbe House is one of several downtown properties the CRA acquired as part of a broader Lake Eola expansion. The adjacent City Centre building, a former Masonic temple, will be demolished to create the new southwest entrance to the park.
The gateway project is part of an $18 million effort that includes a pocket park at 30 S. Orange Ave., with a $3.9 million pre-construction agreement with Turner Construction approved in February. The entire package is funded by $160 million in CRA Tax Increment Revenue Bonds approved Feb. 9, which also cover the Canopy park beneath I-4 and the conversion of Orange and Rosalind avenues to two-way streets.
Jason Burton, the city’s planning division manager, told the council the CRA had approved contracts for structural, asbestos and ADA assessments of the Lubbe House at a Feb. 9 CRA meeting. He said the CRA “seeks flexibility and reuse of the structure” as it evaluates the building’s condition.
What’s next
Without landmark status, the home’s future rests on the mayor’s public commitment and whatever community input process the city develops. Dyer mentioned possible uses including an art center, meeting space or history center. “Probably not a restaurant, probably not a wine bar, but we will figure out a good use,” he said.
The building permit for the two-story, approximately 3,500-square-foot home was pulled July 7, 1930. It was designed by architect Peter Samuel, who assisted Hendrik Berlage in designing the Amsterdam stock and commodities exchange.
The Historic Preservation Board had voted unanimously on March 4 to recommend the landmark nomination. The nomination was filed by Raymond Cox, president of the Orange Preservation Trust, who did not speak at the March 16 council meeting.