Villa Zorayda, St. Augustine

Villa Zorayda, also known as the Zorayda Castle, is a unique and historic house located in St. Augustine. It was built in 1883 by Franklin W. Smith, a wealthy Bostonian, as his winter home. The house was inspired by the 12th-century Moorish Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, and is a remarkable example of the Moorish Revival style of architecture. Smith named the house "Villa Zorayda" after one of the princesses in Washington Irving's Tales of the Alhambra.

The building is made using Smith's own innovative method of construction, which involved pouring concrete and crushed coquina shell. The interior of the Villa Zorayda is equally impressive, with intricate plasterwork and cast alabaster traceries inspired by those found in the Alhambra Palace. The building also features hand-painted wood panels and tiles, intricately designed fireplaces and doorways, and geometrically shaped windows and stained glass.

The Villa Zorayda Museum is still owned by the Mussallem family, who purchased the building and part of Smith's art and antique collection in 1913. The collection includes hand-pierced brass lamps from Damascus and other parts of the Middle East, Oriental rugs, sculptures, carved furniture, decorative tiles, and Egyptian artifacts. The museum also features a unique inscription in Arabic script above the front entrance, which reads, "There is no conqueror but God."

The Villa Zorayda has played an important role in the history of St. Augustine. It set an architectural precedent during the Gilded Age and began the Moorish Spanish Revival style of architecture that is seen throughout the city.