The Vista Cook's Cabin
Excerpted from Historic Structure Assessment Report by Bender & Associates Architects, April 2020
The Cook’s House is a one-story, wood frame, vernacular style building framed by oak trees.
The building is largely rectangular in plan, rests on concrete block piers, and is capped by a front-facing gable roof. The cladding consists of pecky cypress board-and-batten siding with corner boards. Its estimated construction date is circa 1920-1940. It was originally designed as a duplex and appears identical to worker housing constructed for the Cummer Cypress Company lumber town at Lacoochee. It may have been moved to the site from the company mill town at Sumner, or more likely from a nearby Cummer turpentine camp. It may also have been constructed on site based on older company plans.
The primary façade faces north and features a wood porch covered by a shed roof featuring pecky cypress sheathing and rafters, supported by pecky cypress wood posts. The porch is accessed by wooden steps at the west end and a slumped concrete step at the east end. The Vista Physical Description Final Report July 24, 2020 porch decking consists of flat boards. There are twin primary entrances, both of which are original five-panel wood doors with flat board trim. Both entries feature wood screen doors.
The rear (south) façade consists of a small projecting wing which is likely original to the building. It features a five-panel wood door toward the east end with a wood screen door and flat board trim.
The building includes a six-over-six double-hung wood window with flat board trim.
There is a projecting bathroom addition (circa 1940s) capped by a shed roof.
The building is largely rectangular in plan, rests on concrete block piers, and is capped by a front-facing gable roof. The cladding consists of pecky cypress board-and-batten siding with corner boards. Its estimated construction date is circa 1920-1940. It was originally designed as a duplex and appears identical to worker housing constructed for the Cummer Cypress Company lumber town at Lacoochee. It may have been moved to the site from the company mill town at Sumner, or more likely from a nearby Cummer turpentine camp. It may also have been constructed on site based on older company plans.
The primary façade faces north and features a wood porch covered by a shed roof featuring pecky cypress sheathing and rafters, supported by pecky cypress wood posts. The porch is accessed by wooden steps at the west end and a slumped concrete step at the east end. The Vista Physical Description Final Report July 24, 2020 porch decking consists of flat boards. There are twin primary entrances, both of which are original five-panel wood doors with flat board trim. Both entries feature wood screen doors.
The rear (south) façade consists of a small projecting wing which is likely original to the building. It features a five-panel wood door toward the east end with a wood screen door and flat board trim.
The building includes a six-over-six double-hung wood window with flat board trim.
There is a projecting bathroom addition (circa 1940s) capped by a shed roof.
INTERIOR
The interior of the Cook’s House is configured into two rooms at the front, with a single room at the rear and a bathroom addition on the east. The two front rooms are clad with painted beadboard walls and ceilings. In the northwest front room, an opening in the wall indicates the building was originally heated by an oil or wood stove which vented into the chimney.
An original five-panel wood door with flat board trim separates the two front rooms. The bathroom is accessed from the northeast front room via a two-panel wood door with flat board trim.
The back porch is clad entirely with painted pecky cypress. The base of the brick chimney is visible along the north wall. It does not reach to ground level, but rather rises from a frame base. The base of the chimney also includes a terra cotta pipe insert.
The interior of the Cook’s House is configured into two rooms at the front, with a single room at the rear and a bathroom addition on the east. The two front rooms are clad with painted beadboard walls and ceilings. In the northwest front room, an opening in the wall indicates the building was originally heated by an oil or wood stove which vented into the chimney.
An original five-panel wood door with flat board trim separates the two front rooms. The bathroom is accessed from the northeast front room via a two-panel wood door with flat board trim.
The back porch is clad entirely with painted pecky cypress. The base of the brick chimney is visible along the north wall. It does not reach to ground level, but rather rises from a frame base. The base of the chimney also includes a terra cotta pipe insert.
