Once upon a time, five historic homes made up Honeymoon Row on Lake Cherokee.

Most are gone but one of the remaining homes is listed for sale at $3.75 million, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.

“It’s a Queen Anne Victorian and is completely as it was in the front,” says listing agent Tom Buitenhuis with Olde Town Brokers, who owns the house with his husband. “It’s an amazing, beautiful home and the historic part of it is just amazing.”

They bought the place in 2022 and have done a lot of work to bring the five-bedroom, four-bathroom house back to its original 1880s glory.

“I would say most of the original woodwork and everything we left, and we added here and there some modern touches like lighting fixtures and those kinds of things,” he said. “But we still tried to be as honest to the original builder, trying to somehow bring it a little bit to the modern times, but really keeping that original antique feel inside of the house.”

The 6,261-square-foot house has most of the original 19th-century millwork, pocket doors, floors, clawfoot tubs, and more.

“We have an original grand staircase in the front of the house and towards the end there’s a smaller staircase that was originally the servant staircase, as they called it,” Buitenhuis explained, adding there are eight fireplaces, which don’t work, but look beautiful.

“The fireplaces are honestly one of my favorite [things] because every fireplace with the original tiling seems to tell a different story, which I think is really interesting and cool.”

There’s also a non-working elevator, which Buitenhuis told GrowthSpotter is one of the oldest in Orlando.

“This home was built in 1884 way out of downtown, which is funny because we’re now in the middle of downtown,” he said. It’s just a half mile to the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts and just a bit further to Lake Eola Park.

During the 1880s, five owners built homes for their new brides earning the area the Honeymoon Row nickname. Among them were Oliver and Matilda Poyntz, who built this home.

The house is called the Poyntz-O’Neal House because of them and after the second owner, William Russel O’Neal, who was a businessman, newspaper columnist, and politician.

“[His wife] was also great in politics and she was on the ground for women’s voting rights in Central Florida and the actual first meeting of that women’s rights [group] happened in our parlor here,” Buitenhuis said.

This home has gone through several owners over time but almost didn’t survive the 1970s.

“The owner wanted to tear down the house and to prevent that from happening, 12 families in the neighborhood came together and purchased the home,” Buitenhuis explained. “I believe that is what started the historic district of downtown Orlando.”

That district is now called the Lake Cherokee Historic District which was established in 1981. The house earned local landmark status in 1977.

The home sits on .59 acres, a large lot for the area. It used to be even larger before a neighbor bought some of the land many years ago.

“It’s still one of the biggest properties in downtown Orlando, adding there is a garden, pool, and koi pond. “When you stand [in the sunroom] you can see the beautiful view of the lake and the sunrise, and when you then look backwards, you see the beautiful view of our gardens and the pond and the pool.”

There is also a one-bedroom and one-bath guest house that has been completely renovated and meticulously restored, just like the main home.

“I believe in a house that is so historical and of such historical value, I do believe that it’s very important to keep true to the original.”

The couple is selling the home because it’s just a bit too big.

“[The perfect buyer] would be someone that just like us loves old homes and would love the big land,” Buitenhuis said. “But really, just to find this old Victorian home is just unfindable in downtown Orlando anywhere, so it would really be a lover of Queen Anne Victorian homes.”

Letting it go will be difficult.

“It’s definitely our dream house, so it will be sad to see it go. It was definitely a passion [project].”

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