From the WGHF archives 10.23.14

This beautiful home once stood near the intersection of Tubb and Briley streets in Oakland. It was purchased in 1903 by Stephen K. Michael and later housed the Hatfield family. Its decorative front porch is typical of late 19th-century Victorian architecture. Stephen’s brother, John, bought the Petris family home, built by the railroad and located just north of Speer Park. The roof of John Michael’s house featured a cupola in which lanterns were kept lit at night as beacons for people who might be fishing or boating on Lake Apopka. The Stephen Michael family moved to Holly Hill after only a few years in Oakland, but John Michael remained, operating a hardware store in town and farming six acres along the lake. Although long gone, both Stephen Michael’s home with its elaborate front porch and his brother’s cupola-topped mansion are preserved in vintage photographs at the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation.