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Where dreams can still be built
By JACKIE RIPLEY
© St. Petersburg Times, CITRUS PARK -- A tin roof, rocking chairs on the porch and an old Singer Sewing machine out front are about as far from the trappings of planned community living as you can get. But they're part and parcel of what makes life rich for Bob and Sherry Mullins. Their home just east of Sickles High School stands out, even by Citrus Park standards. "We moved from Carrollwood Meadows because we wanted to have property that was out but not too far out," said Sherry Mullins standing in front of her cedar home on a porch enclosed by willow branches and where red begonias sprout from an old pair of brogans.
"This was a dump site but we liked the property," she said. "We're both creative and could see the potential." The Mullins used that creativity to build their home seven years ago, turning their little acre into a rustic paradise, complete with a hand dug pond where golden koi lend a peaceful feel of the Orient. "We both like rustic," Sherry Mullins said. "We were tired of subdivisions."
That notion of individuality is exactly what civic leaders are attempting to protect as they help craft the Citrus Park community plan, a blueprint aimed at directing growth away from urban sprawl and toward the traditional neighborhoods of the past. And while most agree with the notion of creating a village square in the heart of town where pedestrians can peruse quaint shops, pubs and restaurants, they're adamant about not allowing Citrus Park, rich in history and individuality, to become a cookie-cutter subdivision. Chartered in 1911, Citrus Park has changed little over the years. There are a handful of unique dwellings inside this northwest Hillsborough community that you won't find in modern tract housing, mainly because most communities today have deed restrictions prohibiting that kind of distinctiveness. In Citrus Park, however, there are homes where chickens and goats share the front yard with cows, dirt roads that wind past a single homestead only to dead-end, as well as well-tended cement-block homes. Across the street from the Mullins' is another unique home. This one belongs to Bert and Barbara Gillespie and is a 30-year work in progress. "We want to put in a few gravity gas pumps and a Texaco sign on the side of the garage," said Barbara Gillespie as the family's Pekingese puppy, Miss Prissy, darted over an arched foot bridge in the front yard and around one of two antique but working Coke machines on the side porch. "Friends have said we should turn it into a bed and breakfast."
French country probably best describes the decor of ornate gold framed mirrors and upholstered floral furniture. But pure history is what it's all about -- from a gas heater in the living room retrieved from an old hotel in Ohio, to a wrought iron bed in the spare room that came from an old western hotel in Arizona. There's even an old doctor's buggy in the front yard. "It's been called the Cracker Barrel, a museum and an antique shop," Barbara Gillespie said. "But it's our home and we enjoy it." The Gillespies occasionally go antiquing and "garaging" with the Mullins, and about a year ago the couples vacationed together in search of collectibles. The recent construction of Citrus Park Town Center to the south, Shoppes of Citrus Park to the west and the influx of schools and subdivisions have slowly eroded Citrus Park's rural feel. The Gillespies say they eventually will move to Alabama, where Bert Gillespie is from, and buy a log home.
"I like my neighbors; the area's just growing," Barbara Gillespie said. "It used to be so quiet all you could hear was the children playing at the school." "Thank goodness my husband's a semi-truck driver," Barbara Gillespie said. Even so, some of their antiques "will have to go in a garage sale, but other people can enjoy them." Robin Spacone, who lives a few streets over, didn't have to move to Alabama to find a log cabin. She found hers in the heart of Citrus Park, and knew the minute -- or close to it -- when it became available. "Someone else had a contract on it but it fell through," said Spacone. She made an appointment with a real estate agent to see the house but then couldn't wait. "I drove over and knocked on the door and asked if I could look around," she said. "I was just fascinated. It was so much what I wanted." Spacone, who became interested in log cabins 15 years ago and knows where all the log homes are from here to Thonotosassa, said it was love at first sight. "I always wanted a fireplace and a window in the kitchen and a breakfast nook," she said. "And the skylights. You can sit here at night and see the moon and the stars." A medical billing clerk by day, Spacone looks forward to quiet evenings at home with her two cats -- nights sometimes spent in the reading nook she created in the loft area just outside her cathedral ceiling bedroom. "I come up here and read," Spacone said. "Sometimes I just come up here and sit." A rough-hewn staircase leads down to the cabin's first floor where the scent of fresh apples sweetens the air, a spinning wheel leans against a stone fireplace and figurines -- from cows to chickens -- adorn the shelves and tables. "It's so quiet here no one bothers me," Spacone said. "I come home and feel like I'm living in another town." - Jackie Ripley can be reached at (813) 226-3468
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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