FEW HOMES IN ORLANDO STOP YOU IN YOUR TRACKS, BUT ALONG THE CURVE OF LAKE CHEROKEE, just before the skyline rises behind the trees, there stands one that feels as though it was lifted straight from the pages of a storybook. With its Queen Anne lines, pastel hues, lakefront lawn, and gentle parade of ducks that regularly waddle across the property, 614 Lake Avenue has long captured the imagination of neighbors, passersby, and eventually, future homeowner Johnathan Aguirre.
Like many in Delaney Park, Aguirre had admired the house for years. It was part of his weekly rhythm, a comforting landmark on his commute, a place that quietly invited curiosity. “I had driven by this home more times than I can count,” he recalls. “It always seemed like a dream … like a big dollhouse sitting on the lake.”
But 614 Lake Avenue is far more than a picturesque façade. It is one of Orlando’s most historically significant properties—the first designated historic landmark in the city, and one of the famed residences along what was once known as Honeymoon Row, a stretch of Victorian homes built for newlyweds in the late 19th century. Its past is intertwined with civic leaders, political trailblazers, and early cultural influencers, all of whom left stories embedded in the walls…