J. B. Evans House, Colonial Revival residence in Delray Beach, Florida.
The J. B. Evans House is a two-story wooden building in Delray Beach, Florida, featuring horizontal clapboard on the first floor and board-and-batten siding above. Double-hung windows with protective shutters dot the irregular facade, and a low-pitched hip roof topped with composition shingles completes the structure.
Built in 1936 as a seasonal residence for retired produce broker J. B. Evans, who had moved to Delray Beach from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, with his wife Lucille. The two-story wood-frame house was likely designed by Samuel Ogren, Sr., a former associate of West Palm Beach architect William Manly King. A pool was added in 1966 and a partial wrap-around porch in 1980; after a full restoration in 1996–1997, the house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 28, 2002.
The building now serves as the Sandoway Discovery Center, where visitors encounter marine life displays and coral reef pools that teach about coastal ecosystems. This role has transformed the house into an educational hub for the community.
The building sits at 142 South Ocean Boulevard and is easy to locate near the waterfront. Visitors can view shell collections and live reptile exhibits displayed throughout the interior.
The house was bought for $620,000 around 1995 after local residents lobbied for county and state grants to acquire it. The Friends of Sandoway then worked with contractors, educators and marine biologists to convert the residence, which opened as a nature center in May 1998.
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