{"id":421689,"date":"2026-10-07T23:42:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T23:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/421689\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T23:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T23:42:18","slug":"new-merrywood-owner-explores-saving-part-of-historic-mansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/421689\/","title":{"rendered":"New Merrywood owner explores saving part of historic mansion"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Orlando drinkware magnate who paid $15 million for the historic Merrywood estate<\/a> in Winter Park has made his first public comments about the property\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

Steve Lockwood, who last year bought\u00a0bought the Orlando-founded drinkware brand Corkcicle, <\/a>purchased the 3.67-acre property in August, according to an emailed statement Wednesday afternoon from Jason Searl, an Orlando real estate attorney representing him. The Winter Park Voice was first to report his ownership.<\/p>\n

The statement said Lockwood has been meeting with city officials and others in the community ahead of Wednesday\u2019s City Commission meeting, when a final vote on a controversial proposed lot split for the land could take place.<\/p>\n

It said he bought the property with the intention of building a family home there, while also considering the possibility of splitting the land with a close family friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I\u2019ve learned more about Merrywood and what the property means to Winter Park, I\u2019ve appreciated the opportunity to have constructive conversations with people who care deeply about its history and its future,\u201d he said in the statement. \u201cI bought Merrywood because I saw it as a special place where my family could build a home and become part of the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also understand that the property means something to many people in Winter Park. I\u2019m listening, keeping an open mind and hopeful that we can find a path forward that everyone can feel good about.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement said Lockwood expects to share additional information as discussions progress.<\/p>\n

Siblings Cathy and Raymond Gilmer\u2019s sale of the property in August<\/a>\u00a0to what had been a mystery corporation, Lake Osceola Holdings LLC, stunned those working to save the house from demolition.<\/p>\n

An exclusive look inside Winter Park\u2019s historic, imperiled Merrywood House<\/a><\/p>\n

Although no one had heard publicly from the new owner until now, shortly after the sale<\/a> his representative told the city he still wants a permit to demolish it.<\/p>\n

The initial application for a demolition permit filed by the Gilmers was extended for 90 days \u2014 allowing more time to complete the requirements to obtain it. As of Wednesday, the city\u2019s permitting portal shows the $1,418 in fees have not been paid, nor have any required inspections necessary to obtain the permit<\/a>\u00a0been completed.<\/p>\n

The 7,300-square-foot Spanish-style home built in 1939 is the largest residence designed by the city\u2019s famed architect,\u00a0James Gamble Rogers II<\/a>. It\u2019s estimated fewer than 30 homes he designed remain standing in the city. Commissioners recently tasked their\u00a0historic preservation board<\/a> with recommending ways to improve preservation efforts, as iconic homes are torn down to make way for new ones in a city where vacant land is scarce.<\/p>\n

The sale, the largest-ever for a single lot in city history, could potentially allow the owner to build a 55,991-square-foot house on the land under existing ordinances. It\u2019s about 300 feet from the city\u2019s current largest home at 916 Palmer Avenue \u2014 which is about 40,000 square feet.<\/p>\n

While the lot split would boost the value of the land, it would also reduce the size of the homes that could be built. The city\u2019s prohibition against splitting lakefront lots dates back to the 1990s and was put in place to protect community character and natural resources along the city\u2019s lakes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Orlando drinkware magnate who paid $15 million for the historic Merrywood estate in Winter Park has made…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[558,28,114,266,115,1335,139,141,140,480,109,76686,4567],"class_list":["post-421689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-business","tag-florida","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-real-estate","tag-social","tag-social-business","tag-winter-park"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}