The Carolyn Norem Collection revolves around the history of a house built in 1883 by Willian A. Guild, a pharmacist from Boston, MA. Over the years various owners have given different names to the house: "The Guild House, The Guild Hotel, The Osceola House, Weatogue, and Braemar."
The Carolyn Norem Collection covers the time period of 1905 to 1950. In 1905 Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Spooner purchased the Guild House which had fallen into disrepair after having been abandoned, probably after the "Big Freeze"of 1894-95. The Spooners transformed the former boarding house into a show place and changed the name from "Osceola House" to "Weatogue." A guest book from "Weatogue" is part of the collection.
The Collection also contains numerous letters to and from the Spooner family concerning many activities in the Winter Park community, especially the Winter Park Garden Club and the Woman's Club of Winter Park. The Spooner family members were very active in community affairs.
This article was written by former archivist, Barbara White, MLIS.