716 South Newport Avenue

Henry Leiman built this house in 1914. He owned the Tampa Box Company, which was the largest cigar box manufacturer in the world. The architect was Leo Elliott, who also designed Tampa City Hall, the Cuban Club and the Italian Club. This house was entered into the National Historic Register in 1974 and remained in the Leiman family until the early 2000s. 

The house is built in Prairie style, which emphasizes the horizontal over the vertical. Distinguishing features include wide overhanging eaves and elegant, proportional symmetry; also seventy-three evenly-spaced windows. The owners particularly love the wood of this home—the variety of colors in it and how Leiman collected the rare mahogany for it from the boxes from his company. 

This immaculate residence was restored once in 1986 and just now in 2023. It was also heavily renovated in 2006—including new plumbing and wiring, central air conditioning, a finished basement, a new kitchen, a pool and a three-car garage. The 2023 restoration included a modern home automation system and a complete restoration of the woodwork, fireplaces and original artwork. The artist who painted the murals at the Columbia Restaurant also recently decorated the foyer of this home with classical and prairie style artwork, and also created a dedicatory inscription that represents the current family’s contribution to the home's history. 

Fun fact: when they dug out the finished basement in 2006, workers found a large stash of Cuban rum bottles from Prohibition buried in the crawl space. Some of the bottles were still full. Apparently Mr. Leiman wasn't in favor of the 18th Amendment! The contractor on the project tracked down the current owners after they bought the house and gave them one of the full bottles as a gift. It is now on display in the library.