Mandarin

Mandarin

Mandarin, located about 20 miles south of downtown Jacksonville was primarily a rural area until the late 1960s. Today, Mandarin is a quiet, upscale suburban community with single-family homes, townhouses and condominiums, many of which have water views or are situated on the waterfront. The town has towering oaks dating back to its first settlers, among whom was author Harriet Beecher Stowe who called Mandarin a “tropical paradise” in her book Palmetto Leaves. The community has a fabulous array of shopping, dining, entertainment and a lively local nightlife.

Despite more than a century of growth, the community maintains its sense of history. In 1997 the Mandarin Museum and Historical Society completed restoration of the Walter Jones Store and Post Office, a circa-1911 structure that once served as the community’s focal point. The building, which is still used for meetings and other functions, also displays artifacts of the region’s original inhabitants, the Timucuan Indians. A new facility for the Mandarin Museum and Historical Society has also been completed at the riverfront Walter Jones Historical Park.

The town of Loretto, nestled between San Jose Boulevard to the west, and Philips Highway to the east, is also considered a part of Mandarin and offers a variety of housing options priced from the $250s to the $750s.

Primarily rural until the end of the 1960s when developers discovered this area, Mandarin has grown steadily since. The Mandarin Community Club works diligently to maintain the community’s architectural integrity. Mandarin is rich in history, and for years different preservation groups have sought to maintain that history either in family holdings, trunks, church and school archives or through Mandarin Community Club involvement. Mandarin homes range from estates on the St. Johns River to small country homes with stables. Mandarin is filled with live oak trees and is a very desirable place to live. Mandarin has nearby shopping with a selection of national chain stores such as Barnes and Noble, TJ Max, and the World Market. Please consider Mandarin when you search for homes in Jacksonville.