St. Augustine Heritage Book Festival

The Ximenez-Fatio House Museum hosts a book festival from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on September 20, 2025. Fifteen Local authors whose works celebrate St. Augustine's stories, history, and poetry present their books. You can meet the authors, purchase their books, and ask them to sign your copy. 

Participating Authors

In 2024, book topics included the area's first residents, the Spanish who came here and settled, the Menorcans who joined them, and several non-fiction books about St. Augustine's history. We will provide a list of the 2025 authors as soon as it becomes available.

The Event

Admission: The book festival is a free event. Museum tours are available at regular prices. 

When: Saturday, September 20, 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 

Where: The Ximenez-Fatio House and Museum, 20 Aviles Street, St. Augustine, Florida 32084

The Ximenez-Fatio House Museum

Built in 1798 during St. Augustine’s Second Spanish Period, this coquina stone house has witnessed more than 225 years of Florida history. Don Andres Ximenez (a merchant from Spain) was its first owner, having built it for his family.

After Florida became a territory of the United States, the house was owned by a series of women who operated the property as a boarding house hotel. Three of these female managers were widowed, while the most prominent, Louisa Fatio, remained single.

In 1939, the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Florida (NSCDA-FL) purchased the derelict house. They hired the best preservationists to ensure it was as historically accurate as possible to the Boarding House Period (1830s - 1880s) and ultimately named their newly opened museum "The Ximenez-Fatio House"—Ximenez for the man who built the house and Fatio for Louisa Fatio, the house's last historic owner.