Betsy Rogers Owens has returned to a job for which she is uniquely qualified. As executive director of the Friends of Casa Feliz, she is charged with managing the Andalusian-style home museum designed by her grandfather, James Gamble Rogers II, and building on its 91-year legacy. The role is one she previously filled during a 12-year tenure that eventually took a back seat to family priorities.
Owens first led Friends of Casa Feliz between 2004 and 2016, stepping in three years after a community effort saved the house from demolition through a purchase by the city and relocation to its current 656 N. Park Ave. address. She oversaw the development of its nonprofit management entity into a community institution while the residence became a venue for weddings, musical performances, and the Parlor Series of guest speakers. But Owens was also inspired to advocate for the protection of other historic Winter Park properties.
A 2015 campaign, spearheaded by Owens and Friends of Casa Feliz, succeeded in changing the required vote for historic district designation approval from 67% of neighborhood homeowners to a simple majority. The effort sparked debates between maintaining heritage and protecting property rights, but the resulting measure only lasted a few months before its reversal after the following election cycle. “I felt I was pushing for an agenda the community didn’t support,” Owens said, “that was discouraging.” She stepped down the following July but says the decision was for her family.
“It’s a 30-hour a week position and it just made sense that I go back to work full time,” she said, “but I never lost my passion for it.” With two children preparing for college, Owens took a full-time job as marketing and communications director for The Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida. “I had been to a couple of fundraising breakfasts, and I was really moved by their mission.”
Architectural historian Christine Madrid French succeeded Owens. In June of 2017, French was succeeded by Chief Resource Officer for the Historical Society of Central Florida, Susan Omoto, who would have the dubious distinction of leading the nonprofit through the pandemic. “Casa is actually a residence, so six feet apart doesn’t work,” she said. “The Parlor Series, Music at Casa, we couldn’t do any of that anymore.” The loss of event-based revenue, minimal grant support, and the suspension of fundraising events led to staff layoffs. “It was terrible.”
Omoto says the recovery has been steady but slow. The Parlor Series is making a comeback, and the resurgence of musical performances has included a partnership with Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts. She announced her retirement in March, which proved serendipitous for Owens. “Life’s circumstances change, my kids are grown and out of college,” she said. “When Susan announced she was leaving, I thought it might feel good to go back.”
“I was tickled pink when I heard,” Omoto said. “I kind of figured she’d be back at some point. Casa is the Rogers’ legacy, it’s their story.”
Owens kept up with the story in the eight years since she stepped away and looks forward to what comes next. “I’m not going to go back to waging battles for change,” she said, but has several ideas that start with increasing access to the historic home. “People may come to Central Florida for theme parks, but there’s a good percentage of them who want to have authentic Florida experiences.”
She wants to expand the current tour schedule of 10 a.m.-noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays to four days a week with extended daily hours and audio tours. Additional Parlor Series events and musical performances would be accompanied by educational events focused on topics of community interest. “We’re in the fact-finding stage now but I’d like the community to feel that this really is their parlor,” she said. “The house has a rich tradition in that regard.”
The tradition is of obvious importance to Owens, and just as her decision to step down was made with family in mind, so is her return. She remembers her grandfather’s affinity for playing the piano and writing poetry, squeezing juice from oranges he picked off his trees, and the work ethic that lasted well into his eighties. She recalls seeing Casa Feliz from afar when she was a child but never knowing what it looked like inside. And she takes pride in the ability to welcome the community into that history.
“I think a lot of people felt that even though Casa was a private home, it was a community asset that made Winter Park feel like home for them.”
