In Pinellas County in 1958, real estate developer Charles Cheezem opened one of Florida‘s first retirement communities, Ridgewood Groves. Selling retirement homes in the peninsular county, with its temperate winter weather and high number of sunny days, proved effortless in the postwar economy. The nearby city of St. Petersburg had long served as a haven for aging Americans. The addition of air-conditioning in postwar suburban housing allowed communities like Ridgewood Groves to flourish in the Sunshine State.
In a marketing brochure for Ridgewood Groves, images of active retirees appear alongside promises of ―five producing citrus trees with every home. The potential resident could choose from five floor plans, all named after orange varieties – the Mandarin, the Seville, the Tangelo, the Valencia, and the Duncan.
The need to connect the community to oranges pervaded so strongly that the photographer hand painted unripe green oranges the color orange before capturing the cover photo. This manipulation of nature by man conveyed a natural quality inherent to Florida, symbolized by the orange.
Ridgewood Groves was expanded in 1962 to the south creating Ridgewood Mountain Village with aggressive marketing to retirees.
