CUMBERLAND CIRCLE
Cumberland Circle is a neighborhood of 81 homes that was initiated in 1976. It was built on a part of a large parcel of land previously owned by the C. Addison Pound family, which they described as “surrounded by three creeks” and Glen Springs. Cumberland Circle’s entrance is directly west of Gainesville High School.
Some of us are old enough to remember Baird Hardware, a large, handsome store located on the east side of the square in downtown Gainesville where Bo Diddley Plaza is now located. The Baird Hardware Company Warehouse on south Main Street survives and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Addison Pound, Sr. went to work as a clerk for Baird Hardware in the early 20th Century. He was very hard working and successfully grew the business. One of his innovations was to use store-owned trucks to deliver large hardware materials to farmers in outlying areas. Mr. Pound became manager of Baird Hardware in 1927. In 1930, when Eberle Baird sold him controlling interest in the business, he became president. Under his leadership Baird Hardware became one of Gainesville’s most successful retail businesses and, also, one of Florida’s largest hardware suppliers.
In 1962 his son C. Addison Pound, Jr. became president of Baird Hardware. In the 1960’s Mr. Pound donated some of the land where Gainesville High School is now situated. He and his family also built a home on the land where Cumberland Circle is now located, and moved in. Mr. Pound hoped that this handsome parcel could be divided into individual home sites. In 1976, Mr. Pound finally entered into an arrangement with builder George Grier Kirkpatrick and developers James H. Greene and Robert R. Rowe to create a Planned Unit Development (PUD). The PUD would be a community of single-family homes, condos and townhomes.
The Cumberland Circle neighborhood is overseen by the Cumberland Circle Community Association, Inc. a homeowners association with all property owners as members. Among the duties of the corporation are the collection of assessments and maintenance of common areas and amenities. It is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of no fewer than five nor more than nine homeowner members who are elected annually. The Declaration of Protective Covenants and Restrictions were created and signed by G.G. Kirkpatrick, James H. Greene and Robert R. Rowe on March 17, 1977.
The homes are duplexes or quadruplexes of one or two stories and of two to four bedrooms. The Association owns and maintains a circular road, which offers ingress and egress to the homes. There are common areas adjacent to each unit and the upkeep of these grounds and the road are the responsibility of the homeowners association. There is a swimming pool with extensive deck area including tables, umbrellas, and a clubhouse. Further amenities are bocce ball and pickleball courts. Trees of various species abound in Cumberland Circle, which gives the neighborhood a certain woodsy feel. The abundance of tree cover and the private circular road are conducive to power walking or strolling, and many homeowners and their dogs, as well as neighbors, take advantage.