ARCHITECTURE AND GARDENS BLOOMS AMONG HISTORICAL SPLENDOR The Mansion at Tuckahoe on Jensen Beach in Martin County BY KEVIN FRITZ Aerial view of the Edison & Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers Opened in 1940, the 10-acre Sarasota Jungle Gardens showcases the rare Australian nut tree and a bunya bunya tree. If you love orchids, drop by the nearby Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and marvel at the collection of more than 6,000 of these unique flowering plants. While most pre-Civil War plantations are located in North Florida, the antebellum Gamble mansion in Ellenton gives you a chance to step back in time to the days of this thriving sugar plantation. Once the home of Major Robert Gamble, it’s the only antebellum house still intact in Florida. The Kitchen Garden at Pinewood Estate in Lake Wales The Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach The Village of the Arts is a community of ecause Florida was discovered more While visiting Coconut Grove—one of reasons, US President Truman visited 11 times, In Delray Beach, the famed Morikami artists housed in colorfully painted 1920 and than 500 years ago, some of the archi- Miami’s oldest neighborhoods—a visit to The first in November 1946. Museum and Japanese Gardens offers 200 acres 1930 cottages in Bradenton. Check to see if there Btecture found in parts of the Sunshine Kampong will have your mouth watering for Also in Key West, the legacy of John James of tropical bonsai, golden koi ponds and nature is an “artwalk” scheduled when you visit. State is a surprise to many who associate the an exotic fruit salad. Candle fruit, peanut Audubon, the world-renowned naturalist, trails. The Bonnet House Museum & Gardens Wander over to Old Main Street to view the neo- state more with the art deco of South Beach, an butter fruit, egg fruit, cocoplums and more lives on at the Audubon House & Tropical in Fort Lauderdale has five distinct ecosystems classical-style buildings dating back to 1898. architectural treasure unto itself. Associated than 50 varieties of mango are on site. Gardens. Audubon first visited the Florida to discover. Sign up for an historical walk of downtown. gardens, many of which surround famed archi- Miami’s architecture is a splendid blend of Keys in 1832. Note the 1850s medicinal and Completed in 1913, Mable Ringling’s Rose tectural sites, explode with tropical flowers, art deco, Mediterranean Revival and Miami herbal garden. SOUTHWEST Garden at the Ringling Estate in Sarasota boasts palms and fruit trees, blending with northern- Modernist also known as MiMo. The The Wray Botanical Collection at Flamingo Two men whose ideas changed the world almost 1,200 varieties of roses laid out in a type flora evident by snapdragons and Miami Design Preservation League offers Gardens in Davie features more than 3,000 ex- shared property in Fort Myers that will marvel 28,000-square-foot circular design. Just beyond sunflowers. The foliage can be as diverse as the 90-minute walking tours in the Miami Beach otic, tropical, subtropical and native plants and all ages. The Edison & Ford Winter Estates fea- the Secret Garden, you’ll find the plots of Mable state’s climate zones since temperatures vary 20 Architectural Historic District. Take time to trees. The centerpiece of the gardens, which in- ture the homes of inventor Thomas Edison and and John Ringling. F between Tallahassee and Miami. visit the Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, a clude the Butterfly and Hummingbird Garden, carmaker Henry Ford, and 20 acres of gardens. Mediterranean Revival estate built in 1916 and Croton Garden and Bromeliad Garden, is a Edison experimented with bamboo from the CENTRAL EAST SOUTHEAST home to a collection of rare orchids. natural hammock of 200-year-old live oaks gardens while inventing the light bulb and the The Bamboo Pavilion in Vero Beach was built Nestled on the shores of Biscayne Bay, the Second only to Miami’s vivid architecture is dotted with orchids and epiphytes. common goldenrod to produce rubber for in Colombia, shipped and reassembled at the Barnacle, built in 1891, was home to Ralph whimsical Key West. Its historic homes are In Palm Beach, Whitehall (c. 1902), a 75- Firestone car tires. Pose for a photo next to the McKee Botanical Garden. Originally opened in Middleton Munroe, one of Coconut Grove’s pi- known as “conch” houses, a term first referred room, 100,000-square-foot mansion, built by largest banyan tree on the estate. Today, the the early 1930s, the garden is known for its 18- oneers. Its gardens contain one of the last to those built with conch shells, and later de- Standard Oil co-founder Henry Flagler as a original four-inch Ficus bengalensis sapling, a acre subtropical jungle hammock. remnants of the once vast Miami Hammock, scribing the wooden homes built by settlers. wedding present for his wife, overlooks the gift from magnate Harvey Firestone, is the The nation’s largest public collection of trop- the tropical hardwood hammock that graced Historians will love the Harry S. Truman Little Intracoastal Waterway. It is now called the largest in south Florida, taking up an entire acre ical bonsai trees is found at the Heathcote much of the area in the 1920s. White House in Key West, which, for health TUCKAHOE LEFT: FROM BOTTOM MANSION AT GARDENS; CLOCKWISE BOK TOWER COUNTY; LEE COUNTY VCB; BEACH COUNCIL OF PALM CULTURAL Flagler Museum. and measuring almost 400 feet around. Botanical Gardens in Fort Pierce. Experience mi- 44 2014 TRAVEL GUIDE TO FLORIDA 2014 TRAVEL GUIDE TO FLORIDA 45 ARCHITECTURE AND GARDENS FEATURED LINKS Frank Lloyd Wright architecture at the Florida Southern College campus in Lakeland Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park floridastateparks.org/maclaygardens Bok Tower Gardens and Pinewood Estate in Audobon House & Tropical Gardens nearby Lake Wales comprises 50-acre hilltop audubonhouse.com Bok Tower Gardens gardens surrounding a 205-foot “singing boktowergardens.org tower” that houses one of the world’s finest car- Bonnet House Museum & Gardens bonnethouse.org illons with 60 bells that ring every half hour. Castillo de San Marcos Pinewood Estate, built in the 1930s, is a 20- nps.gov/casa Eden Gardens State Park room Mediterranean-style home, sitting among floridastateparks.org/edengardens a spectacular collection of ferns, palms, camel- Edison & Ford Winter Estates edisonfordwinterestates.org lias and magnolias. Flagler College Visitors are pleasantly surprised that the flagler.edu Flamingo Gardens largest concentration of Frank Lloyd Wright de- flamingogardens.org signs in the world resides west of Orlando in Fort Pickens nps.gov/guis/planyourvisit/fort-pickens.htm Lakeland. Wright designed and oversaw the Fort Clinch State Park floridastateparks.org/fortclinch construction of 12 structures on the campus of Frank Lloyd Wright and Florida Southern College Florida Southern College, including his only franklloydwrightatfsc.com Gamble Plantation Historic State Park planetarium and theater-in-the-round. October floridastateparks.org/gambleplantation 2013 saw the opening of the Sharp Family González-Alvarez House The Water Garden at the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in Gainesville staugustinehistoricalsociety.org Tourism and Education Center, the first Wright Harry P. Leu Gardens structure built on the original site, for the orig- five flags in four centuries. The oldest city in The Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park in leugardens.org Harry S. Truman Little White House inal client, since 1966. the US, there are 36 buildings of colonial origin Tallahassee displays ornamental gardens first trumanlittlewhitehouse.com still standing to be discovered. planted in 1923 by Alfred B. and Louise Maclay. Heathcote Botanical Gardens heathcotebotanicalgardens.org croclimates as you pass through Mediterranean CENTRAL WEST St. Augustine’s González-Alvarez House, the Considered a “masterpiece of floral architec- Henry B. Plant Museum and tropical plants in the Japanese Garden, On the Gulf coast, the Henry B. Plant Museum oldest surviving Spanish colonial dwelling in ture,” 1,200 acres feature a secret garden, a plantmuseum.com Henry Morrison Flagler Museum Reflection Garden, Herb Garden and the in Tampa, circa 1891, originally served as the Florida, has been occupied since the 1600s. reflection pool, a walled garden and hundreds flaglermuseum.us Rainforest Display. 511-room Tampa Bay Hotel. Known for its Architect and history buffs will love Flagler of azaleas and camellias. Pack a lunch! The Kanapaha Botanical Gardens kanapaha.org In Jensen Beach, the Mansion at Tuckahoe Moorish revival architecture, opulent European College, serving as the Hotel Ponce de Leon from property provides swimming, fishing, canoeing Manatee Village Historical Park showcases Mediterranean design with interior furnishings and spectacular tropical gardens, it 1888 to 1967. It was built by the same Henry and kayaking on its resident Lake Hall. manateeclerk.com/historical/ManateeVillage.aspx Marie Selby Botanical Gardens terrazzo floors, eight fireplaces and marble rest- was a getaway for the rich and famous in its day Flagler who co-founded Standard Oil and cham- The Tallahassee Museum features native selby.org rooms. Overlooking the Indian River, it was catering to the likes of Teddy Roosevelt and pioned the overseas railroad in the Florida Keys. wildlife, pioneer buildings and a plantation McKee Botanical Garden mckeegarden.org built in 1938 by Ann Bates Leach, an heiress to Babe Ruth. Today, the museum is part of the Be sure to visit the Cathedral Basilica of home with slave quarters. There is a half-mile Miami Design Preservation League the Coca-Cola fortune. University of Tampa. Saint Augustine built between 1793 and 1797, nature trail bringing you up close and personal mdpl.org Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens Sunken Gardens in St. Petersburg is home to known as America’s first parish, and Castillo de to a dry sinkhole, gopher tortoise burrows, oak morikami.org CENTRAL some of the oldest tropical plants in the region.