Courtyard

Unbelievably beautiful, wonderfully restored - beautiful blend of old & new! Tour is fantastic & Sue was so knowledgeable. This was my second visit & I still want to go back!

If you have toured famous homes and mansions before such as The Biltmore, or Vizcaya this is NOT that.

First and foremost this is not a museum, this is a home. Meaning this estate is currently lived, and is shown to the public as a treat to the public and is done as a labour of love.

The house was recently renovated in 2015. However, it was done is what I would call resto-mod. Meaning it was restored with modern amenities, i.e granite kitchen top, industrial stove, and plaster walls.

This part that was the most shocking...at first. Often times with most guilded age mansions, the intent is to restore to maximum originality.

For instance 250 or so rolls of original wall paper were thrown away and replaced with the plaster wall during the Stetson renovation and 10 bathrooms were added.

When the vizcaya did similar restoration they sent back samples of the original wallpaper to the original manufacture to get the original wallpaper and added nothing.

However, Vizcaya is a not a home it's a museum. This is a functional home, and due to that, it's very permissible and understandable that certain accommodation have been made to make the house livable and functional for the owners.

The highlight of the house tour is the artisinal wooden floors, each room done with a diffrent masterpiece inlay pattern.

The tour was during founder week which highlights the history of the family and included extra memorabilia from the Stetson family, that was very cool and really added to the showing.

I live a few blocks away from the mansion. Its beautiful although hard to see from the road with bushes surrounding the entire fence line. I've never been inside but im sure its awesome.

This is an incredible place & the tour takes you thru the whole mansion. Well worth the cost but make sure to make a reservation!!

Very nice tour with a great tour of history! These guys have done a great job! One suggestion- sell bottled water at end of tour. I would be willing to pay $2 a bottle and that profit could help support the house too!