Saturday February 4-
We decided to check out another nearby state park – Eden
Gardens State Park. This turned out to
be an excellent day trip! We took a tour of the house and had a great tour guide. The park
was within 10 minutes (by car) of our campground.
It consists of a two-story 1895 mansion called the Wesley house and
surrounding gardens. The Wesley House was built by William Wesley, who was
directly related to Charles Wesley - one of the founders of the Methodist church. Willliam was a
pretty prominent lumberman and operated sawmills on the property. He and his
wife had several children but none of them wanted to live in the home after
their parents passed away. Their children sold the property to a prominent businessman and his
wife, but the wife passed away before they could more into it. It was never
occupied and fell into disrepair for 10 years. It became a local hangout for
kids and vagrants during that time, and many things were stolen from the house. After 10 years
it was finally put up for sale again and a publishing magnate from New York named Lois Maxon
purchased it for 12,000 dollars (!). She did spend a great deal of money
repairing the house and putting in lush gardens. She filled the entire house
with antiques as well. She had no children and left the house and property to
the state of Florida on the condition that it be kept as is and the public be allowed to tour.
Fun fact- the horror movie "Frogs" was filmed here.
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| Front entrance to Wesley House |
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| View of fountain from second floor of Wesley House |
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| Azaleas in bloom |
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| Bay seen from Wesley House |
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House as seen from bay
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