on Friday, March 16th. Catherine, Jill and Eileen hosted a traditional St. Patrick’s Day lunch for 18 followed by a cut-throat game of Left, Right, Center in our clubhouse ballroom.
Deering Estate – here we come! What a beautiful day we had. Every winter, the Happy Hatter’s South pick at least one South Florida attraction to tour. Today it was the Deering Estate at Cutler. Located along the Biscayne Bay, the 444 acre estate is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Originally built in 1896, the Richmond Cottage is the last surviving structure of the historic town of Cutler. At the end of the nineteenth century, Cutler (established at the site of the Seminole Hunting Grounds) was one of the best settlements in Dade County. It’s beachfront location and three fishing wharves made it a hub for transporting freight and passengers south of Miami. In 1900, Dr. Samuel Richmond and his wife, Edith, added a three story addition to the home and hoped the first hotel between Coconut Grove and Key West. In 1916, International Harvester CEO, Charles Deering, purchased the Richmond Cottage and transformed it into his winter residence. He constructed the Stone House in 1922 although the cottage maintained its importance as the center of food preparation and dining for the Deerings and their guests. After Charles’s death in 1927, the family continued to winter at the estate until its sale to the State of Florida in 1985.
