Henry Ford's Winter Estate

Built in 1911, for Richard Smith of New York, it is best known as the former seasonal home of the car manufacturer, Henry Ford (1863-1947), and his wife Clara Bryant (1866-1950). In 1916, the Fords paid $22,000 for this unpretentious bungalow - "The Mangoes" - the main attraction being that it was next door to his great friend and former boss, Thomas Edison. Here, the multi-millionaires enjoyed the simpler things in life: rolling back the carpet to square dance in the living room; and, camping in the backwoods with Ford's buddies, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and the naturalist John Burroughs. However, by 1925 the Fords felt that Fort Myers was becoming overcrowded and in 1936 they built the elegant Ford Plantation at Richmond Hill, Georgia, which became their preferred winter retreat. Today, the Ford Home is open to public as a museum, operated with its neighbor as the, "Edison & Ford Winter Estates".