Bull Run Plantation was a private estate

Estate (house)

An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is the modern term for a manor, but lacks the latter's now abolished jurisdictional authority...

 owned by Julien C. (Bull) Headley located in Leon County

Leon County, Florida

Leon County is a county located in the state of Florida, named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. At the 2010 Census, the population was 275,487. The county seat of Leon County is Tallahassee which also serves as the state capital. The county seat is home to two of Florida's major...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

History

Originally a large part of Water Oak Plantation

Water Oak Plantation

Water Oak Plantation was a was a small cotton plantation of located in northern Leon County, Florida, USA established by Richard Bradford.- Location :Water Oak was located in the general area of Bradfordville.Adjacent plantations:...

 owned by Frances C. Griscom

Frances C. Griscom

Frances Canby Griscom was an American amateur golfer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States and part-time resident of Tallahassee, Florida....

, Headley purchased all but a few hundred acres from Griscom in 1951. He named it Bull Run Plantation. Julian C. (Bull) Headley was a lumberman by career. Starting with the land itself, Headley reduced most of the trees converting the land to cattle range where he ran about 500 head of beef cattle

Beef cattle

Beef cattle are cattle raised for meat production . The meat of cattle is known as beef. When raised in a feedlot cattle are known as feeder cattle. Many such feeder cattle are born in cow-calf operations specifically designed to produce beef calves...

 and used the Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog for herding.

The house

Upon purchasing the property, Headley found that the old Griscom home was too small and in need of extensive repairs. Headley had the house razed and built a new brick mansion

Mansion

A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...

 overlooking Lake Iamonia. He brought in pecan

Pecan

The pecan , Carya illinoinensis, is a species of hickory, native to south-central North America, in Mexico from Coahuila south to Jalisco and Veracruz, in the United States from southern Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana east to western Kentucky, southwestern Ohio, North Carolina, South...

 and other expensive wood for the home's interior paneling and finish work. The roof

Roof

A roof is the covering on the uppermost part of a building. A roof protects the building and its contents from the effects of weather. Structures that require roofs range from a letter box to a cathedral or stadium, dwellings being the most numerous....

 was over-engineered using rafter

Rafter

A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members , that extend from the ridge or hip to the downslope perimeter or eave, designed to support the roof deck and its associated loads.-Design:...

s which measured 2 foot (0.6096 m) by 10 feet (3 m) and set every 12 inches (304.8 mm). Headley also built a large bathhouse and swimming pool

Swimming pool

A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...

 reportedly to cost $25,000. He also had polar bear rugs. The bricks from Griscom's home were used along with bricks he brought in from North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 to create terraces

Terrace (building)

A terrace is an outdoor, occupiable extension of a building above ground level. Although its physical characteristics may vary to a great degree, a terrace will generally be larger than a balcony and will have an "open-top" facing the sky...

 and walkways.

Grounds

Headley was a sportsman enjoying hunting

Hunting

Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...

 and sports fishing. He preserved large areas of his property especially for hunting and fishing. He constructed a dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

 to slow a small stream that flowed south to north to create the chain of lakes now running through Golden Eagle Country Club. Headley then created his own duck

Duck

Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...

 lake called Lake Monkey Business

Lake Monkey Business

Lake Monkey Business is a private park and lake not opened to the public located in northern Leon County, Florida and within the planned private community of Killearn Lakes Plantation.- History :Though the lake was created by Julian C...

.

Sale

In 1964 Headley became attracted to the prospects in Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

, specifically its timber

Timber

Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...

 resources. Headley sold his property to a syndicate

Syndicate

A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies or entities formed to transact some specific business, or to promote a common interest or in the case of criminals, to engage in organized crime...

 of sportsmen and left for British Honduras

British Honduras

British Honduras was a British colony that is now the independent nation of Belize.First colonised by Spaniards in the 17th century, the territory on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, became a British crown colony from 1862 until 1964, when it became self-governing. Belize became...

 (Belize

Belize

Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...

). The syndicate was interested in a recreational preserve. One of the members was Gillis Long, a Congressman from Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

 and assistant secretary of the Office of Economic Opportunity

Office of Economic Opportunity

The Office of Economic Opportunity was the agency responsible for administering most of the War on Poverty programs created as part of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society legislative agenda.- History :...

 under President Lyndon Johnson. Kinhega Lodge

Kinhega Lodge

Kinhega Lodge was a hunting and fishing plantation located in northern Leon County, Florida, United States on Lake Iamonia.From the 1830s through 1866 the land was part of the cotton plantation known as Water Oak Plantation owned by Richard Bradford....

 was established and a Donald Davis was put in charge of developing fields and ponds and supervise hunting and fishing. Plans for a golf course

Golf course

A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...

 and landing strip

Runway

According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

overextended the resources of the syndicate causing its end.