Charles Deering Estate
Encyclopedia
Charles Deering Estate was the 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...

 home of Charles Deering
Charles Deering
Charles Deering was an American businessman, art collector, and philanthropist. He was an executive of the agricultural machinery company founded by his father that became International Harvester. Charles's successful stewardship of the family firm left him with the means and leisure to indulge...

 until 1927 when he died at the estate.

Description

Deering lived on the 444 acres (1.8 km²) property for five years, from 1922 to 1927. The property consists of a three floor wooden house built in 1900, known as the Richmond Cottage, and a three floor stone mansion. Other buildings were also built on the property to serve as axillary buildings to the estate. Charles Deering Estate is located in the incorporated village of Palmetto Bay, Florida
Palmetto Bay, Florida
Palmetto Bay is a Miami suburban incorporated village in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The population was 24,469 at the 2000 census.Palmetto Bay includes two census-designated places defined in the 2000 census, Cutler and East Perrine.-History:...

.

The grounds include what is thought to be the largest virgin coastal tropical hardwood hammock
Tropical hardwood hammock
Tropical hardwood hammocks are closed canopy forests, dominated by a diverse assemblage of evergreen and semi-deciduous tree and shrub species, mostly of West Indian origin...

 in the continental United States. The estate was acquired by the state of Florida in 1985.

The house and grounds were featured several times in the 1980s TV series Miami Vice
Miami Vice
Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...

 and it was the starting line for The Amazing Race All-Stars
The Amazing Race 11
The Amazing Race 11 is the 11th installment of the reality television show The Amazing Race...

 in 2007.

Charles Deering

Charles Deering was born on July 31, 1852 in Paris, Maine
Paris, Maine
Paris is a town in and the county seat of Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,793 at the 2000 census. The census-designated place of South Paris is located within the town. Because the U.S. Post Office refers to the entire town as South Paris, the town as a whole is commonly...

. He was the son of William Deering
William Deering
William Deering was an American businessman and philanthropist.He inherited a woolen mill in Maine, but made his fortune in later life with the Deering Harvester Company.-Life:Deering was born April 25, 1826 in South Paris, Maine...

, founder of Deering Harvester Company
Deering Harvester Company
Deering Harvester Company was founded in 1894 by William Deering. In 1902, Deering Harvester Company and McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, along with three smaller agricultural equipment firms merged to create the International Harvester Company which is still in operation today as the Case IH...

, and brother of, millionaire industrialist, James Deering
James Deering
James Deering was an industrialist executive in the family Deering Harvester Company and subsequent International Harvester, a socialite, and an antiquities collector. He is known for his landmark Vizcaya estate, where he was an early 20th century resident on Biscayne Bay in the present day...

. Deering is remembered as an American
People of the United States
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...

 businessman and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

.

In 1873 Deering graduated from the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...

 and served as an officer in the Navy until 1881. Deering then became secretary of his father's company, which merged with McCormick Harvesting Machine Company and became International Harvester
International Harvester
International Harvester Company was a United States agricultural machinery, construction equipment, vehicle, commercial truck, and household and commercial products manufacturer. In 1902, J.P...

 in 1902. After the merger, Deering became the chairman of the board for International Harvester.
Charles Deering died at the age of 75 at his estate at Cutler, at 11:30 P.M. on February 5, 1927. After Charles' death, the estate was left to his wife and children.

The Richmond Cottage

In 1900 the wooden house was built and soon after S.H. Richmond's wife, Edith, opened the house as an Inn called the Richmond Cottage. Guests who stayed at the Richmond Cottage, according to the 1900 register of the Inn, include Henry Morrison Flagler
Henry Morrison Flagler
Henry Morrison Flagler was an American tycoon, real estate promoter, railroad developer and partner of John D. Rockefeller in Standard Oil. He was a key figure in the development of the eastern coast of Florida along the Atlantic Ocean and was founder of what became the Florida East Coast Railway...

 and James Ingrahm. The Richmond Cottage was named the most southern hostelry on the continental United States by The Miami Metropolis in 1901.
The 1904 City Directory describes Cutler as, "A few houses, with two good stores, those of Tweedell Brothers, and Brown and Moody, each of whom has built up a thriving business with the surrounding country. Cutler has daily mail and three wharves from which boats take freight and passengers to and from Miami. There is one good hotel, the Richmond Cottage which overlooks the bay."

Charles Deering bought the Richmond Cottage in 1916 and moved to Cutler in 1922.

Hurricane Andrew

On August 24, 1992, the third most powerful Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 struck South Florida. Hurricane Andrew packed winds of over 170 miles per hour (76 m/s) and, "destroyed 25,524 homes and damaged 101,241 others."

Hurricane Andrew ravaged and damaged the property of Deering Estate. The water front property was devastated by waves that reached as high as the second floor of the buildings. Water rose more than 16 feet (4.9 m) from sea level and caused major flooding on the property. The Richmond Cottage was taken off its foundation and splintered by the hurricane. It took seven years and $7.2 million U. S. Dollars to restore the location. Deering Estate at Cutler reopened to the public in 1999 and officially opened in 2000.

The Deering Estate Foundation

The Deering Estate Foundation, inc organized in 1989 and strives, "to raise public awareness, outreach, understanding and the enjoyment of the Deering Estate at Cutler and to raise funds to support education, research, exhibits and collections, natural conservation and historical restoration and preservation." The offices of the foundation are located on the third floor of the Richmond Cottage.
align="center" colspan="3" | The Deering Estate Foundation - Board of Directors
Executive Committee Position Directors Trustees
Daniel Yglesias President Henry Aguilera Rick Cohen
Eric Haas Vice President Kristina Cunetta Sallye Jude
David Turner Treasurer Maddalena Daday Peter England
Lynn French Secretary Maurice Bared Mary Young
Suzuyo Fox Philip F. Ludovici
John C. (Sean) Murphy David Peyton
Dorian Neidhart
David A. Marley
Becky Roper Matkov
Scott A. Silver
Paul Neidhart
William Thiele
Liede De Valdivielso
Buff Bye-March
Betty Noe
Richard King

External links

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