Hugh Taylor Birch, father of Fort Lauderdale beach, gave the site in 1919 to his daughter when she married Frederic Clay Bartlett, an artist. They built Bonnet House as a winter retreat the following year, naming it after the Bonnet water lily. Listed in the National Register of Historic places, the house and lush tropical garden were deeded in the 1980s to the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, the largest charitable gift in Florida history up to that time. While the 35-acre estate is not as ornate as Miami's Viscaya, it's a fine example of what can be created when artistic taste and money marry.

bonnethouse.org