Bonnet House

Built 1920 to 1921, listed in the National Register of Historic Places 1984
900 N. Birch Road, Fort Lauderdale

Photo captions:

1940s Bonnet House Aerial View Taken From the East
Image Courtesy of Bonnet House Museum and Garden
Photo by Weidhuner

East Elevation of Bonnet House in the 2000s Overlooking the Lagoon
Image Courtesy of Bonnet House Museum and Garden

Hugh Taylor Birch
Image Courtesy of Bonnet House
Museum and Garden

Helen Birch Bartlett
Image Courtesy of Bonnet House
Museum and Garden

Evelyn Fortune Bartlett
Image Courtesy of Bonnet House
Museum and Garden

Frederic and Helen Bartlett
Image Courtesy of Bonnet House Museum and Garden

Hugh Taylor Birch was a wealthy lawyer and real estate investor from Chicago who came to Fort Lauderdale in the late 1890s and began to buy the undeveloped land on the barrier island along the Atlantic Ocean. His daughter, Helen, shared her father’s love of the rugged Florida wilderness and visited him in the winter months. After she married millionaire art collector and artist, Frederic Clay Bartlett, her father gave the couple the land which would later be the site of Bonnet House. Tragically, she died in 1925 not long after Bonnet House was completed.

The house itself was designed by Frederic Bartlett. He used local contractor Samuel Drake and local builder W. H. Rogers to organize the work. He used indigenous materials in the construction of the house, including coral rock, cypress, Dade County pine and concrete blocks made from beach sand. The house was designed for tropical beachfront living. Nestled among miles of beachfront development, the 35-acre estate rests on the barrier island with the Intracoastal Waterway on the west side of the property and the Atlantic Ocean on the east. The eclectic architectural style was influenced by Bartlett’s extensive world travels.

Mr. Bartlett later married Evelyn Fortune Lily and this whimsical estate became their winter retreat. Evelyn Bartlett was also an artist and their unconventional personal touches are evident throughout the property. In the main house are ceiling murals, faux painting on the walls and floors, decorative shell work and unique sculptures.

Mr. Bartlett died in 1953. Mrs. Bartlett continued to spend her winters at the estate. Fearing the encroaching development, in 1983 she gave the property to the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation. She died two months before her 110th birthday, in 1997. Bonnet House, Inc. operates the property as a house museum and tropical garden. It is one of the few complete homes and studios of a recognized American artist open to the public. Tours are available Wednesday through Sunday. For more information, call 954-563-5393 or visit www.bonnethouse.org.