The plantation house that once stood here was built in 1821 and was completely destroyed during the Second Seminole War in late January 1836. Naturalist John James Audubon visited on Christmas Day 1831 after walking 14 miles from the Mala Compa Plantation in what is now Palm Coast, Florida, and he completed a painting of the Greater Yellowlegs shorebird in the marsh across Bulow Creek. In 1828 James Ormond III lived here with John Bulow and later wrote that the house measured 62 feet by 42 feet and had 2 separate kitchens, and he noted that the library held an extensive collection of fictional works. After the destruction, troops found the mansion in ruins with burned and torn books scattered around the area, and only 2 books were salvaged, one by William Shakespeare and one by John Milton. Sherds of 19th century shell edge dinnerware were found in the kitchen building area and at the slave cabin 1 site.