DeBary Hall was built in 1871 by Baron Frederick de Bary, who was born in 1815 in Germany of Belgian descent and came to New York in 1840 as agent for Mumm's Champagne. His estate of many hundred acres in Florida was a hunting and fishing preserve and his family's winter home, where many notable guests were entertained, including Presidents Grant and Cleveland and members of Europe's royalty. He lived here during the steamboat era of the St. Johns River and held interests that included ownership of a steamship line. He died in 1898 in his 84th year, and his son Adolphe inherited the property. The Florida Federation of Art, Inc., organized in 1927 in Orlando to promote, develop, and advance art in the State of Florida, received DeBary Hall and about five acres of land in 1959 from the Property Owners Association of Plantation Estates, after which it became the Federation's state headquarters and art galleries. In 1967 the property was acquired by the Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials, which then leased it to the Federation for its continued use.