Hibernia

George Fleming and his wife Sophia Fatio established the first lasting settlement on Fleming Island in 1796. George later received a Spanish land grant of 1000 acres, which he named Hibernia for his homeland of Ireland. Their son Lewis Fleming and his wife Margaret Seton built the Big House in 1858 as the family home and as a popular winter resort for almost a century. Visitors arrived by steamboat and enjoyed hunting, fishing, lawn tennis, golf, and swimming. A bathhouse was built circa 1885 along with an artesian-fed pool, possibly the oldest working pool in Florida. The Big House survives in the bricks, beams, doors, heart pine floors, and 400 window panes integrated into the structure of the current home.

Fleming Island, Florida · United States