A rchaeological evidence shows that humans have inhabited the land around Bonnet House, perhaps as far back as 2,000 B.C. A shell midden left by the pre-Columbian Tequesta people suggests they were the site’s first settlers taking advantage of food sources found in the fresh, brackish, and saltwater bodies located at or near Bonnet House. Further archaeological evidence suggests that the grounds saw one of the first sites of Spanish contact with the New World in the late 1400s to early 1500s.
Bonnet House’s modern history began in 1911 when Hugh Taylor Birch purchased the land from Patrick Cunningham of Jacksonville, Florida, a Duval County Trustee. Birch’s daughter Helen married Chicago artist Frederic Bartlett in 1919, and Frederic designed and started building Bonnet House with Birch’s assistance soon thereafter. It is believed Hugh Taylor Birch wanted the newlyweds to have a winter home on the pristine coastal land he so dearly loved. Tragedy struck in 1925 when Helen died from breast cancer. Frederic’s visits to Bonnet House then became sporadic until 1931 when he married Evelyn Fortune Lilly. With this marriage, a renaissance occurred on the site as Frederic and Evelyn entered a prolific period of embellishing Bonnet House with the decorative elements that delight visitors to this day.
