History & House
By the time early settler Hugh Taylor Birch purchased the Bonnet House site in
1895, the grounds had already witnessed 4,000 years of Florida history. A shell
midden left by the Tequesta people indicates that human activity on the site
dates back to 2,000 B.C. while further archaeological evidence suggests that the
grounds saw one of the first sites of Spanish contact with the New World.
Bonnet House’s modern history began when Birch gave the Bonnet House property
as a wedding gift to his daughter Helen and her husband, Chicago artist Frederic
Clay Bartlett in 1919. The newlyweds began construction of Bonnet House in
1920, eager for a winter retreat where Frederic could pursue his artwork and
Helen could compose music and poetry. 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.
Frederic died in 1953, but Evelyn continued to return each winter. In 1983,
Evelyn Fortune Bartlett gave Bonnet House to the Florida Trust for Historic
Preservation. Her contribution—at the time, the largest charitable gift in
Florida history—ensured that the site would be preserved for the enjoyment and
education of future generations.
Bonnet House Museum & Gardens is accredited by the American Association
of Museums. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic places in
1984 and declared a historic landmark by the City of Fort Lauderdale in 2002.
In 2004, the National Trust for Historic Preservation included Bonnet House in
its Save America’s Treasures program. Due to the threat posed by
inappropriately massive nearby development, the National Trust and the Florida
Trust for Historic Preservation designated listed Bonnet House as one of
America’s 11 most endangered sites in 2008.
View video of Bonnet House on Gozaic.com
