From Preservation Online, the online magazine of the National Trust for Historic Preservation

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Edison & Ford Winter Estates Reopen After Hurricane Wilma


Story by Margaret Foster / Dec. 7, 2005

The restoration of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford's neighboring estates in Fort Myers, Fla., was well under way until two hurricanes stalled the project.

Hurricane Charley hit on Aug. 13, 2004, downing trees and branches. Despite the damage to the landscape, the site's historic structures survived the storms intact, but the estates remained closed for four months.

"We were about midway through [the project]," says Chris Pendleton, president and CEO of the Edison & Ford Winter Estates. "It took us months to recover from Charley; it was the first major hurricane we had had in Florida for 40 years."

This fall, another hurricane struck. On Oct. 24, Wilma destroyed another 58 trees, closing the site for about a month. The estates reopened again on Nov. 25.

Edison built his riverfront retreat in 1886—complete with a laboratory—and spent every winter there until his death in 1931. After a visit to Edison's Seminole Lodge, in 1915 Ford was inspired to buy the property next door. Today the 17-acre estates among the top ten most visited historic homes in the country.

The Edison & Ford Winter Estates is the fourth of 12 Save America's Treasures sites to be highlighted in Restore America: A Salute to Preservation, an HGTV-National Trust partnership. HGTV's $75,000 donation helped fund the exterior restoration of Seminole Lodge.

The $9 million restoration will be completed in March, but visitors are always welcome before then. "The restoration, for all intents and purposes, looks finished now," Pendleton says.

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