Main Content

Home > Entertainment > Edison & Ford Winter Estates

Edison & Ford Winter Estates

Open 7 days a week: 9:00am-5:30pm (except Thanksgiving and Christmas)

Admission:

$30/per person (historian led tour)

$25/per person (self-guided tour)

Tour Options: http://www.edisonfordwinterestates.org/about/tour-options/

Guided Tour: Lasts about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Though it is recommended to allow approximately 2 1/2 hours to visit the laboratory and museum afterward. Starts at the top of the hour, every hour from 10:00am to 4:00pm. For more details visit: http://www.edisonfordwinterestates.org/about/tour-options/the-historian-tour/
Museum and Laboratory Visit: Offers visitors the opportunity to see inside the 15,000 square foot museum and Botanic Research Laboratory.

Inside the Laboratory:

River Cruises:

Automotive Tour:

Garden Tours:

Inside the Homes Tour:

Visitor Info:

Edison Winter Estates- Seminole Lodge

The Main house’s original design included a kitchen and dining room in the North wing. In 1906, Edison remodeled the area to serve as  family bedroom suites. Includes a library, study, and Edison’s den.

Guest House includes family room, dining rooms, and kitchen.

Caretaker’s House is the oldest structure at Edison/Ford. A one room section of the house existed when Edison purchased the property and he expanded it over the years.

The pool complex was constructed in 1910 and now reflects the 1928 remodel with the add of the Tea and Bath House.



Ford Winter Estate- The Mangroves

Ford purchased the home in 1916 to vacation with Edison. This home has beautiful views of the Caloosahatchee River.

Edison’s own garden drawing

Gardens:

Landscape at Edison/Ford is dominated by the huge Ficus trees that were planted by Edison, Ford, and Henry Firestone during their quest to find a domestic source of rubber. The Heritage Garden is the original truck garden of fruits and vegetables used by the families for food.

Edison is home to more than 1,700 plants. Highlights include the Banyan tree planted around 1925, sausage trees, eucalyptus trees, kapok trees, tropical snowball, mango trees, citrus, sapote, tamarind, papaya, lychee, longon, starfruit, and king’s mantle.

Edison’s moonlight garden was designed in 1929 by landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman. Also, bamboo is grown throughout the estates which Edison used in his light bulbs.

Edison Botanic Research Library was designated as a national Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society in 2014. Built in 1928, it was the headquarters for Edison and his staff and was operational until 1936.