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The land, 700 feet along the ocean reaching inland to the Intracoastal Waterway, was a wedding gift from Hugh Taylor Birch to his daughter, Helen, and Chicago artist Frederic Clay Bartlett in 1919. At its heart, Bartlett built a two-story, concrete-block plantation house with a large, lush courtyard, a music room for Helen, an art studio for himself and a chickee-covered bridge leading over the salt marsh to the beach trail. It was a perfect vacation house for Helen and Frederic, who wintered here until her death from cancer in 1925.

Six years later, Bartlett married Evelyn Fortune Lilly, and together they built on the whimsical legacy of Bonnet House. At Evelyn's behest, Frederic dredged the marsh to make freshwater lagoons. As another gift for his beloved, he created a circular shell house that displays shells from around the world and an adjoining orchid house and bamboo bar. The Island Theater, surrounded by a moat, was built to show a friend's movies of an African gorilla hunt. The small building is now used as a classroom. Today visitors can take a guided tour of the house and step back into the life and times of the Bartletts.

EXPERT TIP: Remember to wear comfortable shoes, you'll be doing a lot of walking.

DIRECTIONS:

Bonnet House is located between the Fort Lauderdale beach and the Intracoastal waterway, just south of Sunrise Boulevard.

Take I-95 East to the the Sunrise Boulevard exit. Go East 4 miles (past the Galleria Mall and the Intracoastal Waterway bridge). Turn RIGHT onto North Birch Road The road will dead end at the East Gate of Bonnet House. Follow the signs to the West Gate.