Pinewood Estate

When I visited here last time, we did not go to see the house that is at Bok Tower Gardens. The house is named the Pinewood Estate and you can do a tour of this neat place. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.



A tour through the magnificent Mediterranean-style Pinewood Estate lets
you experience the luxurious lifestyle of C. Austin Buck, an early 20th
century industrialist. Mr. Buck was the vice president of Bethlehem Steel. The Estate occupies eight acres of Bok Tower Gardens and is enjoyed by thousands of visitors each year.



Pinewood Estate’s has beautiful gardens and a 20 room Mediterranean-style
mansion built in the early 1930s. It is considered one of the finest examples of
Mediterranean-style architecture in Florida.



Pinewood began its life in 1930 under the name “El Retiro”.
Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., who came to the area in 1922 to design Edward
W. Bok’s Gardens, was designing private gardens at nearby Mountain Lake
Estates. William Lyman Phillips was assigned as the Olmsted
representative and was retained by Buck to design the gardens and site
of “El Retiro” to take maximum advantage of the lush Florida landscape.



Charles Wait, long affiliated with the Olmsted firm, was brought in to
design the house in the Mediterranean-style Floridians still enjoy
today. Wait created a house that had the appearance of a Mediterranean
villa. The thick walls, wrought iron details, carved woodwork and doors
heighten the effect. Wait also incorporated large porches to give clear
views of the surroundings and provide constant air flow.



Buck, who admired Latin lifestyle and architecture, obtained the tiles
used throughout the house from Cuba. Phillips, who spent time in the
Canal Zone and had a great love for the tropics, set about creating a
series of vistas – a Spanish frog fountain leading to a grotto in front
of the house; an Oriental moon gate outside the dining room; and the
long view down a rolling lawn to the lily pool. The entire house was
situated to give views through the surrounding pine trees.



Over the years, Pinewood changed hands several times before it was
acquired by Bok Tower Gardens in 1970. The estate was restored to its
original design by nationally recognized restoration landscape architect
Rudy Favretti, the staff of Bok Tower Gardens and a corps of
volunteers. Today, work continues to preserve the mansion listed on the
National Register of Historic Places.