Goodwood Museum & Gardens is a museum and garden open to the public. Goodwood Museum & Gardens is situated on 16 acres of sprawling lawns, gardens and centuries old live oaks. In addition to the Main House, there are thirteen outbuildings, a roller rink, and reflecting pool.

This estate began in the 1830's as a cotton and corn plantation that ultimately encompassed 2,400 acres. The plantation's agricultural emphasis declined after the Civil War and by the 1880's the remaining 160 acres, home and garden served as an elegant private residence. In 1911, Goodwood's ownership changed and the house and garden underwent major renovation, securing a place among the fine homes of the Country Estate era. The estate's style and elegance was further enhanced by Goodwood's owners in the late 1920's. Current restoration efforts focus on this turn-of-the-century Country Estate era, ever mindful of Goodwood's rich 19th-century history.

The Main House, which is now open to the public as a museum, was built circa 1840. One of the finest antebellum plantation houses ever built in this region, it features some of the earliest fresco ceilings in Florida. The collections and furnishings are all original to the house.

Goodwood is on the National Register of Historic Places.

History:

The estate known as Goodwood was assembled in the 1830s by Hardy Croom of North Carolina. Plans for a full-time Florida residence were dashed when he, his wife and three children perished in the sinking of their steamship while en route to Florida. Bryan Croom, Hardy's brother, completed the Main House at Goodwood and established it as the centerpiece for his extensive Florida landholdings.

The family of Bryan Croom's sister-in-law sued Bryan for a portion of the estate he inherited from his brother Hardy. A complicated case, it was not settled until 1857. Bryan Croom lost his case and Goodwood was purchased by wealthy Arvah Hopkins who made Goodwood a popular center for Tallahassee society from the 1850s through the 1880s.

After the death of her husband, Mrs. Hopkins sold Goodwood in 1885 to an Englishman, Dr. William Lamb Arrowsmith, and his wife. It is unknown how or why the Arrowsmiths selected Goodwood. Dr. Arrowsmith died within months of his relocation to Goodwood but his wife, Elizabeth, remained on the estate for another 25 years.

In 1911, Mrs. Arrowsmith sold Goodwood to another wealthy widow, Mrs. Alexander Tiers. Fanny Tiers, whose principal estate, Farmlands, was in Morris County, New Jersey, was related by marriage to the Fleischmann family, owners of Waverly Plantation, which was adjacent to Goodwood. Although she spent only limited time at Goodwood, Mrs. Tiers instituted an expansive renovation of the estate; the Goodwood of today is largely the result of her efforts.

As the story goes, in 1925 Senator William C. Hodges bought the most expensive bed of his life. As he related, his wife, Margaret, had always admired one of the old beds at Goodwood. However, to get the bed he had to buy the estate! Senator Hodges had a long and distinguished political career and he and his wife entertained the socially and politically prominent at Goodwood in a fashion unequaled since the Civil War. After the senator's death in 1940, Margaret continued to make Goodwood a social center.

In 1948, Margaret Hodges married Thomas M. Hood, an army officer she had met through the rental of the guest cottages on the estate. Together they enjoyed a comfortable life at Godowood. After his wife's death in 1978, Tom Hood began planning for the restoration of Goodwood as a house museum and public park. He established the Margaret E. Wilson Foundation in her memory. Upon his death in 1990, the Wilson Foundation and its operating agent Goodwod Museum and Gardens, Inc. assumed stewardship for Goodwood, its fascinating history and promising future.

Location:

Address: 1600 Miccosukee Rd, Tallahassee, FL 32308

Phone: 850-877-4202

Directions: Goodwood is located at the corner of Miccosukee Road and Medical Drive, just east of Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and 1.7 miles west of Capital Circle. The entrance to Goodwood is on Miccosukee Road directly across from Carraway Street.

Date Round America Visited: November 4, 2007.

Additional Information:

www.goodwoodmuseum.org