Stetson Mansion — Attraction in DeLand

We went to the Stetson Mansion in Deland today! I was so fascinated by the history of the Mansion which was Built in 1886 by John Stetson! The mansion is Florida's largest, grandest and most historic home built before 1900 and one of the first homes in the world designed and built with Edison electricity. This was Stetson’s Winter Home in Florida.

John Stetson was an American hatter, hat manufacturer, and, in the 1860s, the inventor of the cowboy hat if ya’all didnt know that?!

Florida's first "Gilded Age" mansion is on a 3 acre estate that has been restored and updates. The private home is not a museum but an example how great architecture is timeless. The tours were sold out last year, so We weren’t able to get tickets! The home is 10,000 sf with 10,000 panes of window glass.

Each year 10 rooms in the mansion is decorated with 24 nativities from around the world. Decorations are different each year. This year’s room themes include A Woodland Escape, Pretty As A Peacock, A Blue Christmas, Cardinal Conclave, Stetson Country Christmas, Life Is Wonderful, Hero’s Tribute, A Trip to the Pole, and A Santa Convention. They do not allow pictures or photographs to be taken inside the mansion, so we only took outside photographs!

We were guided through the first and second floors of the home by Joann a knowledgeable tour guide providing lively commentary as holiday music from the baby grand player piano wafts in the background. The owner/designer came into one of the rooms during the tour and introduced himself as JT Thompson, who stopped in to say hello to the group. He told a story about his childhood! I was so excited to see him during the tour. He is the the only one that decorated each room for Christmas! He seemed to be an outgoing and down to earth guy!

I purchased the book in the gift shop which was the old schoolhouse! The book talked about his journey in restoring the mansion. I couldn’t wait to get home to read it! I got home and read the entire book from start to finish. I was amazed as I read every line of every page! The book was awesome!

Im so fascinated by the stories and history of the house. It was a wonderful Saturday afternoon (for sure) at...

This Mansion is absolutely amazing! Every single detail in the decorations for Christmas were carefully thought-out and prepared. It is something that you definitely would want to see. They do not allow any photographs of the inside of the house but once you get there you will enjoy yourself completely. It's bringing you back in time and seeing things that happened or the amount of woodwork that was done 130 years ago. There's the dining room where Thomas Edison and kings and queens have had dinner at that table. The table opens up to accomodate 15 people for dinner! So they decorate every inch of this mansion, from top to bottom. Right now and I believe today 1/11, is the last day for the Christmas scenes, but they open up for tours to learn about the mansions history. I believe there's 13 bathrooms and 8 bedrooms and three stories high. However for Christmas, you don't get to go to the third floor. The residents actually live there but open the mansion several times a year... and it's worth every single penny!! it is absolutely amazing to see this house. The decorations were done by one of the owners, his name is JT, and he never had any formal training on how to decorate anything, but once you see what he's done, you'd be surprised. Absolutely amazing! Make sure you take the time to see the Stetson mansion! The history, and the beautiful decorations take you to a time period, where you can just see how beautiful and untouched this house is. The decorations are mostly organic, made from materials found after Hurricane Irma. Bamboo leaves made into amazing decor...I cannot even begin to explain the beauty of this place. Its just simply..... amazing! The tickets are reasonable and it should definitely be on your to-do list! These are pictures of their gift shop, which you are allowed to take pictures of. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take any pictures either inside or outside of...

In December my boyfriend came to visit me from California and told me about how the Stetson Mansion. I had never heard of the place but I love historic buildings and I was extremely excited to go check it out. I looked it up online before we went because I was curious and the website said that it's one of Florida's best kept secrets, after my visit, I couln't agree more! The property is absolutely gorgeous and the architeture was even more stunning. The property was bulit in 1886 and it still has it's original floors!!! The owners of the Mansion, JT and Michael were on site to give the tour personally! It was an amazing experience not only for the visual aspect but also because of the love and devotion both Micheal and JT have for the Mansion and the property. It blew me away to learn about the blood, sweat, and tears that went into bringin this Mansion back to life. It was neat to hear of the history and to learn that Thomas Edison was a close friend of Stetson's and provided the electricity, of which an original light bulb still burns! To top off the whole experience, my boyfriend proposed to me on that tour in the Peacock room. We were to learn that is was the first proposal to ever happen on site. I couldn't have asked for a more romantic and warming atmoshphere for such a life changing moment! The Christmas decorations made me feel like I was in a different world. I definitely recommend this tour to everyone who enjoys history, architecture or even just interior design. The changes and personal touches that Michael and JT have added to the Mansion will truly astound you. This mansion will forever be a part my histroy now and I couldn't be happier. My fiance and I will actullay be seeing if we can go back and take some of our engagement pictures there. The staff/owners were so accomodating and truly made the whole experience an unforgetable one. Don't miss out on this best...