stetson mansion

Thanks for your return visit Jan and for bringing a friend along. The Stetson Mansion at Christmas is magical to say the least but a lot of the architectural details are covered by the decorations. So many of our guests at Christmas return to see the mansion "undressed" and are wowed by just how beautiful the home is and all that they missed. I hope you will visit us again next Christmas and bring some more friends along for the experience. All the best!

Barbara I am so glad that you and your sister enjoyed your tour of the mansion with Robin, thank you so much for visiting. We took a lot of time figuring out how to incorporate modern conveniences without compromising the architectural or historical integrity, I think the end results speak volumes. I believe that sharing personal stories with our guests makes them feel as if they are visiting with friends and we encourage all our guides to make the tour their own. Thanks again Barbara for visiting with us and we hope that you will visit us again one day in the not so distant future with some more friends or family. See you at the Mansion!!

What a great review and wonderful analogy Tom, thank you. I love Christmas at the Stetson Mansion and every year I come up with new and out of the box design ideas to wow our guests. A lot of the architectural elements are covered or obstructed by the ornamentation which is why everyone wants to come back and see the mansion in its natural state, which is pretty spectacular. Thank you for returning to see the "Crown Jewel" of central Florida and for being so inclined to give us a 5 STAR rating, what a great way to start my day. Debbie and all our guides are superior and genuinely excited to share the mansion with our guests. We could not ask for better ambassadors to represent this treasure. I look forward to your next visit at Christmas time Tom and hope that you will continue to help us spread the word about the Stetson Mansion. All the best!

Thank you so much Patrice for visiting with your daughter. I loved how you referred to the mansion as an oasis...that is the perfect description because just like an oasis the Stetson Mansion just sort of appears unexpectedly as you make the turn off the main road. I can personally tell you that I have tested every single bed in the mansion and they are all incredibly comfortable and perfect spots for reading or journaling! Thanks for the top rating, it is so appreciated.

Rich thank you for touring the mansion and for recommending us so highly to future guests, All of us appreciate your 5 STAR review. Myself and the tour guides always ask folks to help us spread the word about the mansion by telling friends and family about their experience and posting reviews. You found out about us from Trip Advisor and now you in turn have posted a review which will inspire others to book a tour and experience the mansion for themselves. This is how small businesses and attractions can compete with the billion dollar corporations, word of mouth and reviews. Thank you so much for taking the time out to share your feedback with travelers from around the globe, it truly makes a difference. Debbie ask me to say thank you for your kind words about her. Hope to welcome you back again one of these days Rich. See you at the Mansion!!

Leo you are very welcome and it is our absolute pleasure to share the mansion with visitors from around the globe. The history of the Stetson Mansion is colorful and within these walls guests not only get to learn about that history but they get to see and feel the inspiration that exudes throughout the home. Thanks for touring our dream come to life and for being so kind with your 5 STAR rating!

Thank you so much for journeying over to DeLand to tour the Stetson Mansion, we are always so excited to welcome guests from other countries to the estate. One of the most iconic symbols of Americana is the Stetson hat and I know most of our international visitors are very familiar with the hat and really appreciate the fact that they get to tour the creators home. We are so fortunate to have the best tour guides anyone could ever wish for and love to hear that from our guests. We made a promise a long time ago that we would never close off any rooms in the mansion, including our own living quarters because we wanted visitors to get the full experience of what it was and is like to live here. Thanks again for touring the Stetson Mansion and for giving us the "excellent" rating. I hope that you will tell more of your friends and family that visit central Florida to make it a point to visit us at the mansion. Safe travels my friend!

Jacqueline thank you , thank you thank you! I want you to know just how much we appreciated your constant support and encouragement over the years. Sharing the Stetson Mansion is an absolute joy for all of us but that is only possible because of folks like yourself who refer us to friends and family and are so kind as to take the time out to write reviews about their experience. I am so happy to read that your 3 friends enjoyed themselves and that even after your 4th visit you gave us a 5 STAR review...how awesome is that. Although when I am here I try and greet as many folks as possible when I am here there are those days that we are out of town. We are so fortunate to have ambassadors like Debbie and Robin who share the mansion with such passion and love on their tours that some guests think that they are the owners. They are the best! I owe you a double hug Jacqueline next time I see you and thanks again for helping us spread the magic of the Stetson Mansion!

Wow...what a fantastically in depth and thoughtful review, thank you so much. The Stetson Mansion is a beautiful Gilded Age Mansion that houses within its walls a colorful and inspiring history. The inspiration at the mansion is endless from the architecture to John B and Thomas Edison and so on and so on. I always say that I get to walk on works of art because the inlaid parquet floors are stunningly beautiful. Our tour guides must absorb a ton of info and history before leading a tour but the one thing that we encourage is to make the tour their own. No tour guide, including me, leads the same tour because we believe that their personal input is so much more personal and memorable for our guests. Unfortunately we do not allow photography inside the mansion but that is for insurance reasons. If you had the opportunity to browse through our books you may have noticed that there were not excessive amounts of pictures, the books are more about the journey of the restoration and self discovery. I apologize about the no photos policy but we are just following mandatory procedures. Thank you again for posting your feedback about the tour and for being so generous with your compliments and your "5 Star" review. I hope that you will continue to recommend the Stetson Mansion to other travelers and we all look forward to your return visit one of these days. All the best to you and your wife. See you at the Mansion!!

Thank you very much for rave review and all your words of praise. We have poured so much love and time into restoring the mansion and now that we get to share it with guests from around the world it makes all the hard work that much more satisfying. The floors are works of art and they are different in every room, I never get tired of looking at them. All of us want to thank you for your visit and for encouraging others to experience the history and grandeur for themselves. Hope you can make it back to the mansion one of these days with some friends and family. All the best!

What a fantastic way to start my morning Sylvia! Thank you so much for detailing your tour experience and for being so complimentary with your "5STAR" review, I think I can speak for all of us at the Stetson Mansion and say that we are all so grateful for every one of the them. Guests are so pleasantly surprised to find out the the people actually live at the mansion...this is a real home and I in our home you are our guests. That is why guides try to accommodate as many folks as possible with seating if they need it and why I try and greet as many of our guests as possible. Michael and I did an adaptive restoration at the mansion so as to incorporate modern conveniences but we never compromised the historical or architectural integrity, thank you for pointing that out. I hope that you will visit us again one day Sylvia and thank you for recommending us so highly to others. Wishing you all the best!

Rhonda thanks you so much for touring the mansion and making a family day of it. The floors are works of art and I still am blown away that I get to walk on them along with thousands of our visitors all year. Knowing that Thomas Edison was here overseeing the electrical install is amazing and that's only one aspect of the mansion's colorful history. Our tour guides lead the tours with so much enthusiasm and they truly are excited to share the mansion with everyone and it is so obvious. Your top rated review is a confirmation that we are delivering a memorable experience and we hope that those reading this will take take your recommendation to heart and visit Florida's first luxury estate when they visit central Florida. See you at the Mansion!!

I love this review and I absolutely remember meeting both you and your mortified husband! When Debbie came in and told me that someone bumped into one of our rare and one of a kind framed photos that a local artist just took a few weeks earlier, I knew I had to play this one to the hilt. Your poor husband was so embarrassed and apologetic and as I went on and on about how this was my favorite piece of history in the entire mansion..etc...etc Thank you for being such good sports and for allowing yourselves to be enveloped by the history and magic of the mansion. So many of the guys are apprehensive about taking a tour but that fades away soon after they enter the front doors. The architecture, floors and windows are beautiful and this is not a museum it is a real home and we try our best to make everyone feel like our guests. Top that off with tour guides that love what they do and it becomes an unforgettable experience. Thank you so much for touring our dream come true and for sharing your experience with thousands of future visitors from around the globe. See you at the Mansion!!

Peggy it is so nice to welcome our friends from the North..thank you very much for your visit. I love meeting and chatting with our guests to hear their feedback or learn a little about them as well. Our tour guides all have such a wonderful style of sharing the Stetson story as well as their take on the restoration. Every time they lead tours through the mansion I can hear guests laughing and interacting with throughout the home, makes we want to join in on the fun! I hope you will make it back to visit with us Peggy next time you are in Central Florida and thanks for the "excellent" rating we all appreciate it immensely!

Hi Julie, thank you for your visit to the Stetson Mansion. We hear it all the time, "I can't believe I never heard of this place." Guests are so surprised that Florida's first luxury estate is such a big secret but fortunately it is becoming less and less of one thanks to enthusiastic folks like yourself who help spread the word. Our tour guides are awesome because they lead their tours with such genuine love and passion for the estate. I hope that you will visit again next time your are in the central Florida area. Thanks so much for the 5 STAR rating!