The Deering Estate

The Deering Estate preserves the 1920s era Miami estate of Charles Deering, Chicago industrialist, early preservationist, environmentalist, art collector, philanthropist and first chairman of the International Harvester Company. Nestled along the coast in South Dade, the Deering Estate is a cultural asset and historic site listed on the National Register of Historic Places. As a 21st Century museum destination for tourists and local residents, a variety of signature events, programs, tours and classes are offered throughout the year. The oldest existing buildings on the estate are those built by the Richmond family and Charles Deering in 1896, 1900, and 1922. From 1913-1918, the wealthy industrialist Charles Deering purchased hundreds of acres of land where the high ground of the Atlantic Rock Ridge and the fresh water of the Everglades meets the Biscayne Bay. Before Deering’s arrival, this remarkable place had already hosted 10,000 years of nearly continuous human occupation including Paleo-Indian shelters, Tequesta settlements, Seminole hunting grounds, Bahamian and Florida Cracker homesteads and the town of Cutler. Cutler, established around the Perrine Land Grant Township, had an infrastructure including a post office, coastal road and docks, but failed to thrive when in 1903 Flagler’s East Coast Railroad plans were relocated further inland. Charles Deering died in 1927, but the Estate remained with his heirs until 1986 when it was purchased by the State of Florida, and added to the National Registry of Historic Places. Most of Charles Deering’s original collection was donated to the Art Institute of Chicago and the Libraries at Northwestern by his daughters. Some items have been brought back to the site through the generosity of members of the Deering Family and can be seen in the homes today. There's an enormous amount of history that can be learned with a single visit to the Deering Estate, we hope to see you soon.