Casements, The
About this property
The Casements is a mansion in Ormond Beach, Florida, U.S., famous for being the winter residence of American oil magnate John D. Rockefeller. It is currently owned by the city of Ormond Beach and is used as a cultural center and park. It is located on a barrier island within the city limits, overlooking the Halifax River, which is now part of the Florida Intracoastal Waterway. The mansion was built in 1913 for the Reverend Dr. Harwood Huntington of New Haven, Connecticut. It was named for the many casement windows incorporated into the design of the building, which helped keep the interior cool in spite of Florida's subtropical climate. Its most famous resident, John D. Rockefeller, purchased the home as his winter residence in 1918. Rockefeller was seventy-eight years old when he moved into the Casements. He became known in the area for his elaborate Christmas parties, his love of golf, and for handing out dimes to his neighbors or visitors. During a golf game with Harvey Firestone, the tire magnate made such a good shot that Rockefeller decided he deserved a dime and handed one to his somewhat embarrassed guest. Over the years, Edward VIII, Henry Ford, and Will Rogers visited Rockefeller at The Casements; Rogers once quipped, "I’m glad you won (at golf) today, Mr. Rockefeller. The last time you lost, the price of gasoline went up!" Guests at The Casements received a poem along with their new dime. This poem is believed to have been written by Rockefeller:I was early taught to work as well as playMy life has been one long, happy holiday Full of work and full of playI dropped the worry on the wayAnd God was good to me every day. It was in this home that Rockefeller eventually died in his sleep on the morning of May 23, 1937. The Rockefeller family sold The Casements in 1939. Maud van Woy purchase The Casements on November 8, 1940 to establish Casements Junior College and Preparatory School. In December 1942, van Woy was sued for failure to meet a $10,000 promissory note for The Casements property, triggering a clause that required her to pay the $30,000 loan balance in full ($591,141 in today's money). She solved her financial problems by closing another school she owned in Washington, D.C. and moving its students to Casements Junior College. Over the next 20 years, The Casements served as a girls' preparatory school and a home for the elderly. In 1959 the property was purchased by the Hotel Ormond Corporation with plans for development, but those plans never materialized. In 1973, The Casements was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The next year, it was purchased for $500,000 by the City of Ormond Beach, which eventually restored it until October 1979 to serve as a cultural and community center.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Casements, The listed on the National Register?
Casements, The was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 29, 1972.
What type of historic resource is Casements, The?
Casements, The is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Casements, The?
The period of significance for Casements, The is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Casements, The?
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