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Thomas Edison and Henry Ford first met in 1896 at a New York conference of the Edison Illuminating Companies. Ford worked as a mechanic at the Detroit Edison plant. The two were not reacquainted again until 1910 when Edison responded to Ford’s request for an autographed photo for his new office. Along with the photo, Edison invited the Ford family to his New Jersey home, in 1914.
In 1916 Edison’s neighbor, Robert Smith, wrote to Ford, “Personally, I would prefer to have you buy it and in this, I express the sentiment of the people of Fort Myers. We are all proud to have Mr. Edison spend his winters here and would be just as proud to have Mr. Henry Ford become one of our winter residents.”
With the sale completed in July 1916, Killian Melber, a local florist, became Ford’s first agent in Fort Myers. Ford purchased the home furnished. As Melber prepared the property for the Fords’ visit in 1917, he related to them that all they needed was silverware, bedding, and table linens.
The gardens were well-developed at the time Ford purchased the estate. They included 100 grapefruit and 50 orange trees, as well as mangoes, paw-paws, lemons, limes, guavas, tangerines, coconuts, and bananas. Smith named the property “The Mangoes” due to the abundance of mango trees.
Ford’s Caretaker’s Cottage as it appears today evolved from a garage built in the style of the Ford House with accommodations for a good-sized car, a sleeping room for staff, a pump room, and a storeroom overhead.
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Henry Ford — July 30, 1863 - April 7, 1947
In 1914, Thomas Edison invited Henry Ford, his wife Clara, and his son Edsel to the Edison Florida estate. In 1916, the Fords purchased their Fort Myers estate, The Mangoes. The Ford family visited regularly with good friends and neighbors, Thomas and Mina Edison. Time was spent discussing business and invention but also on leisure activities, such as fishing, boating, and camping. Together they explored southwest Florida in the 1916 Model T Touring car Ford gave to Edison.
This statue, by Fort Myers sculptor D. J. Wilkins, was donated to the Edison & Ford Winter Estates by patron Orvall McCleary in honor of Henry Ford on July 30, 2007.
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The Henry Ford Home was built in 1911 and is an example of the “American Bungalow” architectural style. From the exterior one sees the characteristics of cedar-shingle siding, wide covered porches, gabled metal roofs, dormers with decorative beams, and sturdy porch columns. Interior finishes included the cypress ceiling beams and yellow pine moldings, built-in benches, and window seats, as well as cabinet and shelf storage.
Although most of the furnishings on display are not original, records indicate they are in the style of the Ford residences. The grandmother clock in the living room is understood to be original to the Ford Home in Fort Myers.
In the late 1920’s Ford added two bedrooms and bath suites to the first floor as wings to the original building. These areas were necessary spaces for guests and staff such as Ford’s secretary, Frank Campsall, who accompanied him during several trips. On the second floor were bedrooms for the Fords, son Edsel, a study, an indoor bathroom, and a wonderful sleeping porch.
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