Ximenez-Fatio House Museum

Very historic house museum that dates back to the 1700’s. You check in at the gift shop and during the hot summer that’s about the only room that has AC. They sell waters there but I recommend bringing your own water bottle because it gets hot. The house is 2 levels and you can scan a QR code or use one of their devices to do a self guided tour with a narration through each room. It was a very hot day so I went through the site pretty quickly. It was amazing to see very old things that have been preserved and just how they utilized what they had way back then. Each room was staged with many layers and cool pieces. If you follow the audio it can go by slower but you can read through it instead. It was quite fascinating and not very busy on that particular day.

What an amazing experience. We actually showed up on a day they were opening later due to a school trip scheduled that morning. They were so so gracious in actually letting us in ahead of the trip so we got a private, self guided tour of the property. The information and recreations in each room are so well done, it really felt like you’d stepped back in time to Louisa’s stewardship of the boarding house. If you are familiar with the history of Fleming Island, visit their cousin’s home, the Ximenez-Fatio House.

It was a fantastic experience! Each room is beautifully preserved and filled with period-appropriate furniture which along with the interesting stories provided by the audio guide make it very easy to imagine what life was like in those times. It’s clear a lot of care and effort has gone into maintaining this historic place. We visited during Night of Lights so the Christmas decorations were a huge bonus.

What a wonderful museum. This is also a very elegant location for a small wedding ceremony. I loved the garden and I leaned a lot while talking to the caretakers. I touched the oldest fig tree that I have ever seen and I sat under an orange tree smelling orange blossoms for the first time in my life. It was a wonderful day and I look forward to visiting the museum again the next time that I am in town.