Pinewood Estate, Bok Tower Gardens Lake Wales, Florida Watercolor and Ink 5.5 x 8.5 inches Stillman and Birn Bound Beta

A Day Trip
Back at the end of December, my partner in adventure, Kathy, from over at Catching Happiness, and I took off for Lake Wales to visit Bok Tower Gardens, the singing Carillon Tower and in particular, Pinewood Estate. (She talks about our visit here.)

Despite a rainy-ish start and cool (for Florida) temperatures, we had a fabulous day! We spent over six hours wandering around the nearly 50 acres of flowering gardens, oak trees, pines and native growth. The 200+ foot Carillon tower provided a nice ambience to the visit with the bells playing at regular intervals.

Bok Tower is an oasis of serenity well worth the visit should you find yourself in Central Florida any time soon.

St. Francis statue seen on the way to and from the Pinewood Estate

The purpose of our visit was to take in the Pinewood Estate Christmas Tour. Pinewood is a mediterranean style home built by Mr. Charles Buck back in the 30's. This 20-room mansion was his winter home for 3 months out of the year—three months. He resided in Pennsylvania the rest of the year.

Front Side of Window in Sketch This window was in the front "mud room" of the house where guests entered, but was enclosed so not a foyer

The house put me in mind of John and Mabel Ringling's winter home in Sarasota, but unlike that house, I could easily call Pinewood "home." Despite the 20 rooms, there was a charm to the rooms that made it seem homey and rather than ostentatious like the Ringling home.

The back side of Pinewood Estate Note the arched window in the center. The interior shot is below.

Over the years, the home passed through a number of owners and finally came to be owned by Bok Tower Gardens.

Someone was looking out for Santa AND the reindeer!

Each year the house is decorated with a theme. This year's was about traditions. Each room is sponsored by a business or individual and there is a contest to see which room is the favorite of the visitors.

The Loggia. Notice the doors behind the tree— they are sliding pocket doors! There was an identical arched doorway with sliding doors on the opposite side of the room as well.

After touring the house, we sat outside to sketch and indulge in a warming cup of chai tea. The wind finally drove us to start walking around again. (We had been sitting on metal chairs and they were leeching all the warmth away!)

The garden view just outside of the Loggia.

The Sketch That Lied
The art above lies.

There was not citrus tree in a pot! That's a lie.

There was a citrus tree and there was a pot. Through creative license, and to make a more interesting sketch page, I opted to put the two together.

(We're artists—we don't have to be a slave to reality! That's what the creative license is for. Use it!)

The Garden Path to the Grotto. If you look closely, you can see the citrus grove beyond the grotto (little orange dots). The pot above were used in the sketch.

Both windows are interior views and they were no where near each other, but that's how it worked out on the page.

Both the feather and the seed pod were found outside of the Pinewood grounds, but as they were part of the day, they made it onto the page.

You may wonder at the odd assortment on the page and ask why I didn't sketch a decorated room or a view of the house.

Because these are the things I noticed. They're the things that spoke to me the most. When I think back on this day, I'll think about all the cool windows in the place as well as the small citrus grove they had just out from the house.

It won't be of the decorations or the rooms so much as the feeling of homeyness. It will also be of time well spent with a good friend, sharing new experiences.

It doesn't get much better than that!

(Again, thanks KJ for a fabulous day.)