Haile Homestead Holidays – Gainesville Florida
(UPDATED OCTOBER 5, 2022) The Haile Homestead Holidays event and Candlelight Visits will not be happening this year. However the homestead will be decorated for the holidays with greenery and Victorian finery during December 2022 – a perfect time to visit and take a guided tour. There will be several decorated trees on display. The theme for this year is Angels.
Haile Homestead is all that remains of the 1500 acrea Sea Island Cotton plantation named Kanapaha. Established in 1854 by Thomas Evans Haile and his wife Serena, the plantation was built with the 54 enslaved laborers they brought with them from South Carolina.
The 6200 square foot home was built to house The Hailes and their 15 children. It was constructed over a period of two years by enslaved craftsmen. On the National Register of Historic Places, the homestead is one of the last remaining antebellum homes in North Central Florida.
Haile Plantation, the award-winning New Urbanism planned community in Gainesville Florida, is actually comprised of 1100 acres from the original Sea Island Cotton plantation of Kanapaha. The homestead is not part of the Haile Plantation neighborhood.
The homestead is open for tours on Saturdays from 10 AM to 2 PM, and on Sundays from Noon until 4 PM. Tours are $5 per person, and guests under 12 are free.
Learn more about the history of Kanapaha Plantation and the homestead by visiting the Haile Homestead website.
