Historic Haile Homestead

I photographed 48 of 50 states and this was one of my Florida stops! We got a tour from Cadence and Gus! Young folks that were engaged storytellers that were passionate about being in the space. Respectful, thorough and thoughtful.. Cadence was amazing… thank you so much for the tour and sharing your heart with us!

One of the oldest houses in Alachua County, the Historic Haile Homestead was the home of Thomas Evans Haile, his wife Esther Serena Chesnut Haile and 14 of their children. The Hailes came here from Camden, South Carolina in 1854 to establish a 1,500-acre Sea Island Cotton plantation which they named Kanapaha. Enslaved black craftsmen completed the 6,200-square-foot manse in 1856. The 1860 census showed 66 slaves living here. The Hailes survived bankruptcy in 1868 and turned the property into a productive farm, growing a variety of fruits and vegetables including oranges. Serena Haile died in 1895; Thomas in 1896. The Homestead, which passed to son Evans, a prominent defense attorney, became the site of house parties attended by some of Gainesville’s most distinguished citizens. The Hailes had the unusual habit of writing on the walls; all together over 12,500 words with the oldest writing dating to the 1850’s. The Homestead was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. A restoration was completed in 1996. Still partly owned by descendants of Evans Haile, the Homestead is one of the few remaining homesteads built by Sea Island cotton planters in this part of Florida.

Enjoyed the local history lesson, our docent Ken was very informative. Those walls "talked". 🤗 Watched the videos before visiting the homestead.

Absolutely worth a visit. They have a free one hour guided tour of the house, you only pay for the entrance.

Very knowledgeable tour guide. Cool temperatures in late January. Very enjoyable afternoon at Historic Haile Homestead.

I loved the homestead. We weren’t allowed to walk around the property at all. Weren’t allowed to tour any part of the house without the volunteer with us. That would have been fine, except for the fact that the volunteer never stopped talking, couldn’t remember the facts, and skipped a lot of the tour because of poor time management. I understand that these are volunteers, but please just write it down, print it out, and allow the patrons to see what they came to see. We came to tour a homestead. Not just a few rooms in the house. A homestead is a home and property. Our tour was cut very short and we drove a long way to see it. The home and property are beautiful and it has a rich history. I regret not being able to see it all.

Great Tour , friendly docent , cool house , something to see in Gainesville

Very interesting place with a lot of history "written" on the walls. The tour could stand to be longer so there would be more time to read what has been written. The dates next to the writing gives it perspective. With financial support, the homestead will reveal even more history and artifacts that are sure to be found on the property surrounding the home.

Located along SR24, this marker is the pointer in front of the Haile Homestead and is easily accessible from the road. You might not be touring the homestead but reading the marker at least gives you an idea of what you can expect. It reads, "One of the oldest houses in Alachua County, the Historic Haile Homestead was the home of Thomas Evans Haile, his wife Esther Serena Chesnut Haile and 14 of their children. The Hailes came here from Camden, South Carolina in 1854 to establish a 1,500-acre Sea Island Cotton plantation which they named Kanapaha. Enslaved black craftsmen completed the 6,200-square-foot manse in 1856. The 1860 census showed 66 slaves living here. The Hailes survived bankruptcy in 1868 and turned the property into a productive farm, growing a variety of fruits and vegetables including oranges. Serena Haile died in 1895; Thomas in 1896. The Homestead, which passed to son Evans, a prominent defense attorney, became the site of house parties attended by some of Gainesville's most distinguished citizens. The Hailes had the unusual habit of writing on the walls; all together over 12,500 words with the oldest writing dating to the 1850's. The Homestead was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. A restoration was completed in 1996. Still partly owned by descendants of Evans Haile, the Homestead is one of the few remaining homesteads built by Sea Island cotton planters in this part of Florida." It is marker number F-548 and it was erected in 2005 by the Historic Haile Homestead and the Florida Department of State. It was too early in the morning to tour the home. Maybe the next time I'm in Gainesville. [Review 364 of 2025 - 2016 in Florida - 23926 overall]

This plantation house, built in 1854, is a national historic landmark, maintained by the Haile family and a public historical foundation. It is open 10-2 Saturday and 12-4 Sunday. It's $5 to get in, which includes a guided tour. Can you even comprehend the value?! Oh, the value! The most interesting thing about the house isn't that it's pre-civil war, but that there are names, dates, records, and more scrawled across the walls. The Haile family who lived there were evidently encouraged to practice their handwriting on the walls. My favorite scrawling reads "THE HOUSE WAS BRIEFLY ALIVE." There's so much material written, though, that you're likely to find something even better.

We visited (06/03/2017) the Haile Homestead for two reasons: the writing on the walls and the architecture; Both didn't disappoint! The Haile property has a new museum/welcome center with very informative displays, restrooms, water fountains, and souvenirs. And the Haile House itself is amazing in its sheer size for the era and the journaling on the walls. While I found the information given during the tour entertaining, our guide was reciting what she was told. She unfortunately couldn't answer any unrehearsed questions about the era, varying architecture of the time, etc. She seemed annoyed and on strict time constraints to the point that we couldn't walk around the outside of the house?? Note: Small fee for the guided tour. Tip: Read up on the homestead before you go or spend a little time in the welcome center familiarizing yourself in case your guide is rushing or less knowledgeable. Future Improvements for the Haile Homestead: 1.) Passionate tour guides who really enjoy history and architecture or just have a broader knowledge base of the era. 2.) Cleanup areas where other buildings were on the grounds and place information markers with maybe drawings/pics of what they would have looked like. (Something may have been in these areas but we weren't allowed to look due to time.)

This place has the potential to be an amazing experience, however, that experience depends on who the docent is who gives the tour. The docent who spoiled it for us was a tall college-aged guy with a scruff who appears to be from India and wears glasses. The group was touring the house and was in the ante-room of the master bedroom. While the young Indian-looking female docent was explaining about the ante-room I circled through the master bedroom closet, and back out into the hallway to get cool. Except for the throughway, there were no windows open and the heat was stifling. The docent's brother (who had rudely interrupted and corrected her several times during the tour) approached me with a very unfriendly look upon his face. He aggressively said, "You MUST join the group!" To which I replied, "A more polite way to say that would be 'is everything okay?' Or 'we are in here, please join us' - especially to people who pay to support this venture." He scowled at me, fanned himself with the script, stated, "I REALLY don't care" then turned his shoulder. I capitalize the word 'really' because he inflected his voice for emphasis - not only did he not care about my remark but he also wanted me to know that he especially did not care. I immediately left and returned to the visitor center where I asked for the admission fee refunded for the two of us. I explained to the lady in the center what happened and naturally she was at a loss of what to do other than refund the money. I contacted Karen, who I thought was the director, but she weakly replied "Sorry about your experience." These folks won't raise the $15k they need to rebuild the kitchen being this rude.