Hauntings of the Deering Estate
Posted: 11.26.2024 | Updated: 11.26.2024
The Deering family represented the 19th-century American dream, adorned with all the trappings of generational wealth and a legacy of business success. Charles Deering became interested in the area when the family began wintering in the subtropical humidity and heat of Southern Florida in the late 19th century. One property, however, and the choice of where to build it would make the Deering Estate a magnet for otherworldly activity and the birthplace of a thousand tales from beyond the grave.
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WHAT IS THE HAUNTED HISTORY OF THE DEERING ESTATE?
The Deering family’s farm equipment empire had already created generational wealth for William Deering’s entrepreneurial sons. No branch on the family tree could have foreseen the seeds they would plant when Charles Deering bought Richmond Cottage near Miami and began building structures on the estate.
The plot seems ripped from the weathered pages of a Hollywood script, but the narrative holds true: The living should not disturb the dead. In building on an ancient burial ground, the Deerings and those before them did just that.
The Deering Estate: Empire In The Sun
The humidity and wildlife of Southern Florida can be brutal in equal measure. But, the promise of a life in the sun has always proved too tempting for many. Palmetto Bay has been home to humans since the times of ancient Native Americans.
Charles Deering, a wealthy Chicago industrialist, decided to carve out his slice of that promise in 1913. Deering set about realizing his vision of tranquility and beauty. Purchasing an 1890s pioneer structure, Richmond House, and the property surrounding it. The Deering family’s wealth afforded a level of grandeur and opulence that allowed Charles to indulge in his passion for art collection.
After remodeling Richmond House into the stunning home that stands today, a beautiful revivalist Mediterranean home was erected adjacent to house his collection in the relative safety of a stone structure. This was no hobbyist ensemble, with works by Rembrandt, Goya, and El Greco amongst the priceless pieces.
While Deering built chapels to great art, thousands flowed down from the north as the ever-burgeoning Miami-Dade County saw a tide of progress.
Deering however, sought to hold back that tide. Deering’s yacht was once nestled in the property’s boat basin, but today, the crystal waters are home to Manatees.
It’s ironic, perhaps, that when Charles Deering passed away in 1927, over half a century passed with almost no change. While nature’s introduction of Manatees merely enhanced the tranquility and love of Deering’s land.
Richmond House, like its art temple counterpart and the other structures on the estate, remains pristine and beautifully maintained. Deering’s vision of blocking out the world in this oasis on the coast was purified further. When the estate passed from the Deering family to the State Of Florida, it protected Deering’s vision of beauty and abundance for all that followed.
Cutler Burial Mound
Progress is a cruel mistress. While ancient artifacts such as shell tools and fossils have been unearthed, discoveries of a different kind on the estate have given rise to far more chilling encounters. 19th-century settlers on what is now the Deering Estate would regularly find human remains while adjusting the landscape to suit their purpose.
Today, this spot is known as the Cutler Burial Mound. Ancient Native American bodies were ceremonially laid to rest in this spot. Even before the times of Charles Deering and Richmond House, bones were regularly dug up and casually tossed aside.
What would, by today’s standards, seem unthinkable was common practice. The resting places of so many souls were damaged and desecrated time and time again. The estate is now awash with unnerving tales and sightings.
The ghost of a small boy is often seen in the dining area, believed to mischievously move furniture around. Investigators talked to staff, who said that of all the rooms, Deering’s study has proved to be a magnet for spooky activity.
Infrared cameras have recorded orbs of light moving across rooms and through closed windows. Even camera crews themselves have reported ghosts in the machine with equipment behaving abnormally.
Night security on the estate speak of the apparition of a man being pushed in a wheelchair on the veranda. Deering may indeed have taken his fondness for Biscayne Bay with him to the afterlife.
Investigators have successfully record audio of 60 disturbing disembodied voices. Colleen Kelley was a member of a paranormal investigation that wandered the estate, making the recordings. “We have one that says, ‘Come home.’ We have one that says, ‘Send me. I’ll go,’” said Kelley. “I have a female voice that says, ‘I want some of you.’”
Watchers From The Grave?
The disturbed graves of the indigenous peoples are always in the thoughts of those trying to peer beyond the veil of the living on the grounds. One truly shocking image taken on the grounds shows a fully formed bodily apparition of a tribal figure roughly 100 ft from the photographer, standing tall, watching on.
Staff do not believe these spirits have any dark intent and seem happy to remain watchful over the living. Sightings on the Deering Estate continue, but some interactions are more puzzling.
One Deering Estate employee described their mysterious encounter as follows:
“Well, I won’t say it was terrifying, but it was certainly an unexplained occurrence. While doing my house check one morning, I noticed that a very large painting had fallen off the wall.
What we were never able to explain was that there was no damage to the wall, the hooks, the rails, or the wire that held the painting in place. Simply, the painting, which is well over 7′ x 3′ and very heavy, was on the ground, lying on its side, against the wall. The frame was damaged, but nothing else.”
Haunted Miami
Whether a true believer or a hardened skeptic, Charles Deering’s Floridian oasis proves an attractive draw for ghost hunters and those in search of the opulent beauty Deering himself so clearly laid out. The buildings themselves are so pristinely maintained that they seem permanently ready for Mr Deering’s imminent arrival.
Visitors to the estate describe the joy of wandering the grounds both during the day and during more ominous hours. One tripadvisor.com review states, “It is very peaceful and beautiful. If you want a place to walk and be calm this is the place.” Another visitor notes the more eerie aspect of the estate: “It was scary and atmospheric.”
Charles Deering’s love of the land and focussed efforts to hold back the rising sprawl of the surrounding Miami-Dade County have resulted in an abundance of wildlife and endangered plants on the grounds.
One aspect of the Deering Estate, however, that shows no signs of going extinct is the ghostly sightings of a place of beauty preserved in time atop an ancient burial ground. Is it any wonder that Charles Deering may still keep a watchful eye on the home and 400 acres he held so dear?
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Sources:
NPR
https://www.npr.org/2009/10/28/114247717/miamis-deering-estate-a-real-haunted-house
Miami Herald
Deering Estate
Trip Advisor
Miami Community News
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