The richest man in America spent his last twenty winters in a shingle-style house on the Halifax River in Ormond Beach — and the surprise the films keep returning to is how modest it feels. The Casements, built in 1913 for the Rev. Dr. Harwood Huntington and named for its hand-cut casement windows, was bought by John D. Rockefeller in 1918 for $75,000. He died in the house in 1937, a short walk from the golf and neighbors he came for.

The Casements: Winter Home and Last Home of John D. Rockefeller

Jeff's Adventures

A self-guided tour of The Casements, John D. Rockefeller's Ormond Beach winter home, filmed on a day the house was open after a previous visit found it closed. The film walks the rooms Rockefeller added and altered — including the foyer he created by enclosing the open porch — and tells the story of the Standard Oil founder who hoped to live to 100 and settled instead into winters of golf and neighbors in Ormond Beach, where the house across the street was the Hotel Ormond he had frequented for years. Admission is free, as filmed.

Key takeaways
  • Rockefeller's winter home from 1918 until his death there in 1937
  • Self-guided touring; free admission as filmed
  • He enclosed the porch into the foyer and filled it with wicker furniture

America's First Billionaire Retired to This Simple House | John D. Rockefeller & The Casements

This House

This House tells The Casements' story as a biography in a building: Rockefeller's rise from a 16-year-old assistant bookkeeper to Standard Oil founder controlling some 90–95% of U.S. oil refining by 1880, then his retirement reinvention as a philanthropist who wintered in Ormond Beach. The tour lingers on the formal dining room — largest in the house, scene of Christmas parties attended by Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and the Prince of Wales — his plain office, and the kitchen built with high transom windows to vent the heat, before covering the house's rescue and 1979 reopening as the community's cultural center.

Key takeaways
  • Narrative biography of Rockefeller paired with a room-by-room tour
  • Dining room hosted Ford, Edison and the Prince of Wales at Christmas parties
  • Restored and reopened in 1979 as Ormond Beach's cultural center

The Casements Museum / John D. Rockefeller Winter Residence ***** (1912-1913), Ormond Beach, Florida

This Is Florida

A docent-style walk through The Casements Museum covers the house's fabric and its famous resident: built in 1913 for the Rev. Dr. Harwood Huntington as a 9,000-square-foot shingle-style winter home, wrapped continuously in wood shingles and named for its elaborate hand-cut casement windows designed to catch Halifax River breezes. Rockefeller — locally 'Neighbor John,' famous for Christmas parties and handing out dimes — wintered here from 1918, and the tour ends in the Birthplace of Speed room with beach-racing artifacts including Malcolm Campbell's 1935 Blue Bird record story.

Key takeaways
  • Built 1913 for Rev. Dr. Harwood Huntington; 9,000 sq ft, shingle style
  • Named for its hand-cut casement windows
  • Birthplace of Speed room displays early beach-racing artifacts

Neighbor John

Locals knew him as 'Neighbor John' — famous for Christmas parties in the great dining room (Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and the Prince of Wales attended, per the tours) and for handing out dimes. He enclosed the open porch into a foyer, grew the estate to about nine acres, and kept a South House cottage for guests like Edison. The Birthplace of Speed room connects the house to Ormond's beach-racing era.

A house with several lives

After the family sold it, the house became the Fairmont Casements School for Young Women (1941–1951, some 400 students), then a retirement facility, then a near-ruin — until the City of Ormond Beach bought it in 1974 and reopened it in 1979 as the city's cultural center. A Christmas Tree Forest film shows its modern role: community groups decorating themed trees room by room.

Inside John D. Rockefeller’s Florida Winter Home | The Casements

Florida and Beyond

Two explorers tour The Casements with the house's phone-based guide, passing on its numbers: Rockefeller bought the house in 1918 for $75,000, added six lots for $14,000 more, and grew the estate to about nine acres with a South House cottage for guests like Thomas Edison. The film notes the original dining-room floor under today's art displays, a stint as the Fairmont Casements School for Young Women (1941–1951, some 400 students over the decade), and that some rooms open only on scheduled guided tours booked at the front desk.

Key takeaways
  • Purchase price and lot details come from the house's own guide, as filmed
  • The house was a girls' school from 1941 to 1951
  • Some rooms require a scheduled guided tour booked at the desk

The Casements & Rockefeller Gardens - Ormond Beach, Florida

East Florida Explorer

East Florida Explorer finds The Casements closed on the day of filming and tours the Rockefeller Gardens instead: the manicured riverfront grounds along the Halifax River by the Granada Bridge, with an old wagon wheel, ducks on the water and festival lawns the city uses for events like Riverfest. The narration covers the essentials — built 1913 by Rev. Dr. Harwood Huntington, Rockefeller's 'Neighbor John' winters of golf and beach racing, and his death in the house in May 1937, just short of 98.

Key takeaways
  • Grounds-focused film — the house was closed the day it was shot
  • Rockefeller Gardens front the Halifax River by the Granada Bridge
  • The city hosts festivals and gatherings on the estate lawns

Tour the Ormond Beach Casements Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Forest

Melly Hatchet

A long, unhurried walk through The Casements at Christmas, when community groups decorate themed trees room by room — the creator even finds an ornament she made at a Casements workshop years earlier incorporated into a stable-themed horse tree. Between the trees, the film reads the house's history plaque: saved from demolition, purchased by the City of Ormond Beach in 1974, restored with a federal grant and reopened in 1979 as a community enrichment center, with Rockefeller designated a Great Floridian.

Key takeaways
  • Filmed during the Christmas Tree Forest holiday display
  • Community-made ornaments from past workshops decorate the trees
  • City bought the property in 1974; reopened 1979 as a cultural center

Visiting

Self-guided touring is the norm and admission was free as filmed; some rooms need a scheduled guided tour booked at the desk. If the house is closed when you arrive, the Rockefeller Gardens along the river by the Granada Bridge — festival lawns, ducks, the river — are worth the stop alone, as one film demonstrates by doing exactly that.

Sources: the 9 videos on this page, filmed at The Casements in Ormond Beach.

Watch: The Casements, guided

3 videos · summaries from the actual guides

Rockefeller's Winter Home The Casement | Ormond Beach Rockefeller Gardens |S7E

Eat Sleep RV Repeat

A quick stop at The Casements covers the visitor essentials: free tours run between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. as filmed, the house stays open until 5 p.m., and you can also simply walk in and look around. The narration recaps the standard history — built 1913 by Rev. Dr. Harwood Huntington, Rockefeller's 1918 purchase and 'Neighbor John' winters, National Register listing in 1973, city purchase in 1974 and the 1979 reopening as a community enrichment center.

Key takeaways
  • Free tours 10 a.m.–3 p.m., house open to 5 p.m., as filmed
  • Walk-in browsing is welcome outside tour times
  • National Register of Historic Places listing dates to 1973

The Jewel of Ormond Beach - The Casements - Travel

thewrightsights

The Wright Sites tour makes the case that The Casements surprises twice: once for how modest the world's richest man's winter mansion feels by modern standards, and once for how much history fits inside. Located at Riverside Drive and Granada Boulevard, the house hosted Rockefeller's winters from 1918 until his death there in 1937; the guided tour reaches the third floor (now a Boy Scouts memorabilia room, per the film) and the Birthplace of Speed exhibit, and the walk ends down the sidewalk at the Intracoastal-side grounds visitors shouldn't skip.

Key takeaways
  • Corner of Riverside Drive and Granada Boulevard — hard to miss
  • Guided tours include the third floor, per the film
  • Pair the house with a walk of the riverfront grounds

The Casements - The Secret Winter Home of America’s Richest Man John D. Rockefeller Ormond Beach, FL

RockinRobin Roadtrips

A guided-tour walkthrough of The Casements leans on the house's own guide for its story: Rockefeller wintered here for 20 years, from buying the house in 1918 to dying in it in 1937; his children sold it, and after a girls' school and a retirement facility the last private owner let it fall into ruin before the City of Ormond Beach bought it in 1974. The film views his recreated bedroom with its river outlook, the staircase's stained glass, and emphasizes that visiting is completely free, grounds included.

Key takeaways
  • 20 winters: bought 1918, died in the house 1937
  • Later lives: girls' school, retirement facility, near-demolition, city rescue
  • Free to visit — house and grounds

More Daytona Beach essentials

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