Deering Estate's Holiday Season Moves Into Richmond Cottage While the Stone House Is Restored

"While the work is underway, the rest of the Estate remains OPEN for exploration." Deering Estate puts that line, capital letters included, at the bottom of nearly every holiday event page this fall, including the Holiday House Tour & Campfire listing. "The work" is the restoration of the Stone House, the 1922 Mediterranean Revival building most people picture when they think of the Estate. While it's closed, every room you can walk into this season is in Richmond Cottage, and local groups have decorated almost all of them.

That makes this a different kind of Deering holiday. The Stone House's history is still being told, in exhibits set up next door. The décor in the cottage was done by a garden club from Palmetto Bay, another from Pinecrest, a Rotary club that covers Perrine, Cutler Ridge and Palmetto Bay, and the 100 Ladies of Deering, the group that also released a short film about the restoration.

What the restoration covers

The Stone House is bigger and tougher than it looks from the lawn. Charles Deering built it at 13,900 square feet. The walls are 18 and 24 inches of reinforced concrete covered in limestone, made to look like the rough stone of Tamarit, one of his homes in Spain, according to the Estate's restoration page. Construction took eleven months, from 1922 into early 1923.

The Estate describes the scope as a full restoration of every interior and exterior architectural and structural element. The listed work includes:

• Re-roofing the building
• Repairing every door, window, shutter and screen
• A new air-conditioning unit on the third floor
• Repairs to the electrical and HVAC systems

The project team is R.J. Heisenbottle Architects, HB Construction, the Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation, and Open Spaces Department, and the Miami-Dade County Office of Historic Preservation. The architects' own project description adds more items. It lists rebuilding the rooftop observation deck, wood repairs, new hurricane screens, work on the limestone, cast stone and stucco, and repairs to the mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire-protection systems.

The roof tiles connect Palmetto Bay to Havana and Coral Gables

The roof is the part of the project with the best local story. The Stone House was built with handmade Cuban clay barrel tiles. South Florida had no suitable clay, so builders bought terracotta tiles from workshops in Cuba. There, each tile was shaped by hand and fired in a kiln, then packed in crates and shipped by steamship from Havana to Miami during the Florida land boom. Crews are now taking those tiles off, documenting them and storing them so they can go on display in the museum later.

The building's design has its own history. The architect directing the work was Phineas E. Paist. He had been an associate architect on Vizcaya, the home of Charles Deering's brother James. In 1923, George Merrick named Paist Supervisor of Color for the Coral Gables Corporation, and Paist set up the design review process that became the city's Board of Architects. The fortress-like house in Palmetto Bay is an early version of the look that later shaped Coral Gables.

The 100 Ladies of Deering have released a short film on the project, "Restoring a Legacy – Stone House at Deering, Chapter 1: The Vision and Preparation," made by Jorge Graupera Films. It covers the planning and funding behind the restoration and how the work is done while the park and Richmond Cottage stay open.

Richmond Cottage now carries the Stone House's story

With the Stone House closed, the museum staff has moved its stories into the cottage. Stone House Next Door is a series of exhibits inside Richmond Cottage about the house, its architecture and the Deering family. The daily guided museum tour covers the outside of the Stone House and the inside of Richmond Cottage, and it still traces Paist's influence on Coral Gables. The calendar lists guided museum tours daily at 11:30 a.m. and nature preserve tours daily at 12:30 p.m. from October through May.

From Friday, November 27, 2026, through Tuesday, January 6, 2027, the cottage also holds this year's holiday décor, called "Tides & Tidings." The theme draws on Charles Deering's love of the sea and of Biscayne Bay, with blue and silver lights and garlands modeled on coral and mangroves. The Estate's décor page lists who decorated each room:

• Dining Room and Breakfast Room: Pottery Barn
• Kitchen: Rotary Club: Perrine, Cutler Ridge and Palmetto Bay
• Garden Room, Film Room, Children's Room and stairway railings: 100 Ladies of Deering
• Scholar Room: Indie-Annie Jones
• Hotel Room with Bathroom: Stephanie & Dulce Michell
• Orientation Room: Artists-in-Residence Susana Behar, Debora Rosental and Aida Tejada
• Paranormal Room: Genealogical Society of Greater Miami
• Front Porch: Pinecrest Garden Club
• Back Porch: Palmetto Bay Garden Club

The décor is open daily and included with general admission. Gates close at 4 p.m., and the Estate is closed on Christmas Day.

After dark, the cottage tour ends at a campfire

The evening version of the season is the Holiday House Tour & Campfire on December 8, 16 and 22. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and you can arrive any time until 8 p.m. The time on your ticket applies only to the house tour, which starts with a short introduction at 6, 7 or 8 p.m. After that you tour the decorated rooms on your own, with staff on both floors to answer questions. Then there's a campfire looking out over Biscayne Bay, with free marshmallows.

Tickets are $20. Deering Estate Foundation members get 10% off by emailing the Foundation for a promo code before buying through Park Link. The Estate warns that tour capacity may be limited. Because the tours are spread across three start times and you can come and go freely, you can sit by the fire before or after your tour slot.

The November and December calendar

The cottage is the center of the season, and the Estate has scheduled a full program around it. November 14 alone has events from 7:30 in the morning until the film festival ends at night.

A few events have details worth knowing before you go. On festival nights, the film festival holds a cocktail reception at 7 p.m. at the Visitor Center, screenings start at 8, and tickets are sold online only. At the Vintage Auto Show, tickets are bought online in advance through Park Link, and the historic houses are closed for the day. Richmond Cottage is closed too, so plan your cottage visit for another day.

Holiday by the Bay on December 5 adds a market, seasonal treats, crafts, lawn games and scavenger hunts. Story-Time & Photos with Santa runs that same morning. Meeting Santa requires buying a photo package on top of general admission. The Holiday Bay Cruise ticket includes general admission to the Estate that day and a glass of champagne for guests 21 and older. Mistletoe & Martinis is the Foundation's 21+ evening, with cocktails, food, live music and dancing.

Families planning around school breaks can book Winter Camp, which has a different theme each week. Registration is online only through Park Link, with a $15 registration fee, collected each school year and at the beginning of summer, on top of the daily rate. One-day Mini Camps run November 23–25 and December 18, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Admission and membership

General admission is $18 for adults 15 and older and $10 for children 4 to 14, plus tax. Children under 4 and Deering Estate Foundation members get in free. Nonmembers pick a date and buy tickets online. Members don't need a reservation to see the décor and just show their card and ID at the Ticket Booth between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Membership includes free general admission all year plus entry to the Deering Seafood Festival, and the Estate offers it as a gift this season.

For a Palmetto Bay household, the two-visit plan is easy to arrange. Go once during the day to see the cottage rooms, take the 11:30 a.m. tour past the Stone House, and look at the roofline where the Cuban tiles are coming off. Then come back on December 8, 16 or 22 for the house tour and the campfire on the bay.

Deering Estate's century-old buildings are part of what gives Palmetto Bay its character. If you're thinking about what a home near the Estate or anywhere in Palmetto Bay looks like for your next move, Melva Garcia can walk you through it over coffee, in English or Spanish. Request a Concierge Consultation.