An Orlando treasure | College Park Community Paper

City Commissioner
Robert Stuart

As Spring rolls around, we get a chance to enjoy wonderful weather and many great outdoor amenities in Orlando.? There are community events?College Park?s own Sunday in the Park is March 10^th.? But in keeping with February?s topic of highlighting a city amenity, I wanted to focus this month on Beautiful Leu Gardens.

Leu Gardens is the historical home of Mr. Harry P. Leu and his wife, Mary Jane, which was generously donated to the City in 1961.? It?s an amazing 50-acre botanical oasis, minutes from downtown, designed to inspire visitors to appreciate and understand plants.? Leu Gardens also boasts the Leu House Museum, which reveals turn-of-the-century living for the families who once called this property home.

The history of the house and gardens began long before the City?s involvement- in 1885, John Thomas Mizell built a farmhouse on the site (his family plots are still located on the property). In 1902, Duncan Pell bought surrounding land that today accounts for the majority of the garden?s acreage.? Joseph Woodward was the next owner and made more improvements to the home.?Then, after a period as a rental home, the Leu family purchased the home and gardens in 1936.

Harry Leu was a native Floridian, born in Orlando.? His parents moved to Orlando from Maitland on the day Mr. Leu was born!? He was a very good businessman, whose work ethic was engrained at a young age.? The story is that ?Can Do Leu?, at the age of 10, bought hand-held fans for 5 cents and turned around and sold them at a family funeral for 10 cents. After graduation, he took a job setting up machinery at Cain O?Berry Boiler Company.? Not satisfied, he set off for New York to take a business course and returned home at the request of his mother. He again worked at the boiler company and, after positions as a bookkeeper and clerk, eventually purchased enough stock to have controlling interest in the company.? He changed the focus of the company to industrial supplies and Harry P. Leu Inc was off and running.

He then met and married Mary Jane and together they purchased the home for $40,000.? They spent time remodeling and focused on their joint love of gardening.? They traveled the world to find unique specimens and grew plants that should have been impossible to cultivate in Florida?s extreme climate.? By 1950, the Leu?s had started to allow public viewing of the gardens.

In 1950, Harry sold his business and devoted his time to philanthropy and his gardens.? When he and Mary Jane donated their property to the City, they put in specific clauses to ensure that the property remain a garden, open to the public, and that none of the acreage would be sold or used for any other purpose.

Please come and enjoy this legacy that was left to all of the residents of Orlando. March is a great time to enjoy the

Mary Jane and Harry P. Leu
Photograph courtesy of leugardens.org

gardens.? March 16^th and 17^th is their Annual Spring Plant Sale.? Admission is free and open to the public from 9:00a to 5:00p each day.? This is a great way to enjoy this amenity, support local vendors and beautify your own property at the same time. For more information, go to leugardens.org.

Their website also boasts information about many other great events that occur on a monthly and annual basis, such as their monthly children?s storytime, movie date nights and their annual jazz and blues stroll in April.

Thanks for your continued support and I hope you get some free time to enjoy a stroll around Leu Gardens this month!

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Source: http://community-paper.com/2013/02/26/an-orlando-treasure/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=an-orlando-treasure

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