Susie Reams
ECB Publishing, Inc.
The Dixie Plantation is 9,100 acres located in the heart of the Red Hills Region in Jefferson County.
When Gerald Livingston bought the plantation before the name was changed to “Dixie”, it used to be called “Cedars.”
For many years, the plantation was the winter estate of Gerald and Eleanor Livingston; it was mainly used for wild quail hunting and became known for the estate's beautiful field trails.
Gerald Livingston was the head of a stock brokerage firm Livingston & Co., in New York's financial district.
After a few years of vacationing on the Dixie Plantation every winter and staying in an old quail hunting shack, the Livingston family finally decided to move onto the plantation and design a home to be constructed.
The main house on the Dixie Plantation was designed in 1936 by John Russell Pope and it is believed that the three-story, 14,200-square-foot Neo-Classical Revival mansion was completed in 1940. Pope, who is considered one of the greatest 20th century architects, is also known for designing such buildings as the Jefferson Memorial, Constitution Hall and House of the Temple, all located in Washington D.C.
The estate, which still stands today, has a large entry hall on the first floor that leads to the south wing. Decorated in wood paneling is the library, gun room, bar and living room and ornate moldings imported from an 18th century London house are scattered throughout the south wing.
There is a formal garden, designed by a New York City landscape architect by the name of Robert Ludlow Fowler, Jr., is overlooked by a screened sun room.
There is a formal dining room, breakfast room and kitchen on the north wing. A broad, graceful staircase leads to the second floor, that has two master suites and five guest rooms, each equipped with its own fireplaces.
On the Dixie Plantation, a life-size bronze statue of the Livingston family's horse, Midnight Sun, a World Grand Champion Tennessee Walking Horse, stands in the gardens. The statue was crafted by Florida sculptor Lee Burman.
The Dixie Plantation has hosted the Continental Field Trial since 1937. In the plantation's nationally-recognized hunting trails and vast woodlands, the field trial event for wild quail pointing dogs has taken place for over 80 years.
The Continental Field Trials were originally started in Chicago, sometime during 1895, and every year the Continental Field Trail attracts national attention and hundreds of visitors.
When Gerald Livingston died in 1950, his wife Eleanor maintained the Dixie Plantation, continuing and expanding the Continental Field Trial. After Eleanor’s death in 1977, the Georgia side of the plantation was mostly sold, and their daughter, Geraldine inherited the Florida side, including the mansion.
The Jefferson County community loved Geraldine, and just before her death, she created a foundation to manage her property and continue the field trails. Now, nearly the whole plantation has become a conservation easement that is managed by the Suwannee River Water Management District.
In 2013, Tall Timbers Research, Inc. took authority of all assets of the Geraldine M. Livingston Foundation. Their mission is to protect the Red Hills Region of North Florida and southeast Georgia, as well as to provide additional research lands for ecological studies – but also to keep the Dixie Plantation a landmark and historical center for years and generations still to come.
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