El Retiro at Bok Tower Gardens makes the house and garden feel planned
El Retiro adds a lived-in winter-estate layer to Bok Tower Gardens, with Mediterranean design, garden rooms, porches, and Lake Wales ridge views.
El Retiro gives Bok Tower Gardens a house story, not just a tower-and-garden stop. The 20-room Mediterranean-style winter estate sits on 7.5 acres inside the gardens. It was built for Charles Austin Buck, a Bethlehem Steel executive.
The garden plan came first. William Lyman Phillips, working with the Olmsted firm, helped shape the grounds and the house placement. Charles Wait then designed the home. That order helps explain why the place feels so settled. The porches, garden rooms, thick walls, tile roof, and framed views all work together. You can read the house as a Florida answer to heat, shade, breeze, status, and scenery.
Before you plan around it, check the tour schedule and access details. The house has stairs, no elevator, and a separate tour ticket on top of Bok Tower Gardens admission. If you like older Florida homes, this one also shows how a house can be placed to make a garden feel larger.
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Last checked against these sources: July 4, 2026.
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