Brick-pathed gardens open around the Audubon House & Tropical Gardens at 205 Whitehead Street, Key West, Florida. Step into a scene framed by brick-pathed gardens that spread across a lush 1-acre of orchids, bromeliads and other tropical foliage, an herb garden and an 1840-style nursery. The house holds many antique furnishings purchased from estate sales and auctions in Europe and preserves 28 first-edition works by the famous ornithologist John James Audubon.
Audubon visited the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas in 1832 and left Key West having sighted and drawn 18 new birds for his "Birds of America" folio; it is believed many of those drawings were conceived right here in the Audubon House garden. Look for the Geiger tree in the front yard — Audubon’s painting of the white-crowned pigeon features that very tree. A short walk brings you to the separate Audubon House Gallery, which presents a unique collection of 19th century original Audubon art and a comprehensive selection of John James Audubon’s images.
The house was once slated for demolition in 1958 but was saved by the Mitchell Wolfson Family Foundation as Key West’s first restoration project. Picture the brick paths, the Geiger tree, and the tropical beds spreading around the garden.