All walls and floors are insulated for both high efficiency heating and cooling as well as sound.

After researching architecture and engineering in over 30 pre-civil war plantations the plans were drawn up.

Construction

A 400 foot oak lined drive leads to the beautiful plantation home nestled in the middle of the hammock.

The bricked gateway greets residents and visitors from Fort Christmas Road.

Twelve inch exterior hardy board siding conveys an historical picture.

All windows and doors are energy efficient.

There are two interior stairways. 

The hallway on the second floor is seven feet wide with twelve foot cathedral ceilings.

The Master Bathrooms and showers tiled with porcelain tile.

The first floor has 9 and ¼ inch crown molding and there is 9 and ¼ inch baseboard throughout the house. 

There are seven skylights throughout the second floor and sixty-two recessed lights.

There are three two stage energy efficient systems.

Progress continues towards finishing the beautiful plantation home.

In addition to the plantation home there is a 10,000 square foot pole barn, built under a commercial permit, with a frontage and entrance on State Road 50, a divided four lane highway. When completed in December, 2014 the barn will include a 750 square foot air-conditioned loft. 

The plantation home is located in the town of Christmas, a rural Orange County community.

There are also two 1750 square foot, air conditioned modules, one of which is the care-takers unit with a full kitchen, 1 1/2 baths, laundry and storage. The other module serves as an office, with 2 half baths and additional storage.

The barn plans were created under the Orange County Commercial Plan Review.

17 Oaks Plantation

The footings are oversized and reinforced with 3000 lb. fiber concrete.

All cells in the concrete block are filled solid with 3000 lb. fiber concrete and reinforced with steel. 

The knee wall basement has a French drainage system with four inch pipe with drainage cloth filter laid in 1.5 inch stone. 

Garage floor is four inch thick 3000 lb. fiber concrete.

All exterior walls and weight bearing walls are constructed with 2 x 6 studs, 16 inches on center.

Floor and wall trusses are 16 inch on center.

All flooring is ¾ inch plywood. Walls are ½ inch plywood. Roofing is 5/8 inch plywood. 

The plantation home has over 8500 square feet of space, 5000 feet of the space being living area. 

Part of its charm is the seven skylights allowing dappled light to enter and fill the space. 

The plantation kitchen is large with a dining area and it includes a pantry. 

The dining and living areas are formal as they would have been in the pre-civil war era. 

There is a 1200 square foot entertainment suite with a full bar and a deck overlooking one of the two beautiful fish ponds.  

Master suites on each of the two floors include private baths. The first floor suite is 450 square feet, the second floor suite 650 square feet. 

In addition there are two other bedrooms and three other full baths in the home.

All the baths are tiled and the floors throughout the plantation home are natural cherry wood. 

Also part of the plantation is an attached four stall 'carriage house'/garage.

The plantation home is scheduled to be completed by July 30, 2014. 

Lewis Barton and his wife, Mary, are building 17 Oaks Plantation in Christmas, Florida. Lewis, a Vietnam Veteran who suffered a 50% disability serving his country and his wife have been married 35 years ago. The Barton’s lost their ocean front Florida home during the hurricanes that struck the state in 2004 and decided they wanted to build a replica of a pre-civil war plantation. 

Lewis required open heart surgery early in 2011. In 2013 he contracted sepsis and as a result had to go through intravenous morphine treatment for a period of 10 days.  After his release and while still recovering he traveled to Louisiana and toured the levees of the Mississippi River viewing pre-civil war plantations. During the weeklong trip Lewis researched the architecture and engineering that went into over 30 of those plantations.  Upon his return the Bartons purchased the 15 acres of land on which 17 Oaks Plantation now sits. The land is shaded by Hammock Live Oak trees. 

The name, 17 Oaks Plantation, comes from the 17 oak columns surrounding the plantation home. Each is 16 inches square and stands 16 feet tall. Beginning in May of 2013, Lewis cleared the land himself while still recovering from his surgery. He pitched a tent on the property and with a chain saw and backhoe began the task of clearing a space nestled in the hammocks for their home. Initially he was only able to work for two or three hour stretches
before having to retire to his tent to rest for another three or four hours and then going back to work. He did this seven days a week for over a year and now, thirty pounds lighter and completely prescription free, he is able to work nine to ten hours a day without stopping to rest.

The land was cleared and 17 Oaks Plantation construction began.