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Eleanor Livingston Geraldine Livingston
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Mrs. Eleanor Livingston was an avid outdoorswoman herself, having been named the "First Lady of Sports" for her interests in horses, sporting dogs and field trialing. It was natural that their youngest child, Geraldine developed the same interests and a lifelong passion for the outdoors and Dixie Plantation.
Gerald Livingston was descended from the Robert Livingston that signed the Declaration of Independence and that settled the Upper Hudson River Valley. They were immigrants from Scotland, which heritage was reflected in their "Kilsyth Kennels". Gerald Livingston was responsible for bringing the Continental Field Trial Club to Dixie Plantation, where the year 2000 Continental in January of this year, celebrated the longest running field trial in the United States today. After Gerald's death Mrs. Eleanor Livingston continued with the Continental and field trial traditions. Upon her death daughter Geraldine Livingston perpetuated this tradition. Gerald Livingston, Eleanor Livingston and Geraldine Livingston are all members of the Field Trial Hall of Fame. When Geraldine died in 1994 she bequeathed Dixie to the Geraldine C. M. Livingston Foundation and established a trust that will administer the foundation and carry on the tradition established by her family. This will insure a permanent home for the Continental Field Trial and protect this beautiful land for generations to come. Quite a legacy and an entity that we are all proud to be affiliated with.
At this point I will introduce you to a fellow Trustee and friend, Joe Milligan. Joe is President of the Continental Field Trial Club and he and his wife, Sara, will take you on a tour of the plantation main house and grounds.
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Hello and Welcome to Dixie. I am Joe Milligan and this is my wife, Sara. We are at the entrance to the Livingston Mansion and I will tell you a little bit about this great house. It was designed in the late 30's by John Russell Pope, one of America's foremost Architects. Mr. Pope's reputation for fame was secured by design of the National Gallery of Art, The National Archives and the Jefferson Memorial. The home is of the Greek Revival design. Very fitting, when you consider that this house is located near Monticello, Florida, in Jefferson County and Thomas Jefferson's famous "Monticello" was also Greek Revival in design. The following is a picture of the house as it appears today.
The house contains 14,200 square feet of living area, not including the servants and service areas, with seven large bedrooms, each containing a fireplace and bathroom. There was a large living room with paneling and woodcarvings from an English manor house, formal dining room, trophy room, a gun room decorated with dog and bird carvings with its own bath and bar, tea room with its butler's pantry and bath, library, numerous porches and sun rooms, a large screen picnic house to the East of the mansion overlooking Lake Windom and a large pool garden area immediately to the South.
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View from the steps of the main house, looking through the horseshoe shaped boxwoods down the lane to the entrance.
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In 1972 Geraldine comissioned a statue of the famous Tennessee Walking Horse, Midnight Sun, a horse owned byGeraldine and her mother, and the greatest foundation sire of this breed. This statue was sculpted by Lee Burnam of Hawthorne, Florida, and presented as a birthday gift from Geraldine to her mother. The bronze black patina statue stands 7 feet tall and rests on a base of rose colored granite. It was placed on the South side of the house, beyond the pool, in a position so that it could be viewed from Eleanor's bedroom window. This is the only statue of a famous walking horse in existence today.
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Now, I will introduce you to Dr. Angelo Lurus, from Spokane, Washington, and Union Springs, Alabama. He will give you some information on our current Midnight Sun 2000 Campaign.
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