Frequently Asked

A private estate on 4.4 acres on St. Vincent Sound, eleven miles west of Apalachicola, Florida. The house was built in 1907, moved to this site in 1974, and restored in 2024. It is rented to one group at a time, not by the room.

On the Gulf side of Franklin County, west of Apalachicola along the coast road. We give the precise address once a stay is confirmed.

About eleven miles, which is where the name comes from. It is an easy drive for dinner or a morning in town.

Yes. Only one group is in residence at a time, and that includes the house, the grounds, the dock and the beach.

We are confirming the final counts with the estate and will give you exact numbers when you write.

It depends on the group and how the rooms are configured. We confirm the number against your specific plans.

Unusually so for its age. The 1907 plan has wide hallways and wide door openings, the rooms are large, and the restoration added an elevator serving both floors. The interiors were specified with low-pile rugs and clear routes. Tell us about any specific needs and we will go through the house with you.

Yes. It is a historic house with original stairs and a waterfront, so families should plan accordingly, but children are welcome.

Stays are priced for the whole property, not per room, and vary by season, length of stay and what is arranged around them. We give you a figure for your dates when you inquire.

Exclusive use of the house and grounds for the length of your stay. Chefs, boats, guides, florists and anything else are arranged separately and quoted before they are booked.

You send the form. We check your dates, reply — usually within a day — and if it looks like a fit we talk properly about the shape of the stay. A proposal and a contract come after that. Nothing is charged before you have seen both.

Weddings and holiday weeks tend to be spoken for well ahead. Shorter notice is often possible outside those.

Yes, for the whole stay or for a single dinner. The kitchen was rebuilt during the restoration and works well for a chef.

Yes. Flats fishing, charters into the bay and boats for the day are all arranged through local operators, booked for you and confirmed in advance.

Yes, usually as a full weekend. One wedding at a time, with the property yours from arrival to departure. Capacity, sound, tenting and alcohol arrangements are confirmed in writing during planning.

It was built in Apalachicola in 1907 by lumberman Charles Dobson for Minnie Barefield, who lived in it until 1917 and whose name it still carries. It was later a convent and school run by the Sisters of the Holy Family for about fifty years. In 1974 the Schoelles family moved the entire structure eleven miles west rather than see it demolished. It was restored in 2024 and put on the cover of Southern Living in May 2026.