Chain of Owners
From 1914 (when the State of Florida first sold the land) to 1947 (when the Hanson family acquired it), this property changed hands roughly every three to four years.
F.W. and Grace Harper (1914-1919) - Investor
The State of Florida's Internal Improvement Fund sold the tract to F.W. Harper on March 17, 1914, for $35 an acre. The State kept the right to dig canals and drainage ditches, with a 130-foot easement on each side of the canal.
Harper does not appear to have lived on the land, and the records do not say how he used it. He may have kept it purely as an investment, or he may have leased the land to a farmer.
Ralph A. Horton (1919-1929, 1934-1936) - Investor/Builder/Realtor
Ralph A. Horton bought the tract in October 1919. A promoter of Everglades farming, a builder, and later a realtor, he built the first house here c. 1922, beside the water tower. After the 1926 hurricane destroyed it, he built the present farmhouse c. 1928. He first sold the farm in 1929, took it back in 1934, and then sold it to the Minton family in 1936.
C.R. and Louise Yeager (1929-1934) - Truck and Grove Farmer
C.R. Yeager, a truck and grove farmer, bought the farm from Horton in February 1929. The Yeagers deeded the farm back to Horton in November 1934.
John H. and Bertha Minton (1936-1942) - Sod Farmer
John Minton and his wife Bertha bought the farm in May 1936 and raised their eight children there. The family kept the orange grove and had a sod farm operation in Davie, the first sod business in town. After electricity reached the farm, the Mintons expanded the house, adding an indoor kitchen and an indoor bathroom in the water tower.
Josephine Rakestraw (1942-1944) - Home Improver
Josephine Rakestraw, the wife of a prominent local realtor, bought the farm in November 1942, including the furnishings of the house. During her ownership, c. 1943, the house was expanded with a dining room, a brick fireplace and chimney, and a wrap-around porch. Taken together, these improvements turned the modest farmhouse into a larger, more attractive and comfortable home. Mrs. Rakestraw also added several new buildings on the grounds—a two-bay garage, a tenant house and a guest house—turning the property into a lovely country home.
An advertisement from those years shows the Rakestraws looking for someone to work the farm, so the farmland was likely farmed by someone else while the house was being transformed.
Carl O. and Geneva Selig (1944-1947) - Likely Investor
Carl Selig bought the farm from Josephine Rakestraw in November 1944. Little is known about the Seligs. Carl seems to have had other business interests in the county. The farmland was probably still leased, perhaps to the same farmer who had worked it under the Rakestraws. It is not known whether the Seligs lived in the house, but Carl Selig died in 1947 (at age 64), which may explain why the farm was sold that year.
The Hanson Family (1947-Present)
John Hanson, a young former Navy pilot and flight instructor, and his wife Arline moved to the farm in the spring of 1947. John worked for Florida Power & Light until 1974. In retirement, he and Arline started a landscape tree nursery on the farm, which they ran for over 40 years. Their son Bill helped keep it going until 2023.
In 2024, a residential developer purchased all of the farm except for the 0.43-acre lot where the farmhouse stands. The family kept the farmhouse lot in order to preserve the house. In all, the farm stayed in the Hanson family for 77 years, and the farmhouse and its lot remain in the family today.