The Kampong, National Tropical Botanical Garden Review

The Kampong was the winter estate of Dr. David Fairchild, the same horticulturist who established the Fairchild Tropical Gardens. He purchased the acres in 1916, and filled them with various plant species from his travels around the world. Today, many of the tropical plants remain, including pomelo, many cultivars of avocado, varieties of mango, palms, flowering trees, ficus, aroids, and bamboo. Fairchild also built a house designed with Spanish and Asian influence that still remains. I have visited this addition to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places for events, and I love going to the dock to see the magnificent view of the bay even though it smells a bit like rotting seaweed. And I always wonder what life must have been like for those who lived here almost a hundred years ago.