The Peacock House

The Peacock House Art Foundation, a newly formed non-profit, has turned Fort Pierce, Florida's Crain Estate, located in what is called the Peacock Art District, into The Peacock House, offering tours for $6 per person that feature "lush gardens, unique & vibrant architecture, and peacocks o' plenty." The house, built in 1926, was originally owned by Jackson Crain and Mary Lee Steinhoff-Crain, who lived and also operated a travel agency there. In addition to an art gallery, the house also has a dedicated garden space reserved exclusively for peacocks, a sanctuary started by the Crains. There is also a feeding area where visitors can feed the birds in that garden.

I passed by that house yesterday afternoon and decided to stop and take a few photographs. And discovered that directly across Orange Avenue from the Peacock House is a fenced empty lot where a lot of peacocks hang out. I spotted three of them and walked over to take a few photos, including the one on the right. When I got home, I looked at the foundation's website and the photographs of the gardens behind the house look very impressive. One of these days, I hope to visit the house and gardens and take some photos of that large group of peacocks. The tours are offered Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 11:00 A.M., and a $6 admission fee sounds pretty reasonable. However, I wish they would just let you pay the $6 and let you walk around by yourself. I assume they are worried that someone might walk off with some of their birds if they did that. I might be tempted, but the HOA for our condo does not even allow dogs, let alone peacocks. I could just imagine their reaction if they saw a flock of them hanging out on the golf course. Now that would make a great photograph.