Dorothy Binney Upton, heiress to the Crayola crayon fortune, newly divorced from publishing giant George Putnam, built a home in 1930 in the farthest outreaches of Fort Pierce and called it “Immokolee.” The name is derived from a Seminole word for “the home place.” Her Mediterranean Revival retreat is today listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Immokolee is situated 7 miles from downtown Fort Pierce in the remote recesses of the wild, heavily wooded hammocks of St. Lucie County.

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Almost a century later, willowy stands of bamboo still greet you at the gates, and towering 400-year old live oaks enshroud the grounds in a magical canopy. Randy Gebhardt purchased Immokolee in 2021 from the builder’s granddaughter – the last family member to live there -- in order to preserve the historic estate and provide a creative and inspired collaboration place for storytellers, conservationists and other Radically Hopeful groups and individuals.

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