Clifford House Museum & Gardens and Citrus Museum

Published on June 11, 2024

The newly renovated Clifford House Museum & Gardens and Citrus Museum in Eustis were celebrated Saturday, June 8, 2024 by City Commissioners, descendants of the Clifford family, and guests. The event also marked the unveiling of a new mural on the Citrus Museum and the work of the City's Eustis in Bloom committee, which was responsible for the refurbishment of the gardens around the house, with much more work to begin in the coming weeks. The City's Events and Tourism department, led by manager Miranda Muir, oversaw the museum's renovations. In attendance were Mayor Michael Holland, Vice Mayor Emily Lee, who is also the chairman of the Eustis in Bloom committee, Commissioner Gary Ashcraft, Commissioner Nan Cobb, Commissioner Willie Hawkins, and City Manager Tom Carrino. Shane Matthews, the great-great grandson of Lottie Bell Clifford, the daughter of the home's builder, Guilford Clifford, also attended and is pictured with the Commissioners.

City of Eustis Mayor Michael Holland spoke at the Citrus Museum at the Clifford Historic House at the dedication of the refurbished House and Museum under city management. The mural that decorated the Citrus Museum since the mid-1990s was removed and will be placed inside and a new one, painted by local artist Leslie DeNike Wasgatt, also pictured, was unveiled. The new mural is an homage to the city's past as the Citrus Capital and highlights citrus labels from the region's heydays as the largest producers of oranges in the world.

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