Come sit on our porch!

In two weeks, Thurston House will mark another milestone – 18 years providing wonderful accommodations to guests from all around the world. So far we have enjoyed guests from 21 countries, every state and even 3 territories! It has been a wonderful place for us to live, and we hope that we have many more years here at  Thurston House in beautiful Maitland, Central Florida.

We have seen our guests, marry, divorce, die, move away, move back, visit family, celebrate life events, stay for business, retire, etc. It has been very interesting to be a part of their lives. Some guests have been staying with us for over 10 years now! We are blessed.

House before renovations - January 1990

We have seen Thurston House start out as an empty and unloved house, to be completely renovated becoming the “Gem of Maitland”. Even the guest rooms started out one way, but have been fine tuned much during that time. Rooms have  different size beds now, and colors have changed - green to gold, pink to ruby red and yellow to tan. We have evolved too, starting with phone reservations and brochures to now offering online reservations and printable brochure on our website. You can even find us on Twitter, FaceBook and Trip Advisor too! 

Keep tuned for Fall & Winter Specials!

Art Under the Stars in Maitland

The Fall is when things start to get busy again in Central Florida. There is a variety of upcoming events very near to Thurston House B&B in Maitland -

10/1-10/3 - 34th Annual Art Under the Stars – Maitland Rotary Arts Festival 

10/8 – Groovy In The Grove - Maitland History’s 12th Annual Benefit Auction

10/9-10 – 37th Annual Winter Park Autumn Arts Festival

10/23 – Leu Gardens Jazz & Blues Stroll

11/6-7 – Rollins College Family Weekend – Sorry, already full!

11/15 – Taste of Maitland – 13th Annual Maitland Chamber of Commerce event

12/2 – Christmas in the Park – Yearly Winter Park Tiffany event

12/4 – Maitland’s Season of Light

And there is much more coming up…..Keep tuned! Click here to book your favorite room for your favorite event before we are sold out!

Exquisite Harmony

Coming in September – Exquisite Harmony, works in collage by Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson. There is an opening reception Friday, September 10 from 6-8pm, then “Meet the Artist” on September 11th at 1pm. There is even a collage workshop planned for Friday-Sunday, October 22-24, from 10-4pm. Come and learn from the best, the artist herself!

Maitland Arts Center

The Maitland Art and History Association at the Maitland Center has a lot of great events planned in the upcoming months!

The Great Florida Birding Trail is a program of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, supported in part by the Florida Department of Transportation and the Wildlife Foundation of Florida. This 2,000-mile, self-guided highway trail unifies nearly 500 birding sites throughout Florida. Modeled after the successful Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, this ambitious project features detailed guide booklets and special highway signs identifying Birding Trail sites. Free guide booklets contain site descriptions, directions, and maps showcasing the wonderful birding opportunities in Florida. Each Birding Trail section consists of a series of clusters, with each cluster containing 1 to 15 sites highlighting communities and special ecosystems like the Lake Wales Ridge.  

Baby owl shower

The Audubon Center for Birds of Prey is two streets from Thurston House B&B in Maitland, and an amazing facility! They even hold baby owl showers yearly. Come see!

Each year, on the first Thursday of December, the Morse Museum helps launch the holiday season in Winter Park when it lights up Tiffany windows in Central Park and presents the Bach Festival Choir, Youth Choir, and Brass Ensemble in concert. This December is the 32nd annual celebration of Christmas in the Park.

Christmas in the Park

The nine leaded-glass windows installed in the park set the stage for a free outdoor concert of seasonal favorites by the 150-voice Bach Festival Choir, one of America’s premier oratorio ensembles.

Eight of the windows are memorials with religious themes produced by Tiffany Studios for the chapel constructed in 1908 for the Association for the Relief of Respectable Aged Indigent Females in New York.

The Association was founded in 1814 by a group of wealthy New Yorkers as a genteel private charity for elderly, indigent women, including widows of soldiers who fought in the War of 1812 and the Revolution. The first residence, constructed in 1838, was an alternative to the common almshouse. An expanded building was designed 30 years later by Richard Morris Hunt, architect to the rich and famous of the late-19th century.

When the residence was threatened with demolition in 1974, Hugh and Jeannette McKean bought its Tiffany chapel windows at the request of the Association board. The windows are memorials to prominent women who it is believed supported the Association in some way. The Association residence is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Tiffany window

Tiffany Studios’ Christmas Eve window, c. 1902, in which a figure resembling Father Christmas holds the Christ child, is also on view at the event and in the Morse Museum following Christmas in the Park. The window was designed by Thomas Nast Jr.—son of the famous political cartoonist—for his sister’s home in New Rochelle, New York.

Christmas in the Park was started by the McKeans in 1979 as a way to share a part of their rare Tiffany collection with the public in an informal setting.

Every year guests at Thurston B&B in Maitland drive the short distance to attend this wonderful event!

A fine art show and sale, 10/1 to 10/3, 6pm-10pm Friday, 10am -10pm Saturday and 10am – 5pm Sunday, surrounding beautiful Lake Lily in Maitland, Central Florida.

Night shot of the Maitland Rotary Arts Festival

This is one of the finest boutique art festivals, where only 150 artists vie for over $20,000 in awards.  The Maitland Rotary Art Festival is one of the few that offer night-time hours.  With subtle live background music and sparkling lights, the evening hours create magical experiences for artists and patrons alike. 

The Performing Arts Maitland organization provides continuous live entertainment during the show. 

Thurston House Bed & Breakfast is the perfect place to stay for attending this special event. Located only a 10 minute stroll away from the festivities, this renowned b&b will sooth your artistic soul!

Oranges

Central Florida was the capital of Florida citrus in the early years, especially around the time of the founding of Lake Maitland – 1885. This area lead the world in citrus production until several freezes devastated groves, pushing the citrus operations further south. Cyrus Brooks Thurston had a variety of citrus on his 160 acres of Maitland land.

Times have changed! What was once Cyrus Thurston’s 160 acre pride and joy, is now just 8 acres. His beautiful winter home still stands proud overlooking Lake Eulalia, but the many areas of groves are gone. Walking around the 8 acres you can note several old orange and tangerine trees, but a variety of oak and other trees dominate the landscape now.  We do have one orange tree that always give us lots of sweet fruit to make juice in early January.  There are also several tangerine trees left and from the looks of things we will have another bumper crop of these this January-February 2011.

Tangerines

Guests to Thurston House B&B early in the year are offered bags to fill with tangerines to enjoy at home. Book your room now for that time, and come experience a little bit of Central Florida citrus history.

Old Trane leaving the station...

BYE-BYE old, and HELLO new! After 19 years of service to us, our old Trane 5 ton a/c -heat pump system wore out. It kept going through tremedous heat times, and kept us warm during those few very cold times. Considering 12-15 years is usually the maximum life for these types of units here in Florida, we have done well.

New Trane arrives...

Our new unit is nice & shiny, and oh so quiet. Come stay at Thurston House B&B in Maitland and see for yourself! Summer Special rates are ending soon, 9/2, so hurry!!!   Energy Air Company in Orlando did a great job with the installation!

August 6 – Movie begins at dusk.

 Oscar® winner Julia Roberts and Clive Owen star as two sexy spies-turned-corporate operatives in the midst of a clandestine love affair. When they find themselves on either side of an all-out corporate war, they’ll put everything on the line to remain one double-cross ahead in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse. From writer/director Tony Gilroy (seven-time Oscar®-nominated Michael Clayton) comes the film critics are raving about. (2009, PG-13)

These date nights are a wonderful way to enjoy Leu Gardens in an evening setting. Pack your blanket & dinner basket, and enjoy the show.

Thurston House yard in the morning

Make it an even better night out and book a room at Thurston House too! This Maitland B&B is just 15 minutes from the gardens. We are like a mini Leu Gardens, with our beautiful lakefront setting. Come see!

This amazing museum facility is only minutes from Thurston House. Add it to the list of must do’s when booking a room at our beautiful Central Florida Bed & Breakfast!