Cindy and Joe returned to Gainesville after a thirteen-year absence to restore the Baird Mansion into Magnolia Plantation Bed and Breakfast Inn in 1990. They were married in Gainesville in 1977 when Joe was in his final year at the College of Civil Engineering at the University of Florida. Like many college students they could not wait to leave Gainesville and moved to Texas to work and live. When they returned to Central Florida to live they began the six football weekend pilgrimages to the Gator Football games and rediscovered Gainesville from a non-student perspective. Soon they found themselves coming up to visit Gainesville on non-football weekends at various times of the year. That’s when they discovered that Gainesville had an historic district with Victorian Homes. Since Cindy and Joe had discovered the wonderful experience of staying at a bed and breakfast inn in Bar Harbor, Maine in 1985 they talked about the possibility of opening their own inn someday, somewhere. In 1990 Cindy and Joe purchased the Baird Mansion, or at least what was the Baird Mansion. Hippies and college students had inhabited it for 30 years. It was more like Animal House than a Victorian mansion. Cindy and Joe restored the 1885 French Second Empire Victorian Mansion to Magnolia Plantation and opened the Inn on May 3, 1991. Since then, the inn has received many honors including: "Best Bed and Breakfast in Florida" by Florida Living Magazine and "Most Romantic Bed and Breakfast in Florida" by Most Romantic Escapes in Florida guidebook. The Inn and Cindy's recipes have been featured in a variety of guidebooks and cookbooks. Learn more about the innkeepers/owners on our official website! Please Note: We don't provide breakfast for reservations made on the Booking platform.

The house was constructed in 1885 by Dudley and Melinza Williams. Dudley was a lumberman at the time and the quality of the woodwork throughout the house is a testimony to his profession. The house is known locally as the Baird Mansion, named for the family that owned and lived here for almost 70 years. Emmett Baird was a local businessman who owned and operated the Standard Crate Company and a sawmill at the Hague. During the period from the late 1960’s to 1990 the house was occupied by various groups including hippies and college students. It became a mecca for the east coast hippie movement in Gainesville in the late 1960’s. The Baird Mansion was purchased by Cindy and Joe Montalto in 1990 and restored into the Magnolia Plantation Bed and Breakfast Inn. The restoration has kept the home’s original floor plan including the double parlors, five bedrooms, a dining room and butler’s pantry. The Victorian Style of the house, uncommon in the southeastern United States is called French Second Empire. The style is characterized by the mansard roof and the tall frontal tower. The house retains its original red and green slate roof, which is another characteristic of the style. The home has a full three stories with a fourth level in the tower creating 5400 sq. feet of living space. The third floor has been remodeled as living space for the Montalto’s. This space was originally the site of many parties and ballroom dancing in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Another unique feature is the ten original fireplaces throughout the house. There is one in every room on the first and second floor. You can learn more about the house on our official website! Please Note: We don't provide breakfast for reservations made on the Booking platform.