This site, with a view possibly unmatched in Florida, was in the heart of the state's panhandle. "The autum view from this Territorial Era village site is exquisitely beautiful. On the brow of a giant lion's paw of a hill that forms the western terminus of the Holmes Valley escarpment, the area's dominant land feature, the site overlooks tree covered smaller hills and valleys for miles around." James Bright, a one-time North Carolina militia colonel, built a large three-story home on his plantation. The mansion was known locally as "Bright" or "Vallombrosa Mansion".