Florida Carriage Museum & Resort
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
  Location within Florida | |
| Established | 2011 |
|---|---|
| Location | Weirsdale, Florida |
| Coordinates | 28°57′13″N 81°54′18″W / 28.95369°N 81.90488°W |
| Type | Carriage museum[1] |
| Website | The Grand Oaks Resort |
The Florida Carriage Museum was an equestrian-themed museum established by carriage collector Gloria Austin and located in Weirsdale, Florida.[2] It contained more than 160 antique horse-drawn carriages from Europe and America, as well as equine-related artifacts and artwork.[3] In 2011, Austin sold the 400-acre equestrian resort property, of which the museum was part, to her ex-husband, Tom Golisano; it was renamed Grand Oaks and the carriage museum became known as the Grand Oaks Museum.[4][5] Formerly known to be a destination for carriage driving, the property has since hosted different equestrian athletes in a variety of disciplines and is a United States Equestrian Federation accredited training facility.[6] In 2017, Grand Oaks sold and dispersed the majority of the carriage collection, thereby closing the museum.[2] A portion of Austin's collection remains at Austin's Equine Heritage Institute, adjacent to Grand Oaks.[7]
