History of Brightwater

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Brightwater was the Casselberry Family Estate for more than eight decades. Noted Winter Park architect James Gamble Rogers II designed the house in 1951 at the request of friend and fellow Illinois native Hibbard Casselberry. A major landowner, developer, and businessman, Casselberry was the founder and first mayor of the City of Casselberry. Rogers designed the house in the Colonial Revival style. Construction began in 1952 and finished later that year. Casselberry's second wife, Martha Norris Casselberry, named the house. The view of South Lake Triplet at sunrise and sunset from the house's waterfront lot inspired her choice of name. Rogers originally designed Brightwater with four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and 5729 square feet of living space over three floors on 8.63 acres. The family added a dock and later a swimming pool in 1961. The family constructed an addition in 1969 that added two more bedrooms, two more bathrooms, and an enlarged Great Room on the first floor. The property also had an attached garage, a detached four-car garage, and various utility sheds. The original Casselberry Post Office was located on the grounds of Brightwater. Gamble Rogers II also designed a guest house that was never built. Hibbard Casselberry died at Brightwater at the age of 76 on August 29, 1969. Brightwater is the only major private residence designed by James Gamble Rogers II still standing in Seminole County. It also remains the only home of one of the named founders of a municipality in Seminole County that was occupied by that founder for the remainder of his life until death. The home was later lived in by Casselberry's widow, Martha, until her passing in 1992 and their son, John, until his death in 2019. The City of Casselberry purchased the property in the summer of 2021.