Mira Rio

Nestled on the banks of the St. Johns River is this fabulous 27-acre estate, which is now a romantic and intimate resort and private club. Towering, sixty-foot tall live oaks draped with Spanish moss, flowering hibiscus trees, sweeping green lawns, flower beds and gurgling fountains surround the centerpiece, a grand Mediterranean style mansion with arches, stucco walls, and a red-tiled roof. Old World Florida still exists at the Club Continental.

Mira Rio was built as the winter retirement home of Caleb Johnson, son of the founder of the Palmolive Soap Company. He and his wife, Elinor, commissioned an architectural firm in Milwaukee to design a Mediterranean structure they named Mira Rio. Building began in early 1922 and the family took up residence in May, 1923.

In order to maintain his family home, Caleb (Jon) Johnson Massee, the grandson, founded the Club Continental in 1966. The original mansion now serves as a Dining and Tennis Club with approximately 800 dues paying members. Over the years, the Club has expanded it's facilities to include seven tennis courts, a yacht basin with 85 slips protected by a breakwater, three swimming pools and twenty-two overnight guest rooms. The existing lawns, along with 200-year-old live oaks, magnolias and formal gardens are carefully and lovingly maintained by the Massee family.

The River House Pub

The River House began as a pre-Civil War cottage built on a Spanish Land Grant five miles south of Orange Park. During the 1890's, the cottage became the first Golf Club House in North Florida. Scheduled for demolition in 1976, Mrs. Frederica Massee, Jon's wife, successfully made up her mind to save it. She had the cottage moved to the edge of the high river bank beside the Club Continental and restored. It is now an intimate pub with lively entertainment Tuesday through Saturday, enjoyed by Club Members and guests. In warm weather, patrons relax and enjoy the pleasure of "River Watching" from the terraces overlooking the St. Johns.