Bok Tower Gardens

The Anton Brees Carillon Library, located within the Singing Tower at Bok Tower Gardens, Lake Wales, Florida, is home to various collections that document the history and development of the Singing Tower and its gardens, the historic Pinewood Estate, and The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America. It also contains many sources on carillon art in general.

Iron Mountain is one of the highest points in peninsular Florida, United States and a prominent point of the Lake Wales Ridge. Rising 295 feet (90 m) above sea level, The mountain contains citronelle, a hematite-containing rock that oxidizes when exposed to air and is responsible for the red-brown color of the earth. The ridge is located just north of the city of Lake Wales. The tower of Bok Tower Gardens is built on the summit.

El Retiro (also known as Encierro and as Pinewood Estate) is a historic site in Lake Wales, Florida. It is located at 1151 Tower Blvd, Lake Wales, FL 33853. The 12,900 square foot house was designed by architect Charles R. Wait for the original owner, Charles Austin Buck. The design specified a "barrel-tile roof, thick walls, substantial carved doors and woodwork, and intricately detailed wrought iron ... and three large porches". The gardens were designed by William Lyman Phillips of the Olmsted Brothers firm. The work on the property was completed in 1929-1930. Buck owned the home until 1947. It was purchased by Nellie Lee Holt Bok in 1970 and renamed Pinewood Estate. A subsequent restoration of the gardens, to their original design, was completed by landscape architect Rudy Favretti. Since 1970, the estate has been part of Bok Tower Gardens, and is again known as El Retiro. Visitors to the adjacent Bok Tower Gardens may tour the home for an extra fee. On December 12, 1985, the 20 room home was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Mountain Lake is a private community and U.S. historic district north of the City of Lake Wales, Florida, United States, off the FL 17 (formerly US 27A) Scenic Highway. Mountain Lake was founded in 1915, with major development of the property commencing in the 1920s. It was designated as a historic district in August 1993. Mountain Lake is located in the ridge country of Central Florida, and was developed by Baltimorean Frederick S. Ruth. According to the National Park Service, Ruth purchased 3,500 acres of "lush land in the richest and most elevated real estate in the area" consisting of Florida's "liveliest hills, lakes, forests, and groves". The developers wanted Mountain Lake to be an exclusive residential area created "to attract the nation's business elite". With proximity close to trains from the North which would bring residents down for ‘the season,' Ruth engaged Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. to lay out 600 acres of the property for the residences and Seth Raynor to design the golf course. This same trio of Ruth, Olmsted and Raynor went on to design and develop Fishers Island Club in the 1920s, while Olmsted and Raynor also designed Yeamans Hall Club. There are some notes in the archives at Mountain Lake that Ruth spoke to Donald Ross (who did nearby Lake Wales Country Club) prior to selecting Raynor; however Raynor was chosen and Mountain Lake became the first development of its kind. Such wealthy and widely known people as Edward W. Bok (long-time editor of Ladies' Home Journal and Pulitzer-Prize-winning author), August Heckscher (benefactor of the Heckscher Museum of Art), and Irving T. Bush (of Bush Terminal, Bush Tower, and Bush House fame) subsequently became early "snowbirds" and established winter homes in or near Mountain Lake Estates. Vanity Fair described Mountain Lake in 2001 as an "old, established Wasp enclave in rural central Florida". Well-known sites, the Mountain Lake Colony House and Bok Tower Gardens, are part of Mountain Lake.

The Mountain Lake Estates Historic District is a U.S. historic district (designated as such on August 26, 1993), located north of Lake Wales, Florida, off the FL 17 (formerly US 27A) Scenic Highway. Mountain Lake Estates was first developed in the 1920s as an exclusive residential area created "to attract the nation's business elite". The developers hired Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. to design the community. Such wealthy and widely known people as Edward W. Bok (long-time editor of Ladies' Home Journal and Pulitzer-Prize-winning author), August Heckscher (benefactor of the Heckscher Museum of Art), and Irving T. Bush (of Bush Terminal, Bush Tower, and Bush House fame) subsequently became early "snowbirds" and established winter homes in or near Mountain Lake Estates.The district contains 65 historic buildings, including two previously listed on the National Register: El Retiro Estate (today renamed "Pinewood" and part of the landmark Bok Tower Gardens) and Mountain Lake Colony House. Noted architect Wallace Neff, known for his celebrity clients' mansions in southern California (see for example Pickfair), designed one home within Mountain Lakes Estates, one of his few commissions outside California.Mission Revival, Colonial Revival, and other "revival" styles of architecture are most common. House lots within the historic district can be sizable; as an example, Irving T. Bush's estate covered five acres (about 2 hectares).

The Mountain Lake Colony House (also known as the Mountain Lake Club House) is a historic site within the Mountain Lake Estates Historic District in Lake Wales, Florida. This three-story Mediterranean Revival clubhouse and inn was originally designed in 1916 by Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., and features pergolas, loggias, and a barrel-tile roof. It is located east of State Road 17, on the north shore of Mountain Lake. On February 22, 1991, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Lake Wales High School is a high school located in Lake Wales, Florida, serving the city of Lake Wales and nearby communities such as Frostproof, Dundee, and Winter Haven, Florida. It is part of Lake Wales Charter Schools.

Spook Hill is a gravity hill, an optical illusion in Lake Wales, Florida, where cars appear to roll up the spooky hill. Spook Hill is located on the Lake Wales Ridge, a geologically significant range of sand and limestone hills, which were islands from two to three million years ago, when sea levels were much higher than at present. The attraction is adjacent to Spook Hill Elementary School, which adopted Casper The Friendly Ghost as their school mascot. The attraction is also close to the Bok Tower. Spook Hill received national media attention when an article about it appeared on the front page of the Wall Street Journal on October 25, 1990, and it was featured in a segment on CBS Morning News with Charles Osgood on November 5, 1990. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.

Lake Wales is a city in Polk County, Florida. It is part of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 16,361 at the 2020 census.

The Lake of the Hills Community Club is a historic site in Lake Wales, Florida, United States. It is located at 47 East Starr Avenue. On March 24, 2000, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Grassy Lake Preserve officially known as Mountain Lake Cut-Off is 185 acres (0.75 km2) of preserve purchased by the State of Florida in 2003 for $2.1 million to protect eight rare species of plants and one rare species of animal. It is located at U.S. 27 and Mountain Lake Cut-Off Road in Lake Wales, Florida) The property is managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as part of a network of preserves along the Lake Wales Ridge. The preserve is located behind Janie Howard Wilson Elementary School.

The North Avenue Historic District is a U.S. historic district (designated as such on October 12, 2001) located in Lake Wales, Florida. The district is along the 100 Block of North Avenue. It contains 12 historic buildings.