The Kampong
A 9-acre tropical garden in Coconut Grove that was once the private laboratory of the man who introduced the mango to Florida.
David Fairchild was the USDA botanist who spent decades traveling the world collecting plants and introducing them to American agriculture. He brought mangoes, soybeans, and hundreds of other species to the United States. His home in Coconut Grove — The Kampong, named after the Malay word for village — was his personal laboratory: nine acres of tropical plants from every corner of the world, growing along the shore of Biscayne Bay.
Fairchild introduced over 200,000 plant species to the United States. The mango you ate this summer almost certainly traces back to his work. The Kampong is where he grew them.
The property is now managed by the National Tropical Botanical Garden and operates as a working research facility. The garden contains rare palms, flowering trees, and fruit species that exist nowhere else in the continental United States. The bay views are extraordinary. The whole place feels like a secret that Miami has been keeping for a century.
Located at 4013 Douglas Rd, Coconut Grove. Open by appointment only — tours must be booked in advance through the National Tropical Botanical Garden website. Small admission fee. Worth planning around. The mango collection alone is worth the trip.