Thomas Basnett, a noted astronomer from England, built Marabanong. In 1880, he married Eliza Wilber (1850-1930), a scientist and inventor from New York who was the first woman to lecture science students at Harvard.

While living at Marabanong, Eliza Wilbur patented several inventions, including a large astronomical telescope and an airplane. Following the death of Basnett, she married E. Matthew Souvielle, a French doctor, and they turned the home into a healthy resort.

In 1914, she sold the property to her cousin, Grace Wilbur Trout (1864-1955), an author and activist in the national women's suffrage movement.

Edited by Cynthia Catellier, University of West Florida Department of Public History