A circa 1891 photograph of the home of Frances Shimer, founder of Chicago’s Shimer College, in DeLand, Florida. Built in 1885 and still standing. The Sans-Souci Cottage (also sometimes called the Shimer House), which still stands at 439 N. Clara Ave. in DeLand, Florida, was the final dwelling-place of both Frances Shimer and Adelia Joy. Mrs. Shimer began spending the winters in DeLand in 1883, as her tuberculosis worsened, and the cottage was completed in approximately 1885. It is one of the oldest residential buildings in DeLand, and is the only building of Frances Shimer's construction still standing. During the lives of Shimer and Joy, it was surrounded by orange groves, the last few trees of which lingered into the 1930s.At the time, the cottage was considered to be located at the corner of Clara and Minnesota, although it is now separated from Minnesota by a row of houses, and is equidistant between Clara and Sans-Souci, which takes its name from the cottage. The cottage is located a few blocks from Stetson University, the president of which was a frequent visitor during Shimer's final years. Frances Shimer (August 21, 1826 – November 10, 1901), born Frances Ann Wood, was an American educator. She was the founder of the Mount Carroll Seminary, which later became Shimer College, in Mount Carroll, Illinois. She was also the sole proprietress of the school from 1870 to her retirement in 1896. Her body was returned to Mount Carroll for burial there. After a funeral service at the chapel of the Frances Shimer Academy, she was interred at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Mount Carroll.