Investigations revealed that the building had a coquina block foundation in the eastern part while masonry footers supported the western section.

An account of the state of the plantation in 1836 given by Joseph S. Sanchez to the County Court of St. Johns County in 1837 says that his militia troops found a number of oxen, cattle, and horses; garden enclosures and cattle pens; and "an extensive and thriving sweet orange grove, said to contain 1,500 trees, and a variety of other fruit trees...".

[5] Over 14,000 artifacts were recovered by archaeologists and their assistants, including fragments of ceramics and wine bottles, kitchen utensils, kaolin pipes, hinges, nails, and gun parts.

The main house and kitchen have been interpreted to provide an interactive historical exhibit for public education and recreation, and plans developed for additional research and preservation of the valuable cultural resources.

In 1816, the Spanish government granted Hernández a large tract of land at the confluence of Graham's Swamp and what was then the headwaters of the southern end of the Matanzas River, on its western bank.

In 1818, Hernández bought from Ferreyra's son, Francis Ferreira (spelling of these names varied, often in the same document), another property of 375 acres adjoining Mala Compra called Bella Vista.

It was from Mala Compra that Hernandez wrote a letter to Dr. William H. Simmons, dated April 15, 1830, on the cultivation of Cuban tobacco.

[15] In 1832 the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida incorporated a company to dig a canal from the head of Matanzas Lagoon to Smith's Creek, a tributary of the Halifax River.

With this act a memorial was presented to Congress seeking financial assistance and land grants; subsequently five sections were appropriated for the proposed canal.