In Mayo a visitor can find "The House of the Seven Gables." Now this is not the house Nathaniel Hawthorne named his famous book after but one that was designed and built after the architect read the book. He designed an octagonal house with seven gables, the eighth side leading to an additional wing of the building. There were three bedrooms and a parlor in the octagonal section with dining and kitchen facilities in the wing.

There are a number of other historic buildings in Mayo, too, but Lafayette County is one of the most unpopulated counties in the state... pointing to the idea that perhaps the area was more important a hundred years ago (back when the railroads were being built, timber was big business and folks were growing more citrus up north) than it is now. That said, the population of Mayo rose about 25% between 2000 and 2010.