The Historic Driftwood Resort

Story

The Driftwood Inn and Restaurant is a historic site in Vero Beach, Florida. It is located at 3150 Ocean Drive. On August 6, 1994, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The Driftwood Inn was opened in 1937, conceived and constructed by local Vero Beach eccentric and businessman Waldo E. Sexton. The hotel and resort were continually expanded throughout the years, and the property is now a partial interval ownership/timeshare along with being a traditional hotel.Waldo E. Sexton built the two buildings which comprise the Driftwood Inn and Restaurant in 1935. Waldo has been called “one of the most colorful persons that Florida has ever known,” an “imaginative entrepreneur,” and an “outrageous, old time eccentric.” He moved to Florida in 1914 and began his legacy that includes several buildings still standing in Vero Beach today and was an integral partner in the development of McKee Jungle Garden, also in Vero Beach. Driftwood Inn and Restaurant was originally a private beach house called the “Breezeway” by its owners, Waldo & Elsebeth Sexton, because of the opening in the central portion of the first floor. Construction of the house began in about 1935 and was completed in 1937. Two rooms originally flanked the first floor. A kitchen was located on the second floor, over the breezeway. A balcony extended across the second floor. Brick chimneys also flanked the breezeway. According to family members, a coiled pipe, “solar unit” was contained between the chimneys to provide heated water, and in fact original pictures in the reception area of the Inn today show those solar panels. The original beach house was expanded in late 1937 by the addition of a wing on the north and the south wing was added in 1939. The original portion of the building is now the central section. The building is distinguished by board and batten exterior walls, wood shingled gable ends with decorative truss work and rustic balcony railings. The courtyard is marked by two stone walls, into which are embedded two rusty, ancient cannons. Ceramic tiles decorate the courtyard floor. A breezeway is at the east end of the courtyard and is flanked by stairs leading to the second floor. The hallway at the north end features a small mural of a Spanish explorer landing in the new world. The breezeway walls feature graffiti from visitors, applied ornaments and portions of a wood mantel.