Driftwood Inn and Restaurant

Did You Know?

• Two hurricanes in 2004 caused substantial damage to the property, but it reopened in 2005.
• Local architect John Dean and longtime property manager Jeanne Radlet helped restore the buildings after the 2004 hurricanes.

History

Waldo E. Sexton (1885–1967) built the two buildings that make up the Driftwood Inn and Restaurant in 1935. He moved to Florida in 1914 and was an integral partner in the development of McKee Jungle Garden in Vero Beach. The property began as a private beach house called the “Breezeway” by owners Waldo and Elsebeth Sexton, named for the opening in the central portion of the first floor. Construction started around 1935 and finished in 1937.

Two rooms originally flanked the first floor, with a kitchen on the second floor over the breezeway and a balcony across the second floor. Brick chimneys flanked the breezeway, and a coiled pipe solar unit between them provided heated water. The original beach house was expanded in late 1937 with a north wing, and a south wing was added in 1939. The original portion is now the central section.

Although built as a family home, Mrs. Waldo Sexton soon operated it as a small resort hotel. Because no restaurant was nearby, she began cooking breakfast for guests in the family kitchen, leading to the construction of Waldo's Restaurant in 1947. The restaurant entrance is recessed adjacent to the breezeway building, with multiple-panel doors, decorative ceramic tiles, and ornate metal grills. The balcony retains turned-spindle railings, and three immense outrigger-type wood timbers decorate the south end. The interior still has original wood paneled walls and ceramic tile insets in the floor.

Features

The Driftwood Inn and Waldo's Restaurant are defined by board and batten siding, wood shingled gables with decorative trusses, and rustic balcony railings. Two stone walls in the courtyard hold a pair of rusty, old cannons, while ceramic tiles cover the ground. A breezeway at the courtyard’s east end has stairs leading up to the second floor. Inside, a small mural in the north hallway shows a Spanish explorer landing in the new world. The breezeway walls are covered with visitor graffiti, applied ornaments, and pieces of a wood mantel. The property offers a rustic beachcomber feel. Though similar styles exist elsewhere in Florida, few match its scale or detail. The two original buildings, unique in Vero Beach, still serve their historic purpose: the inn rents rooms daily or weekly, and Waldo’s Restaurant serves lunch and dinner poolside and oceanside.