Summerplace

For nearly 50 years, Summerplace has been known as a "Bohemian" enclave. Short, sandy shell lanes to the sea, lush tropical foliage, oak hammocks and cottage homes have attracted artists, writers, musicians, entrepreneurs and a host of other independent "live and let live" spirits.

There are thousands of neighborhoods by the sea on Florida's east and west coasts, but few compare to Summerplace's authentic "Old Florida" atmosphere and unique character that continues to attract people of substance.

Great surfing spots from Wabasso Beach Park, adjacent to Summerplace, and Sebastian Inlet State Park, seven miles north, brings a youthful energy to the neighborhood. Recreational venues abound with a public boat launch to the Intracoastal Waterway less than a mile west. A fifteen-mile bike/rollerblade/walk sidewalk and the historic seven-mile Jungle Trail just a shell's throw away. The neighborhood beach market and flagship Disney's Vero Beach Resort, with oceanfront bar and restaurants, are a pleasant stroll south along the beach or sidewalk.

Established in 1960, Anthony (Tony) Drexel Duke was an early founder of Summerplace. He built his stilt home there in the early 1960's. According to one article, "The Dukes sally forth in Summerplace for clamming, surf-riding, or picnicking by the light of beach bonfires." Duke is the grandnephew of tobacco-rich James (Buck) Duke, founder of Duke University; and Alice Noel Rutgers, one of whose forebears was land rich Colonel Henry Rutgers, benefactor of Rutgers University.