Enjoy a taste of Real Florida on the Indian River Lagoon just a five minute walk from a beautiful Atlantic Ocean beach. The Historic Lagoon House is not a party house; it is a quiet retreat that offers solitude when you want it and plenty to do when you (or the kids) feel like it. From the large dock jutting into the Indian River Lagoon to the Atlantic Ocean beach directly across the road, this 4-acre property is simply amazing. Feel free to greet the sunrise on the beach in the morning and top off the day with the often spectacular sunsets over the Lagoon in the evening while grilling your dinner right on the dock. This amazing 4-acre property offers kayaking, fishing, surfing, swimming and long walks on the beach or jungle trails. Feel free to watch the sunrise on the beach in the morning and top off the day with the often spectacular sunsets over the Lagoon in the evening while grilling your dinner right on the dock.
On the property you will come across a clam nursery, a botanical garden, a native salt tolerant plant nursery and, on Sunday afternoons, a very informal music jam … you can join in or just relax while enjoying Americana music played on banjo, fiddle, acoustic guitar, bass and even ukulele.
The Lagoon House itself could pass as a live-in museum. Built in the late sixties by then teenager and now current owner Max Taylor and the Taylor family, there are items on display in the Great Room that go back to the family's involvement in the beginning of the Space Age. Both of Taylor's parents were engineers at Cape Canaveral during the Mercury and Gemini launch periods. Max will be happy to tell you all about it as he followed in his parents' path as a pre-launch quality control officer later on.
The Lagoon House itself contains two completely separate living spaces with private entrances. The rental unit is the larger with three bedrooms, a sleeping loft loved by kids, two bathrooms, a Great Room with picture windows facing the Lagoon, a small laundry and a fully equipped kitchen. And, of course, there is air conditioning and wireless Internet.
Max Taylor may or may not occupy the other unit as he is preparing for a single-handed sailing trip around the world, but Jeff Hill, who maintains the botanical garden will be on property to help with any problems that may arise.
Truly Natural & Historical Florida!
Beyond the Lagoon House property, you'll find this stretch of Florida's Atlantic coast to be a bonanza of real, natural Florida. Within a 6-mile drive in either direction, you will find two National Wildlife Refuges, two State Parks, one county park, one Environmentally Endangered Land (EEL) hiking area, as many as 17 middens (the remains of the Native American indigenous people known as the Ais), a treasure museum and a sea turtle museum.
The morning walk to the beach puts you right in the middle of the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), the most important sea turtle nesting site in North America, one of the few anywhere in the world where three different species of sea turtles nest and lay their eggs. The best time to view this is late May through September, an experience you’ll likely never forget, whether it is to watch the egg laying or later, the hatching as the new generation of turtles make their way into the ocean. And just a mile up the road lies the Barrier Island Center, the free museum of the sea turtles.
Head six miles south from the Lagoon House over the Sebastian Inlet Bridge and take a right on Jungle Trail and you’ll find yourself in the Pelican Island NWR, the very first National Wildlife Refuge in United States history and a beacon for bird watchers around the world.
On the way back from Pelican island, you’ll want to stop at the McCarty Treasure Museum. This museum is located on the beach where in 1715, a flotilla of 11 Spanish ships were sunk by hurricane. All of the items displayed at the museum were recovered later right on that spot. Even today, over 300 years later, after rough weather, metal detector wielding searchers look for, and occasionally find gold coins and other artifacts from the treasure fleet.
There’s Fun to Be Had, Too
Within easy walking distance of the Lagoon House, there is Sebastian Inlet Surf & Sport for board rentals, lessons, surf camps and beach needs, two bait and tackle shops and plenty of places to surf and fish. Just two miles south is Sebastian Inlet State Park, well known for both fishing and surfing. Feel more like paddling? There are kayaks on the dock for your use or you can rent stand-up paddle boards or more kayaks just a mile away.
There are also many places to hike or ride your bikes (and e-bikes) either on a paved path or on off-road trails. You can even go up the road to play pickleball on brand new courts at the South Beaches Community Center. Go a little further up the island and you can play golf on one of two courses or swing your rackets at some free tennis courts.
What’s for Dinner?
Sometimes, cooking just isn’t on your personal vacation menu. Relax! Just an eight minute drive up the road is the much loved New England Eatery & Pub and the brand new Taste of the Islands restaurant. Just a bit further is the lagoon front Coconut Cove Cafe (German cuisine plus great steaks) and some quickie spots for sandwiches. Or you can drive about 20 minutes north for the Ocean 302 Bar & Grill, Djon’s Steak & Lobster, Oceanside Pizza, Sand on the Beach, and the Breakfast/Lunch favorite Sunnyside Cafe.
Conversely, a leisurely oceanside drive south to Vero Beach will present a restaurant list too long to mention, but with favorites like the Ocean Grill, Waldo’s, Cobalt, Riverside Cafe, The Tides and many, many more.
No Traffic Lights!!
The area around Sebastian Inlet redefines everything you may think about Florida beaches. Imagine this: on Florida's most beautiful Atlantic Ocean beaches, we are blessed to be located at the middle of a 27-mile stretch of oceanfront Highway A1A with exactly one, just one, traffic light and that is a blinking yellow that never turns red.
