The Historic Driftwood Resort

Few lodging properties anywhere on Florida’s Treasure Coast carry the kind of story that the Historic Driftwood Resort does. The property traces its roots back to 1935, when Waldo E. Sexton, a colorful and famously unconventional local pioneer, began building a beachfront retreat out of cypress logs and pecky-cypress paneling salvaged from the swamps around Blue Cypress Lake. Construction wrapped up around 1937, and what emerged was a rambling, one-of-a-kind structure that looked like nothing else being built on the coast at the time. In 1994 the resort earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places, a recognition that formalized what generations of Vero Beach visitors already understood: this place is a genuine architectural artifact, not a themed reproduction of one.

Sexton was known locally as something of an eccentric collector, and that habit shaped the resort as much as its unusual construction did. Ship bells, wagon wheels, stained glass, carved wooden figures, and all manner of salvaged curiosities are scattered throughout the property, turning a walk from the lobby to the beach into something closer to a stroll through a private museum. Guests staying at the Driftwood are directly on the sand, with a private boardwalk leading straight from the property to the ocean, which puts it in a different category from inland hotels that require a drive to reach the water. The oceanfront setting alone would justify a stay, but it is the sense of place, the feeling that this specific building could not exist anywhere else, that keeps people coming back for anniversaries, family reunions, and repeat winter visits.

Dining happens on site at Waldo’s Restaurant, an oceanside spot that has become a local institution in its own right, drawing Vero Beach residents as well as hotel guests for lunch, dinner, and a daily happy hour with ocean views. The restaurant’s open-air seating and laid-back atmosphere fit naturally with the resort’s overall character: unpretentious, historic, and deeply tied to the specific stretch of coastline it sits on.

Because the resort is built around a genuinely historic structure, room configurations and amenities are less standardized than what a traveler might expect from a newly built beach hotel, and that is very much part of the appeal for the clientele it attracts. Independent ownership has allowed the property to retain features that a corporate renovation would likely have stripped out decades ago, from the pecky-cypress interiors to the sprawling collection of found objects. For visitors interested in Florida history as much as a beach vacation, the Driftwood offers a rare chance to spend the night inside a piece of Treasure Coast heritage while still getting direct beach access and a well-regarded oceanfront restaurant just steps from the room.