Driftwood Resort — Vero Beach, Florida

Built in 1935 from salvaged cypress and oceanic materials, the Driftwood Resort stands at 3150 Ocean Drive as Vero Beach's most architecturally singular landmark.

Overview

The Historic Driftwood Resort, located at 3150 Ocean Drive in Vero Beach, Florida, is the city's most architecturally singular landmark and its most internationally recognized structure. Built in 1935 by entrepreneur Waldo E. Sexton (1885–1967), the resort was assembled from cypress logs harvested from swamps near Blue Cypress Lake and from materials salvaged from the ocean and Sexton's far-ranging travels. On August 6, 1994, the structure was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, affirming its standing as one of Florida's architecturally distinctive mid-twentieth-century hospitality properties. The resort operates today as a hybrid hotel and timeshare property on the Vero Beach oceanfront.

Year Built
1935
Driftwood Resort Official Website, 2026
Address
3150 Ocean Drive, Vero Beach, FL
Driftwood Resort Official Website, 2026
NRHP Listed
August 6, 1994
Treasure Coast / National Register, 2026

Origins and Construction

Waldo E. Sexton arrived in Vero Beach in the early twentieth century and became the dominant shaping force in the city's built environment and cultural character. In 1935, Sexton constructed the two buildings that form the Driftwood Inn and Restaurant, drawing on cypress logs sourced from the swampy terrain surrounding Blue Cypress Lake, located approximately 26 miles inland to the west of Vero Beach. As the resort's published history documents, those timbers were paired with materials salvaged from the ocean — driftwood, ship fittings, and miscellaneous artifacts that Sexton gathered personally.

The construction method reflected Sexton's unconventional approach to building. Rather than employing conventional framing techniques, he assembled the inn in a board-and-batten style that incorporated found and salvaged objects directly into the walls, ceilings, and public spaces, as described by Vero Vine in its survey of Florida's historic hotels. The result was a structure that defied easy classification — part folk-art environment, part functioning inn — situated on the barrier island that separates the Indian River Lagoon from the Atlantic Ocean.

Sexton's broader career in Vero Beach encompassed numerous other projects. The Brief History of Waldo Sexton published by the resort documents his construction of the Ocean Grill in 1941 and his involvement in the Patio Restaurant, along with other buildings that gave the Ocean Drive corridor much of its mid-century character. Sexton also co-founded what became McKee Botanical Garden, an 18-acre tropical hammock property that is itself listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Sexton Collection Embedded in the Structure

Among the Driftwood Resort's most documented features is the assemblage of objects Sexton incorporated into the building's physical fabric over the decades of his ownership. Vero Vine and Treasure Coast regional reporting both document a collection of approximately 250 bells sourced from ships, trains, churches, and schools, which Sexton had embedded throughout the resort's architecture. Alongside the bells, the structure incorporates antiques, cannons, mosaics, paintings, and relief sculpture that Sexton gathered during international travels.

This practice of embedding artifacts transformed the Driftwood Inn from a conventional lodging into something closer to a built collection — a quality that has remained central to the property's identity since its opening in 1935. The resort's own published history describes the accumulation of oceanic and international materials as integral to Sexton's original construction concept, not a later addition. By 1991, according to Treasure Coast, the Driftwood Resort was generating over two million dollars annually, a figure that reflects the sustained commercial viability of the property across more than five decades of operation.

Phased Growth of the Complex

The Driftwood Resort did not reach its current form in a single construction campaign. The resort's property history documents several distinct phases of expansion under Sexton's direction. In 1947 — the same year the Brooklyn Dodgers selected the former Vero Beach Naval Air Station as their permanent spring training facility, marking a pivotal moment of postwar growth for the city — Sexton constructed Waldo's Restaurant as an addition to the resort complex. Two years later, in 1949, a row of fishing shacks was relocated onto the property and converted for use as guest rooms, extending the resort's lodging capacity while reinforcing its improvised, vernacular architectural character.

This sequence of building and repurposing — the 1935 inn, the 1947 restaurant, the 1949 fishing-shack guest rooms — produced a layered complex in which the boundaries between original construction and adaptive reuse are deliberately blurred. The approach was consistent with Sexton's documented practice of salvage and assemblage, carried forward from the original cypress-log construction into each subsequent phase of the property's growth.

Driftwood Inn Built
1935
Driftwood Resort Official Website, 2026
Waldo's Restaurant Added
1947
Driftwood Resort Property History, 2026
Fishing Shacks Relocated
1949
Driftwood Resort Property History, 2026

Historic Designation and Civic Significance

The Driftwood Resort's listing on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, completed on August 6, 1994, formalized a recognition that regional observers had long accorded to the property. As U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 data places Vero Beach's population at 16,785, the resort's scale — and its location on Ocean Drive at the heart of the city's barrier-island oceanfront — gives it an outsized presence relative to the city's size.

Waldo E. Sexton, who lived from 1885 to 1967, shaped the Ocean Drive corridor through multiple projects built across several decades, but the Driftwood Inn of 1935 is documented by both the City of Vero Beach Historic Preservation office and the resort's own published history as the keystone of that legacy. The structure's materials — cypress from Blue Cypress Lake swamps, driftwood and salvage from the Atlantic — connect the built landmark directly to the specific geography of the Indian River region, a quality that the National Register designation implicitly acknowledges.

Within the broader context of Vero Beach's mid-century development, the Driftwood Resort occupies a place alongside other Sexton-associated institutions, including McKee Botanical Garden, which Sexton co-founded and which also holds National Register status. Together, these properties reflect a period in the city's history when a single entrepreneur's aesthetic vision left a durable imprint on the physical and cultural landscape of the Treasure Coast.

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2023 https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs Used for: Population (16,785), median age (52.6), median household income ($67,351), median home value ($392,500), median gross rent ($1,197), poverty rate (14.4%), unemployment rate (2.8%), labor force participation (64.2%), educational attainment (20.8%), housing units, owner/renter occupancy rates
  2. The Historic Driftwood Resort — Official Website https://www.verobeachdriftwood.com/ Used for: Driftwood Inn construction date (1935), National Register listing (1994), Waldo Sexton biography, building materials sourced from Blue Cypress Lake swamps
  3. The Historic Driftwood Resort — Property History https://www.verobeachdriftwood.com/index-1.html Used for: Waldo's Restaurant construction (1947), fishing shacks moved to property (1949), phased construction of the Driftwood complex
  4. Brief History of Waldo Sexton — The Driftwood Inn and Resort https://www.verobeachdriftwood.com/images/BriefHistoryofWaldoSexton.pdf Used for: Sexton's role in Vero Beach development, construction of Ocean Grill (1941), Patio Restaurant, other Sexton-associated buildings
  5. Historic Preservation — A Brief History | City of Vero Beach, FL https://www.covb.org/260/Historic-Preservation---A-Brief-History Used for: Town of Vero incorporation (1919), re-incorporation as Vero Beach and creation of Indian River County (1925), WWII Naval Air Station, Brooklyn Dodgers spring training (1947)
  6. About Vero Beach | City of Vero Beach, FL https://www.covb.org/391/About-Vero-Beach Used for: City originally incorporated 1919 as City of Vero; re-incorporated 1925 as City of Vero Beach; transferred from St. Lucie County to Indian River County
  7. City Council | City of Vero Beach, FL https://www.covb.org/283/City-Council Used for: John E. Cotugno serving as Mayor; city council structure
  8. Government | City of Vero Beach, FL https://www.covb.org/27/Government Used for: City Council as legislative branch; council-manager government structure
  9. John Cotugno re-elected as Vero mayor — Vero News http://veronews.com/2025/11/24/john-cotugno-re-elected-as-vero-mayor/ Used for: Cotugno elected to third consecutive one-year mayoral term, November 2025; first elected to council 2021
  10. City of Vero Beach City Council Minutes, November 4, 2025 https://www.covb.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_11042025-1852 Used for: Confirmation of Mayor Cotugno and Vice Mayor Moore in official proceedings
  11. The History of Vero Beach | Indian River Magazine https://indianrivermagazine.com/the-history-of-vero-beach/ Used for: Florida Legislature incorporation June 10, 1919; Piper Aircraft moves to Vero Beach 1961; 17th Street Bridge completed 1979
  12. Never the Same | Indian River Magazine https://indianrivermagazine.com/never-the-same/ Used for: WWII Naval Air Station opened 1942; 2,700 officers and enlisted men stationed; facility closed 1946; Vero Beach Regional Airport as Piper Aircraft hub
  13. Century of Progress | Indian River Magazine https://indianrivermagazine.com/century-of-progress/ Used for: Henry T. Gifford arrived in Vero 1887; incorporation June 10, 1919; centennial context
  14. History of Indian River County | Indian River County Government https://www.indianriver.gov/community/irc_centennial_celebration/history.php Used for: Indian River County officially created June 29, 1925
  15. Vero Beach History Finding Aid | Indian River County Government https://www.indianriver.gov/Document%20Center/Services/Library/Genealogy/FindingAid/verobeachhistory.pdf Used for: Town of Vero incorporated June 1919; name changed to Vero Beach June 1925; Indian River County created same month
  16. Economic Development | Indian River County Chamber of Commerce https://indianrivered.com/ Used for: Piper Aircraft as largest manufacturing employer in Indian River County; approximately 1,500 employees; classification as one of 'Big Three' in general aviation
  17. Piper Careers | Piper Aircraft https://www.piper.com/careers/ Used for: Piper Aircraft worldwide headquarters in Vero Beach; self-described as largest private employer in Indian River County
  18. Piper Aircraft Corporation 'Cherokee' airplane — Florida Memory, State Library and Archives of Florida https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/256045 Used for: Piper Vero Beach Manufacturing Plant dedicated January 8, 1961; Piper Aircraft Development Center founded 1957
  19. Gov. DeSantis awards Vero Beach $11.3M for new wastewater treatment plant — Vero News https://veronews.com/2025/03/26/gov-desantis-awards-vero-beach-11-3m-for-new-wastewater-treatment-plant/ Used for: State grant of $11.3M for wastewater facility; Indian River Lagoon nitrogen/phosphorus reduction goals; facility to serve Vero Beach, Indian River Shores, and unincorporated county areas
  20. Wastewater Facility in Vero Beach to Break Ground in July — ConstructConnect https://www.constructconnect.com/construction-economic-news/wastewater-facility-in-vero-beach-to-break-ground-in-july Used for: One Water Campus facility description; advanced nitrogen and phosphorus removal treatment; reclaimed water for irrigation; Water and Sewer Director Rob Bolton quote
  21. Multimillion dollar beach re-nourishment project underway in Indian River County — CBS12/WPEC https://cbs12.com/news/local/multimillion-dollar-beach-re-nourishment-project-underway-in-indian-river-county-erosion-sea-wall-sand-storm-hurricane-plant-truck-treasure-coast-florida-january-24-2024 Used for: $13 million beach re-nourishment project; 400,000+ tons of sand; 6.5-mile dune restoration; damage from Hurricanes Ian and Nicole
  22. Waldo E. Sexton: The Visionary Who Shaped Vero Beach — Treasure Coast https://treasurecoast.com/waldo-sexton-vero-beach/ Used for: Driftwood Inn added to National Register August 6, 1994; Driftwood Resort generating over $2 million annually by 1991; Sexton artifact collection including antiques, cannons, mosaics, paintings
  23. McKee Botanical Garden | Florida Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture https://dos.fl.gov/cultural/about-us/50th-anniversary-celebration/in-the-spotlight/mckee-botanical-garden/ Used for: McKee Botanical Garden on 18-acre tropical hammock; 10,000 native and tropical plants; one of largest waterlily collections in Florida; cultural enrichment programming
  24. Visit Us — McKee Botanical Garden https://mckeegarden.org/visit-us/ Used for: 18-acre historic jungle landscape; 10,000+ plants; National Register of Historic Places; Florida Heritage Landmark; National Geographic Traveler recognition
  25. Activities In & Around Vero Beach | Costa d'Este Beach Resort & Spa https://www.costadeste.com/resort_experience/verobeach_experience/ Used for: McKee Botanical Garden opened 1932; Vero Beach Theatre Guild first production 1958; Vero Beach Concert Association formed 1966; Riverside Theatre first production 1974 in 615-seat facility
  26. Waldo Sexton: Vero Beach's Eccentric Visionary — Vero Vine https://verovine.com/waldo-sexton-vero-beachs-eccentric-visionary-and-his-menagerie-of-monstrosities/ Used for: Sexton's arrival in Vero Beach; founding of McKee's Jungle Gardens; overview of built legacy
  27. Top 9 Historical Hotels in Florida — Vero Vine https://verovine.com/top-9-historical-hotels-in-florida/ Used for: Collection of 250 bells from ships, trains, churches, and schools embedded in Driftwood architecture; board-and-batten construction; hybrid hotel/timeshare operation
Last updated: May 4, 2026