Little Homes Hold the Biggest Memories…a September post from the Beach
This month we wanted to feature two of our smallest homes, both of which have been owned by the same family for many decades…and both of which the next generation have taken over and completely remodeled to become their own!
Artless Sprite – The Covell family go way back in owing beach homes in Grayton Beach…since the 1940’s! Living in Defuniak Springs, their first beach home was next door to the Butler General Store, which is now the Red Bar. They purchased Artless Sprite in 1972, when it was one of 3 adjacent houses called “The Compound” that were all for sale at the time. Their first addition to the little cottage was an enclosed outdoor shower, which was enjoyed au naturale by the kids over the years…not too many neighbors back then! What is now the bunk room and master bedroom/bath used to be a “dorm” room, sleeping 9 kids – and you can imagine the pranks that went on! From the boys spying on the girls through a hole in the wall between the two original bathrooms, to mimicking lobster screams when boiling the crustaceans on the stove in a big pot, to a wall clock that ran backwards, there are also sweet family memories – a “crater cake” for Dad’s 50th birthday back in 1979 (it wasn’t meant to be a “crater,” but the cake fell – ruining Mom’s baking reputation), a car waiting outside as a 21st birthday surprise for the for the “kid” who currently owns the home…and, the most special of all, naming the home after a poem written by the family patriarch when he was 15 years old after a dream he had in that original beach home next to the old store, back in 1944.
Cottage 62 – Back in the late 1940’s and 1950’s, families came to Old Seagrove to build modest one-story cottages with paddle fans instead of air conditioning. Many of those charming Old Seagrove cottages still exist, as do the dirt roads, the lush oak and magnolia trees and the laidback lifestyle. In 1986, the Lechaton family began a journey along the coast, looking for a place to call home. Papa Lechaton discovered 30A and a beach he called his private swimming pool. At that time, Seaside was just getting started, and the original Seagrove Village Market Café was on the corner of 395 and 30A. Three blocks off 30A, a lot was selling for $14,000 without utilities; for $20,000 utilities were included, and Dad was set to build! Cottage 62 was where Papa Lechaton ended his journey to find paradise and, in 2016, the next generation began theirs.
These two fabulous little bungalows are filled with love and memories…why not come and make your own soon?