Seaside celebrates 31 years

As it ages, the New Urbanism walkable community that was started as an experiment in 1981 is now viewed throughout the world as a model community. Architects and builders come from around the globe to view Robert Davis' dream town. "Seaside is a civilizing force, and (is) reinventing itself as a place for teaching," said the town's original planner, Andres Duany, during a recent tour he led alongside Davis and the town's first architect, Scott Merrill.

Davis noted he had to mortgage six lots to build the first two cottages in this undeveloped stretch of County 30A. "I told the bank I was building a subdivision because they couldn't grasp the concept," he remembers of those early days. He views the end result as "a magical place."

Architectural drawings for the houses were sketched on napkins as the group sat around a table, inspired by houses Davis knew in nearby Grayton Beach. They were to be built on lots that had odd shapes. And while the original cottages were inspired by Grayton Beach, greenspaces in the town such as Ruskin Park were inspired by New Orleans' Jackson Square. Inspirations for the town's row houses, such as the Honeymoon Cottages, came from developments in Charleston.

The grand antebellum-style homes on tree-lined Seaside Avenue were originally meant to be multi-family boarding homes that morphed into a "silk stocking" district instead - "our version of Elm Street," said Davis.

Duany and his wife and partner Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk wrote the guidelines and land plan that stated what the town would look like, its limits, set backs and style. Lots were released for individual sale street by street, with the first streets developed being Tupelo and Savannah, where a 22-foot height limit was established to ensure all houses would have the "old Florida" cottage look. Subsequent streets allowed 30-foot limits, and then 40 feet on the beach.

Building on the beach came later, however, as Davis' vision was for beach access for all the community, which could be found at the south end of each of the original streets. At each access, a pavilion was built to herald the message, "welcome to the beach." Lots sold for $15,000 to $25,000 at the time. Davis' wife, Daryl, started the first Seaside farmers' market on the south side of County 30A, where she sold fresh, home-grown vegetables. Robert augmented her efforts by having shrimp boils and cooking hotdogs. Slowly, but surely, Robert's vision took off, but there were lessons to be learned and changes implemented.

Natural drainage was used in the construction of the streets because it was less expensive, said Duany. But at the second homeowners' meeting ever held, residents expressed a desire for the dirt streets to be paved; the decision was made that bricks should be used instead of asphalt. The use of bricks was one of the few splurges. "Seaside is under-maintained on purpose," Duany said. "'Funky' was a recurring word Robert used. He wanted it to be funky, not polished, with an overlay of sophistication." Part of the funkiness is that every house and street is different. Houses were to be pastel in color - any colors except beige or white. White was reserved for specific buildings.

"In Seaside, every street is worth visiting," said Duany.