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Ever since we have become empty-nesters, my husband Guy has wanted to move to the beach. But he had problem – me! Not only did I not share his desire to move to the beach, I also found most of the offerings in our size and price point to be unacceptable.

Northeast Florida has some amazing beaches and quaint beach communities, but the early development was in the city of Jacksonville and not at the beach. When the beaches became popular, it was mostly considered a weekend getaway. There was a lot of housing construction near the beaches in the 80’s following the completion of a major expressway connecting the beach communities to Jacksonville.

Snowbirds flocking to Florida for warmer weather flew over Jacksonville in search of warmer weather. While there were many weekend getaways and primary homes, there were very few options for second homes along the First Coast. There are a few key differences between a “weekend getaway” house and a “second home”.

Weekend Getaway

A weekend getaway is typically not a house you live in for extended periods, meaning the priorities are different than your average home. When it comes to the beach, location and outdoor living play an outsized role in the buying decision. This might include a large, covered porch or balcony where you could either hear or see the ocean depending on your budget.

Walking distance to the beach is at least as important as the home itself.

Most weekend retreats are only 2 and 3 bedrooms. Cooking when you’re at the beach just isn’t a priority, so kitchens tended to be small. Storage is also less important, so closets are sized only to accommodate a suitcase or two days of clothes.  Walk-in pantries? Forget it. The only food that might remain between visit is a box of cereal. Who needs a garage if you’re only staying a few days at a time? The only storage might be the shed to store your beach chairs or surfboard.

Second Home

Unlike the weekend getaways in Jacksonville, further south in Florida, second homes were being built and marketed to folks up north. These are homes that owners actually live in for extended periods. Thus, the homes have to accommodate more storage in key areas like the kitchen and the bedroom closets. The kitchens themselves also grew in size as residents need to cook more than just ordering pizza or grilling burgers after a day at the beach. 

Many early second home designs included a one or two car garage.

The Quest

For us, the quest for a place near the beach had many twists along the way including the purchase of two non-beach properties. The first was in 2016 when we moved into a smaller single-family home one mile from the office.

But when we built a summer home in upstate South Carolina, the house and pool in Jacksonville became too much. So in 2024, we downsized again to a three story townhome in a charming old neighborhood south of downtown.

Despite these two lovely homes, Guy’s quest continued. When a new home or condo popped up on the market, Guy would rush out to the beach for a preview. If it was halfway decent, I was called in for a visit thinking we could fix this one up! In his search for a charming place at the beach, I saw a lot of unacceptable places or “frogs” as I called them. To offset the frustration, my husband and realtor would often break into song after my visits: “Another One Bites the Dust”.

I finally gave in

Just over 18 months after moving into our San Marco townhome, we found a 3-bedroom, ranch townhome in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.

The home was built in the late 80s but had recently been renovated. It has vaulted ceilings in the kitchen, great room, and primary suite. Recent upgrades included ship lap on the ceiling, luxury vinyl plank floors, a linear electric fireplace, and a large walk-in shower in the primary bath instead of the large tub. The kitchen was remodeled to open to the great room and has new appliances, a black farmhouse sink, and white quartz countertops.

Finally, one with potential! It is three tenths of mile from the beach. I was promised sunrise beach walks!

OverComing Obstacles

While the house was nice enough to convince me to move, it still had many traits of a “weekend getaway” place and remnants of the 80s that we had to overcome to function as a second home. Here was my list of things we needed to add or change.

• More closets in the primary suite.
  
• More kitchen storage since there was no pantry.
  
• Wine/coffee bar
• Seating at the kitchen peninsula (which currently only has a 4” overhang)
• Wet hanging in the laundry room (currently a laundry closet)
  
• Could we live without a garage?

Spoiler alert. We overcame five of the six obstacles. Next week I will detail how.