HOMES OF THE TREASURE COAST
community of Cleveland “snowbirds” began building winter
cottages within walking distance of the club where they gathered
HOME & DESIGN 36
to dine, swim and socialize.
Winchester Fitch from New York was among the first members
to join the local golf club in 1920 and the first to coin the
name “Riomar,” Spanish for “river to sea.” In 1921, his son,
George Hopper Fitch, penned a song in which he called Riomar
the “Eden of the South,” while his daughter, Dorothy Fitch
Peniston, chronicled her recollections of those early days in the
book An Island in Time.
Sawyer’s first land purchase covered three lots going all the
way from Riomar Drive to Ocean Drive. Here he built his
main residence followed by two more homes to accommodate
the overflow of family and guests. Seven homes in all were
constructed before the little wooden bridge connecting the
mainland to the island was built in 1920. According to Peter
Coveney and Karen Salsgiver, who wrote a book commemorating
the 100-year history of Riomar, many of the original homes
were modest affairs with no kitchens. Viewing the short winter
season as a social event, members took their meals at the club
— an opportunity to catch up on the latest news, share golf
scores and schedule cocktail parties.
Many familiar names played pivotal roles in those early
years: Entrepreneur and visionary Waldo E. Sexton brokered
the 160-acre purchase between Stockel and the East View
Development Company for a price of $5,000; Arthur McKee,
engineer and co-founder of McKee Jungle Gardens (now
McKee Botanical Garden), was the first visitor to occupy the
golf club’s guesthouse in 1920 and former Vero Beach mayor,
Alex MacWilliam, who helped oversee the construction and
management of the golf club, met his wife there in 1920 and
bought a home on Riomar Drive in 1924.
Electricity and water came to the island in 1924, and the
Riomar Country Club was officially chartered in 1925, boasting
the first golf course on the Treasure Coast and the first in
Florida to enjoy ocean views. No one was allowed to purchase
a Riomar lot until becoming a fully-fledged member of the
club, and even then they were carefully vetted, a policy that
remained in effect until 1961.
Today, most of the homes built in the 1920s and 1930s have
been torn down. Yet the charm that continues to attract resi-
DALE MCGEE PHOTOS
The addition of a second story, dormer windows and clapboard siding not
only gave the home the character Dale was looking for but also created a
far more balanced appearance from the street.
dents to the neighborhood is still palpable. Many of the newer
homes, nestled in the hammocks of centuries-old oaks, give a
nod to the architectural styles of a bygone era. And while the
manicured lawns, swaying palms and immaculately trimmed
hedges belie the marshy terrain that first greeted the intrepid
Cleveland pioneers, the essence of a timeless history still permeates
the air.
The Dale McGee waves as she surveys the progress of the 1980 renovation. construction team adds a second story to the 1919 home.