The Pink House, historically known as the Walter Brown House or the Pinky's Brown House, is a historic house and landmark at 201 Ocean Avenue, Melbourne Beach, Florida, United States.Thurwachter, Mary. "Stately old home, newfangled comfort", The Palm Beach Post, July 6, 2008, page 5H .Aumick, Amy. "Port d'Hiver offers up French hospitality", Orlando Sentinel, May 14, 2017, page 62.White, George. "Melbourne Beach offers historic home tour", Florida Today, March 3, 2004, page 6G.
History Built in 1916 by Neffie S. Long on land originally owned by the Melbourne Beach Improvement Company.The Walter Brown House historical marker, Melbourne Beach Historical Site.The Pink House historical marker, found in the house, of unknown origin. Florence Peel purchased it in 1922. In 1925, it became the winter home of Walter Brown and his wife Ella Belle, who named the house "Port d'Hiver" (Port of Winter)."Historic Buildings", Town of Melbourne Beach website. Accessed April 6, 2021. The Brown's summered in Vermont. The population of Melbourne Beach in 1910 was 30 people and a water wheel power plant was installed in 1915 at the beginning of Ocean Avenue.Thomas, Frank J. Early Days in Melbourne Beach 1888~1928, Jett Press, Cocoa Beach, Florida, 1968, pages 10 and 20. The house was sturdy with cypress shingles.Blackwood, Dianne. "The Boom Days" from Melbourne Beach: The First 125 Years by Frank J. Thomas, 1983, 2008, page 33. .Conway, Terry. "Port D'Hiver, a local treasure of Melbourne Beach", See the South website. Accessed April 4, 2021. Walter Brown served as a cavalry instructor at the Kentucky Military Institute, which had its cantonment in Eau Gallie. Later, Brown became a relator working at the Brown House Hotel on New Haven Avenue in downtown Melbourne.
As the area developed, the house served as a hotel across from the Melbourne Beach Casino, which became a focal point for the town, and was used as the petty officers club for the Naval Air Station Melbourne during World War II.Huke, Rena. "The 1930's and 1940s" from Melbourne Beach: The First 125 Years by Frank J. Thomas, 1983, 2008, page 39. .Thomas, Frank. Images of America: Melbourne Beach and Indialantic, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, South Carolina, 1999, page 119. . The casino was built in 1924 on site of the town bathhouse.Thomas, Frank J. Early Days in Melbourne Beach 1888~1928, page 14. In December 1925, at the intersection of Ocean Avenue and Atlantic Street, where the house is located, was site of the first recorded motor vehicle accident in the area as two Ford Model Ts collided.Thomas, Frank J. Melbourne Beach: memoirs from coastal Florida, The History Press, Charleston, South Carolina, 2006, page 39. . The intersection was also the site of the town's second stop sign and at the time, and the road (now Florida State Road A1A) turned into a sand trail two blocks to the south.
The house was also a law office, frat house for Florida Institute of Technology and an antique shop.Beacham, Frank. "Dig the Old? A Haggler? You're Here!", Florida Today, June 29, 1972, page 14A.
After four years of renovations, it reopened on December 6, 2007 as part of the Port D'Hiver Bed and Breakfast. The renovations also included the old "Carriage House", which was formerly an art studio, as well as the addition of two new buildings on the property.Datzman, Ken. "Years in the works, the Rydsons' historic Port D'Hiver Bed and Breakfast to open soon on Ocean Avenue in Melbourne Beach", Brevard Business News, volume 25, number 44, October 29, 2007, page 10. The four buildings are in the Key West style, after the Marquesa Hotel. The Walter Brown House is the centerpiece of the renovated complex.Sonnenberg, Maria. "Couple transforms old house", Florida Today, February 14, 2007, page 3B. The pink house is one of the remaining landmarks of early Melbourne Beach.Hagood, Kathy. "Walking tour strolls through historic Melbourne Beach", Florida Today, March 6, 2004, pages 1F-2F.Picket, Lynn. "Tour showcases historic beachside homes", Florida Today, December 2, 2007, page 4E.
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Websites The Pink House – Circa 1916.