The Little Beach Town That Changed the World

Nearly 45 years ago, a visionary couple launched a community along a stretch of Florida coast where they'd inherited some land. That development-Seaside-spawned sister developments at Rosemary and Alys beaches and launched New Urbanism as a design movement that has swept the coast from the Lowcountry to the Olympic Peninsula. As Alys Beach celebrates its 20th anniversary and Seaside looks to its 45th in 2026, TRACEY MINKIN checks in with the movement's founders and inheritors as those dreams turn the corner to the future

- TRACEY MINKIN

Seaside home design brings neighbors together outside and allows breezes in. Opposite: Decorative beach access leads to sand and sea.

"Seaside is an idea.' Daryl Davis’s words echo in my mind as I head toward the beach. My portal to the sand—an arch cut into a stark-white wooden obelisk—frames the horizon. I pass through and descend broad, shallow steps to a ribbon of sand as white as the tower. Just beyond spreads the Gulf of Mexico—its gentle, knee-high waves catching the sparkle of the low sun along their crests. I shed my sandals to join the barefoot sunset-watchers who gather to sip wine from insulated tumblers, hoist toddlers onto shoulders, pose in family ranks for photos. We linger, all of us aglow in the golden hour, to take in this idyll. This idea.

New Urbanism pleasures: In Seaside, boutiques like Cabana by The Seaside Style (top) and restaurants like Bud & Alley's (right) are planned to be within easy walking or biking distance; in Rosemary Beach, intimate pathways between homes (above) encourage neighborly interaction. Opposite: Seaside's architecturally rich commercial buildings, including a proud little post office, serve locals and tourists.

Because as Daryl Davis—who founded Seaside with her husband, Robert—has said to me, what began as an idea about 45 years ago remains one today: I think of the town center. I’ve just ambled through: a crescent of colorful storefronts embracing a town green; a line of vintage Airstream trailers serving up barbecue and seafood, green juices, and boozy bushwhackers. A colony of tiny boutique shacks proffering tunics and chunky necklaces. And everywhere, folks adorning sweatshirts, tees, and hats in sun-bleached pastels with the word SEASIDE.