SEA RANCH LAKES

A short history of Sea Ranch Lakes

Between 1926 and 1929, the plot of beachfront land was known as the "Ausherman Tract" (named after C.C. Ausherman, who was the first president of Fort Lauderdale's Realty Board), and was first owned by realtor Lovick Miller wanted to sell the oceanfront property north of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, who bought that land in 1926, before the Great Depression. Around 1928 or 1929, he sold it to another Fort Lauderdale pioneer, John Lochrie. Soon after, Lochrie wanted to sell the area, and Miller suggested Robert Hayes Gore (R.H. Gore) as a potential buyer.

R.H. Gore, who purchased Fort Lauderdale News in 1929, and by 1930, owned 32 properties that were mostly in Downtown Fort Lauderdale, initially had no interest in buying the land because it was too far north from his house, businesses, and other downtown properties. He later decided to have ownership of the land because the price went down to $25,000 during the Great Depression and Miller convinced Gore that he could make at least $100,000 on the land once the economy boomed again.

The first structure built on the 45 acres (18 ha) with 1,800 feet (549 m) of seashore, where Gore and his family opened the Sea Ranch Cabana Club in 1939. It was a membership organization that later became a public seaside club that offered 20 cabanas with individual dressing rooms and other amenities, and it also had a dining room with a bar overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The Sea Ranch Hotel was built the next year, in 1940, and was remodeled in 1949, with more than 60 rooms, a bar named Hayloft, additional dining areas, and a stable where guests could ride.

In 1956, the walled, residential, gated community underwent development. Its lots are bordered by the Intracoastal Waterway and encircling two lakes. The residential area, where Gore eventually ended up living in, was part of his original purchase before buying and expanding the village borders.

The Village of Sea Ranch Lakes was named after the oceanside "Sea Ranch" Hotel, which was across from North Ocean Drive, the gated community's main, public road. The "Lakes" part was added because of the residential village's two artificial, freshwater lakes. The private road leading into the village's entrance is Gatehouse Drive (named after the guardhouse that mimics a gatehouse, which in actuality is their own police station).

The village's namesake, the Sea Ranch Hotel, closed in the early 1980s when the property was sold, demolished, and replaced by the Sea Ranch Lakes Condominiums.

Adapted (trimmed) from the Wikipedia article Sea Ranch Lakes, Florida, revision 1374699395 by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.