Lecture: Naples Beach Homes – Cottages, Castles, and the Families That Built Them

EVER WONDER ABOUT THE HOMES AND FAMILIES RIGHT ON NAPLES BEACH?

Naples residents Robert and Carole Leher have just published their coffee table book, NAPLES BEACH HOMES: COTTAGES, CASTLES, AND THE FAMILIES THAT BUILT THEM.  The Lehers have spent the past three years talking with homeowners, gathering their stories about living on the beach.

If you have been to Naples, Florida, you may have driven along Gulf Shore Boulevard and Gordon Drive to view the amazingly diverse houses on the beach.  These homes range from the modest single-story cottages built decades ago, to the modern multi-story mansions that tower high above the sand.  Yet these single-family residences all have one thing in common.  Each looks out over the beach to the sparkling Gulf of Mexico, and each property has a story to tell. There are just a limited number of these homes, and families have come from all over the world hoping to own one of these special houses on a beach that spans some four-and-a-half miles from the Naples Beach Hotel and Golf Club on the north to Gordon Pass on the south.

This book invites you to spend some time along the beach in Naples.  On its pages, in both text and photographs, are profiles of many of the homes that overlook the beach today.  It also journeys back in time to explore some of the historic houses that graced the beach in days gone by. But it is more.  Robert and Carole Leher have had the good fortune to talk with many of the families that live on the beach today, as well as those who have lived there in years past.  NAPLES BEACH HOMES: COTTAGES, CASTLES, AND THE FAMILIES THAT BUILT THEM is, therefore, a combination of yesterday and today, infused with the personal stories of the families that call Naples beach their home.

Enhanced by the original artwork of Naples artist Paul Arsenault and highlighted with current and vintage photography, this book offers an overview of beachfront homes and homeowners whose legacies live on in the lore of Naples, Florida.

Now in its third printing, the authors are pleased to announce that all of the net proceeds from the sale of their book will be donated to The Naples Historical Society.