SPACE COAST HISTORY
The diving board had been removed by the time this aerial photo was made, but
the platform remained. The new owners use it as a decorative touch, positioning a
large vase on the top step.
FALL 2022: 19
amount remaining in the treasury, being the magnificent sum
of five cents. However, they are clear of all debt, and have
their club insured for three years.”
James Goodrich died Oct. 10, 1929, at the age of 69, just two
years after building the Florida house. His obituary in the
Hartford Courant noted that he was a former state senator
and head of the Hartford and New York Transportation Co.
and of the Hartford Street Railway Co. His family had settled
in Wethersfield, Connecticut, in the 17th century.
Ella continued to spend winters in Roseland, buying, in 1939,
the old Sebastian Mercantile Co. building on North Main
Street and continuing to enhance the family’s winter home.
“The Waldren Landscape Service is greatly improving the
home of Mrs. James Goodrich,” the paper reported on May
10, 1940. “They are planting shrubs and flowers of all kinds
and building a tennis court and a lily pond. Mrs. Goodrich will
also have palm trees planted on the main streets of town as a
gift to Roseland.”
DOLPHINETTES PRACTICE POOL
Ella also opened her pool to Red Cross water safety classes
in the late 1940s. Students who completed the instruction
included Mildred Carter Bunnell, who later ran the Dolphinettes,
a synchronized swim team that brought national
attention to Vero Beach in the 1950s. The team of girls from
Vero Beach High School performed at the Cypress Gardens
attraction in Winter Haven, swam for a Red Cross benefit in
Vero Beach and appeared on Jack Parr’s late-night TV talk
show in New York City.
An ancient live oak dripping
with Spanish moss gives an
old-Florida look to the property.
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JASON HOOK