community
Rosemary Beach
Rosemary Beach is the planned town at the east end of 30A, a 105-acre grid of rear lanes, boardwalks and dark-stained wood laid out in 1995.
A walkable 30A town in Walton County.
Rosemary Beach was designed in 1995, fifteen years after Seaside and about seven miles east of it, by the same planners, Duany Plater-Zyberk. Patrick Bienvenue led the project for the Rosemary Beach Land Company. The first building was a small carriage house.
What's different here
The planners set out to fix what Seaside lacked. Cars are parked on rear lanes behind the houses, and a network of wooden boardwalks lets you cross town without walking on a street. Instead of Seaside's pastels, the buildings use more masonry and dark-stained wood. That gives the town a look closer to the French Quarter or the West Indies.
Town center
The Town Hall, white stucco with a Dutch West Indies gable, was finished in 1999 and anchors the main green. Shops and restaurants line the square and Main Street around it. 30A runs right through town under a canopy of live oaks.
Nearby
Inlet Beach and the Bay County line are just east, and Alys Beach is the next town west. Rosemary Beach's own site tells the founding story.
Explore nearby
Community in Walton County