Choosing the Perfect Family Home in Vero Beach

Children can grow up anywhere, and they are everywhere—a fact that could not be more obvious. But do you pick a place to live, or does it pick you?

A Unique Childhood in the Jungle

Veroite Edie Bradshaw grew up in a family of children born to missionary parents. She and her siblings travelled deep inside the interiors of South American jungles with the whole family flying from outpost to outpost in an airplane her father built entirely by hand. That’s a sure way to build religious faith and marital trust, I’m thinking. No surprise that this unique childhood odysey shaped her into a capable and level-headed woman.

Conventional Choices in Vero Beach

But for the more conventional set in Vero Beach, what are the home choices, and how best to choose? First, as quaintly charming as finding the ideal nest sounds, it may take more than one attempt to find it.

Multiple Homes, Multiple Experiences

My children lived in five Vero homes while growing up, and like Edie’s storied childhood, their experiences changed dramatically with each landing.

Starting at Central Beach

Our starting point was quiet Central Beach, where everything was within easy reach. Pushing a stroller to the boardwalk with a baby and two toddlers, flanked by Jack Russells and periodically a parrot — described my new mother maiden family voyages. We probably qualified for a parade permit! Central Beach offers an elementary school within its footprint and almost everything else a family looking for shared fun could access by bike. There are timeless, original homes with warm souls that would instantly become a cherished part of family history, as well as some excellent new construction.

Central Beach Neighborhood Character

Homes with riverfront views, others an easy walk to the Ocean Drive District — Vero’s stunning and still original version of Florida’s take on Hamptons-esque charm. The Central Beach neighborhood is a mixed-age demographic that likely still leans toward retirement age despite the many family amenities. This is true in other neighborhoods as well, that are not as perfectly located.

Moving On After Growing Family Needs

My Central Beach story ended after my third child arrived, as three children in one of two bedrooms did not bring joy for very long. However, joy still beckoned with our next house — it was the third house built in the new magical wonder of Windsor. Again, more evidence of and such a tribute to the rare place we are living, that Windsor would happen here and become part of Vero’s fabric. It had architecture and horses — two of our sustaining passions — so supporting the Westons and Kents' new venture took no coaxing. We were probably the only homeowners with a mortgage there, yet we could not have been made to feel more welcome.

Life in Windsor

It would take me an hour to recount everything in Windsor designed to bring joy, but being the only full time resident family presented challenges too. My daughter rode the school bus to a public magnet school as a way to balance out her unfolding experiences of privilege: being picked up and conveyed by helicopters landing on our polo field to watch the neighbor’s horse win a race at Gulfstream... being invited to Newport in summer and not being able to drive in traffic because the Clintons were neighbors there AGAIN. We had Astors, rock stars, and tennis greats as neighbors, and the kids lined up with Hapsburg lineage children at the club for buffets. I watched them circle back for caviar, which mine would not touch, even with my cajoling.

I bumped into George Stephanopoulos while hauling my trash out to the auto court one morning, and we chatted about Lady Di before her tragic death. Maybe I was in pajamas? These moments seemed everyday then. In the eight years we were there, it was our magical playground, and we enjoyed importing other Vero children when none of the Windsor worldwide children were there to play. My children met many people from every nameable lofty station in life — and learned early on that people were all the same and to be at ease and mannerly in anyone’s presence. Their flying-in-the-jungle lessons for life.

South of Beachland Blvd: River and Ocean Living

Leaving Windsor with older middle schoolers after polo ended there, I headed south of the Beachland Blvd border with my brood. We rented a house on Tulip Lane on the river, and my boys delighted in exploring it by canoe. They became lastingly concerned early on with the health of our estuary waters, witnessing firsthand the pollutants that seeped in after a hard rainfall from the then-utilized septic systems (which have since been replaced with STEP systems). Then we pushed further south to Porpoise Point, leasing on an ocean-side access street. The children they met there remain one son’s lifetime friends, as well as a cherished business partner.

Porpoise Point Adventures

Porpoise was an easy, safe distance to school at St. Edward's, and the sidewalks became the boys' highways to adventures I’m sure I will never hear about completely — until I’m too old to grasp their reckless nature (for sure it wasn’t my kids putting duct tape across A1A or skateboarding off the roof into the pool — Officer, where did you get this information?).

The Moorings: A Perfect Place

Our last Vero outpost was on Reef Road in the Moorings, a place we were able to purchase after Jean and Frances swept through, doing double beach house damage. The Moorings, in many ways, is perfect for everyone. I’ve tried to figure out why, and the best that I could come up with is that it was founded on the concept of providing deep water davits. This attracted serious boating people — and boat people are just fun people who tend not to sweat the small stuff. We were welcomed there with our three small farm dogs — other people had four! We were home.

Riverside Castaway Cove: The Best Neighborhood for Kids

Today, all of these places still invite families, but the uncontested winner of the best kids’ neighborhood with homes over three bedrooms remains Riverside Castaway Cove. They have it all — LA-level Halloween night block parties, new family get-togethers, and an epic level of youngsters — one Castaway had 60 at last count. Castaway comes as close to offering the easy, carefree childhood experience as possible, given the day and age we live in.

A Scene from the Past, Alive Today

Confirmation of that: A few days ago, I drove through the gates and was immediately embraced by the deep, cool shade of canopy oaks and mature landscaping. Everything I sensed told me this was the place to be now. I turned onto our family’s street, and it sparkled with dappled sunshine, alive with many little ones — 3-5-year-olds, my granddaughters included — and not an anxious parent in sight. Seeing me, they turned away laughing as hard as they could and ran up the street in front of me, linking arms, escorting me along in the cutest Red Rover line ever. It was a scene cut from the 1960s, recaptured in 2025— a rarity, yet still possible, in Vero Beach.

The Beauty of Carefree Childhood

It’s a beautiful thing—the carefree, happy freedom of childhood. It does so much for the lucky adults who can feel hopeful and restored by taking in the sight again!

Final Thoughts on Choosing Your Vero Family Home

So now you are armed with enough information to better plot your Vero family life and home choices. The family home can be a handmade aircraft skimming jungle treetops, or if you find that you’ve landed in Vero for now, there’s an almost infinite variation on the residence theme here for your choosing. One thing I can promise everyone is there are no bad choices here, and if my experience counts for anything, maybe there are too many great ones!

To see the best properties on the market for families this week, click here.