Port Royal is one of the most prestigious areas in the world. Nestled into the South end of Naples, Florida, Port Royal boasts luxury, waterfront estates that are home to the world’s top influencers. Renowned for its stunning and lavish displays of wealth, with timeless and elegant architectural styling, this neighborhood has continued to live up to its original and ideal purpose of being an escape for the social elite.
Port Royal was built by visionary John Glen Sample, who once said that Port Royal “is a showplace of casual elegance” in which the homes are a variety of “small jewels” ranging from 3,000 to 12,000 square feet. In the 1940s many of the wealthy, famous, and successful found their way to Palm Beach, however, Sample, a longtime pioneer in radio advertising, looked outward and determined to develop a more exclusive sanctuary for the well-to-do. His mission, as he later told Miami Herald staffer, Nixon Smiley, was “to make Port Royal the finest place in the world to live. And I believe I’m succeeding.”
Many would agree with Sample, and that’s why Port Royal continues to hold a reputation of being luxury in paradise. The Florida locale shares its name with the infamous, 17th Century Jamaican pirate town of Port Royal, even though the modern neighborhood is almost the polar opposite of its swashbuckling namesake. However, Port Royal, Florida, does pay homage to its alleged buccaneer heritage through colorful and themed street names, like, Spyglass Lane, Rum Row, Treasure Lane, and Galleon Drive. Arguably one of the only other similarities to pirate life in Port Royal, Florida, is that many of the waterfront estates are complete with their own private docks that house the yachts, ships and boats of the property owners.
The centerpiece of the Port Royal lifestyle, however, is the exclusive Port Royal Clubhouse that is located on a gulf front strip of beach just across from the entrance to the neighborhood. The Port Royal Clubhouse is open to members only, and membership is reserved primarily for Port Royal property owners. With nine tennis courts, an Olympic sized pool, banquet hall, and formal and informal dining options, The Port Royal Clubhouse is the place where residents celebrate holidays, host guests, or gather for other social events. The antebellum mansion style of the clubhouse includes plantation style verandas and a mix of Southern charm that overlooks the golf course, as well as the club’s croquet court.
Although the massive waterfront estates are what has earned Port Royal its lasting reputation of luxury, the awe-inspiring and world-famous tropical sunsets have helped solidified that this neighborhood is really rooted in paradise, and that the luxurious estates are merely matching beauty of the natural surroundings.