Celebrities Who Have Called Vero Beach and the Space Coast Home
From a Backstreet Boy’s MTV Cribs penthouse to a tennis legend’s Windsor estate, some surprisingly famous names have owned real estate along this stretch of Florida.
When people think about celebrity real estate in Florida, their minds usually go south. Palm Beach. Miami. Maybe Jupiter.
Vero Beach and the Space Coast don’t get quite the same attention.
And apparently, some famous people prefer it that way.
Over the years, this stretch of Florida has attracted Grammy winners, professional athletes, a Backstreet Boy, bestselling authors and some very recognizable names in business. Some grew up here and eventually came home. Others bought oceanfront property after discovering the area later in life.
Then there’s Vanilla Ice. We’ll get to him.
Here are some of the more interesting famous people who have owned real estate in Indian River or Brevard County.
Gloria and Emilio Estefan — Vero Beach
Let’s start with probably the most famous Vero Beach homeowners on the list.
Gloria and Emilio Estefan chose Vero Beach as a retreat from South Florida in the early 2000s, purchasing an oceanfront home here. They didn’t stop at buying a house. Soon afterward, they purchased the Palm Court Hotel and eventually transformed it into Costa d’Este Beach Resort & Spa.
The resort describes Vero as reminding the Estefans of the Florida they remembered from their childhoods — laid-back, surrounded by nature and decidedly different from Miami.
That makes sense to anyone who has watched buyers migrate north along Florida’s east coast. Vero Beach has luxury homes and beautiful beaches, but it doesn’t particularly care if anyone is impressed by them.
The Estefans still have a presence here. In 2024, Vero News reported that the couple had homes in both Miami and Vero Beach.
Howie Dorough — Cape Canaveral
Yes, a Backstreet Boy owned a penthouse in Cape Canaveral.
Howie Dorough purchased a brand-new oceanfront condo there in 2000 for $410,000. The four-bedroom penthouse had wraparound balconies overlooking the Atlantic and, in a very early-2000s claim to fame, appeared on MTV Cribs in 2001.
Twenty-one years after buying it, Dorough put the condo on the market for $1.595 million.
Of all the homes on this list, this may be the one I most wish still had its original MTV Cribs interior intact.
Ivan Lendl — Vero Beach
Former world No. 1 tennis player Ivan Lendl didn’t just buy a vacation property in Vero Beach. He made the area home.
Lendl has lived in Vero Beach since 1996 and eventually built an impressive estate inside Windsor, the private community north of town. The British West Indies-style home had more than 8,400 square feet of air-conditioned living space, eight bedrooms and a resort-style pool overlooking Windsor’s golf course.
He listed the estate for $5.95 million in 2020, but the move wasn’t about leaving Vero. His daughters had grown up, and he wanted to downsize. At the time, Lendl said he spent roughly 75 percent of the year here and had no plans to leave the area.
That might be the best endorsement of Vero Beach on this entire list.
Doug Flutie — Melbourne Beach
Doug Flutie’s Space Coast story is different because Melbourne Beach was home long before he became famous.
The Heisman Trophy winner and longtime professional quarterback spent much of his childhood there. In 2007, he returned and paid $2.1 million for an oceanfront home in Melbourne Beach.
The five-bedroom Key West-style house had a pool, Jacuzzi and both ocean and river views. Locals apparently knew it as the “pineapple house” because pineapple details appeared throughout the property.
There are celebrity vacation homes, and then there are places people come back to because they’re home. Flutie falls firmly into the second category.
Carl Hiaasen — Vero Beach
If you’ve read much Florida fiction, you probably know Carl Hiaasen.
The bestselling novelist and longtime Miami Herald columnist behind books including Hoot and Bad Monkey bought a home in Vero Beach in 2004 for $595,000.
His connection to the area has lasted. He has been identified as a Vero Beach resident for years, which somehow feels appropriate for a writer whose career has been so closely tied to Florida and all of its eccentricities.
Sandy Koufax — Vero Beach
Baseball and Vero Beach used to be almost inseparable.
For decades, the Dodgers held spring training at Dodgertown, bringing generations of baseball legends through town. Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax developed a connection to Vero during that era and later owned property here.
Koufax is one of those names that makes more sense once you understand Vero’s baseball history. Before the Dodgers left for Arizona, seeing players, coaches and baseball royalty around town wasn’t particularly unusual.
Today, that history remains a fascinating part of Vero Beach’s identity.
Khalil Mack — Vero Beach
NFL star Khalil Mack has a much more local connection to the Treasure Coast.
Mack was born in Fort Pierce and attended Fort Pierce Westwood High School before eventually becoming one of the NFL’s top defensive players.
After making it to the NFL, he also put down real estate roots in Vero Beach. Reports show a Vero home purchase in 2014 for $290,000.
Compared with the multimillion-dollar estates professional athletes are known for buying, it’s one of the more understated celebrity real estate purchases on this list.
Very Vero, actually.
Tim Wakefield — Brevard County
Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield never lost his connection to Brevard County.
Wakefield was a Melbourne native, attended Eau Gallie High School and played college baseball at Florida Tech before going on to a long Major League Baseball career that included two World Series championships with Boston.
He and his wife, Stacy, also made their home in Brevard.
Their property later became a noteworthy real estate story of its own. Following the deaths of Tim and Stacy, the home came onto the market and ultimately sold after attracting significant buyer interest.
For local baseball fans, though, Wakefield was always more than a famous homeowner. He was one of Brevard’s own.
Bobby Dall — Melbourne Beach
Here’s one for the ’80s rock fans.
Bobby Dall, bassist for Poison, has longstanding ties to Melbourne Beach, including property ownership in the area.
He’s not the celebrity name most people immediately associate with Brevard County, which is exactly why he belongs on this list.
Because apparently Melbourne Beach has quietly been collecting rock stars and professional athletes while everyone else was looking toward Miami.
The Windsor Connection — Vero Beach
Ivan Lendl isn’t the only notable name associated with Windsor.
The private ocean-to-river community has attracted prominent business leaders and wealthy families for decades. Architectural Digest has noted residents including members of the Swarovski family, Blackstone co-founder Peter G. Peterson and Windsor founders Galen and Hilary Weston, along with Lendl.
Windsor is a good example of why Vero Beach’s luxury market is a little unusual.
There are extremely expensive homes here. There is serious wealth here.
It’s just considerably quieter about it.
And Then There’s Vanilla Ice…
Technically, I’m giving Vanilla Ice an asterisk.
I haven’t found enough evidence to confidently say that Rob Van Winkle personally bought or owned one of the Brevard properties associated with him, so I’m not going to pretend otherwise.
But he definitely left his mark on Melbourne Beach real estate.
His home-renovation series, The Vanilla Ice Project, featured Melbourne Beach properties, bringing his over-the-top renovation style to the Space Coast.
And really, a Vanilla Ice renovation in Melbourne Beach is too good a piece of local real estate trivia to leave out simply because he doesn’t fit neatly into the ownership category.
Consider him our honorary entry.
So Why Here?
That’s the more interesting question.
These are people who, for the most part, could have bought homes just about anywhere.
Certainly, the coastline has something to do with it. But Florida isn’t exactly short on oceanfront property.
What Vero Beach, Melbourne Beach, Cape Canaveral and the surrounding communities offer is a different version of coastal Florida.
There are beautiful homes without quite as much spectacle. Waterfront estates can still feel private. Melbourne Beach retains an unmistakable small-town character. Vero Beach has developed a luxury market that can compete with much better-known Florida destinations while somehow remaining relatively under the radar.
That isn’t going to appeal to everyone.
For the people it does appeal to, that’s exactly the point.
And apparently, a few celebrities figured that out too.