Kate's Dream

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We are Rob and Kate Hinchee; you can contact us at rhinchee@uswest.net or call us at home at 801-451-8231.

Kate's Dream is what we call our vacation rental and future retirement home. It is a large single house on an acre waterfront lot on the Gulf of Mexico. It is located in the unincorporated community of Alligator Point in Franklin County Florida, about 45 miles south of Tallahassee. Some people call this area the Panhandle, but it's really the northwest corner of the "Big Bend" part of Florida. This is the least developed and least commercialized area in coastal Florida. Franklin County has about 50 miles of Gulf of Mexico coastline and a population of only about 15,000. Rob grew up in Florida in the 50’s and 60’s and choose this part of the state to buy a vacation/retirement home because it is more like the quiet unspoiled Florida he remembers. When Kate first stayed at the house, her impression was that it was as great as camping (because of the nature and wildlife) except in a house! This really is the place to get away from the usual Florida tourist scene and enjoy a quiet, out of the way, beach front experience.

Alligator Point is easily reached from the northern half or Florida or Georgia. You can fly into most any where in that area. The closest airport is in Tallahassee (45 min drive), but we also sometimes fly into Panama City (2 hr drive), Jacksonville (3 hr drive), Atlanta (5 hr drive), Orlando (5 hr drive), or Tampa (6 hr drive). There is also a small unpaved private landing strip just a 10 minute drive away.

About the house: This is an older livable beach house that has been flooded many times. Don't expect any thing fancy. If you're looking for fancy go to one of Florida's numerous, well know beach resort tourist traps, not Alligator Point. We think it's a fine place to be, and we hope you will. The house began some major remodeling in October 2000, it was done in February 2001. What is described here is mostly the post remodeling house. We have added pictures of the finished inside, but don't yet have pictures showing the outside finished. We will add them when we get them. With the new construction, the house will be about 4000 square feet.

Kate's Dream is an older beach house built on a concrete slab and of cinder block. It's 2 stories and almost 4000 square feet. It is near the end of Alligator Point and what we think is probably the best location on Alligator Point. Kate's Dream was (and still is) one of the pinkest homes you will ever see. The people we bought it from had painted everything pink; the walls, the furniture, even the refrigerators. We are slowly changing that but you will find lots of pink. The house is not ante-bellum, but parts of it are. You will see some impressive woodwork taken from an old ante-bellum mansion that was being torn down when the house was being built. The woodwork has all been painted pink, and its placement in Kate's Dream is best described as interesting. You will see some antiques, like an old crank telephone, ship bell, wicker and bamboo furniture. Please be careful with it. This house is at a low elevation and has been flooded several times by Hurricanes; you will see some of the wear and tear of the water. We think being ground level makes it nice because you are living right on the beach. From the front door it is about 100 feet to the water's edge. Actually water is not very far in any direction, the house is on the Gulf, but the bay, Alligator Harbor, is just across the street to the north, less than 500 feet from the house. So the house is both gulf front and bay view and you can see water out almost every window.

The house has an interesting history; the previous owners were prominent attorneys and avid active supporters of the Democratic Party in South Georgia. We have been told that many former governors of Georgia, including Jimmy Carter have been in the house. We couldn't verify Jimmy's presence in the house, but when we moved in we did find a custom alarm clock signed by Lester Maddox. Thinking of it as a house once visited by Jimmy Carter is something we like although we'd rather not think about Lester. The previous owners are responsible for much of the furnishings and all of the pink color. There are some really nice old wicker pieces, all painted pink, and even an old upright piano, also painted pink. The house has lots and lots of ceiling fans, 18 at last count. Most of these are new and replace the older very nice looking ones that squeaked and shook a lot. The new ones are less elegant, but they are fairly quiet. As we remodel, the house is getting less pink but we will probably never get rid of the pink. It has kind of started to grow on us, and hopefully it will on you as well.