Constance D. Hunter Historic Pacetti Hotel Museum
The Pacetti Hotel, located on South Peninsula Drive directly across from the lighthouse, played an important role in the development of both the light station and the Town of Ponce Inlet (formerly known as Pons Park) itself. Commonly referred to as the Pacetti House, Pacetti Hotel, or Pacetti Boarding House; the history of this nineteenth-century structure, the land it sits on, and the lives of those who built, lived in, and frequented it, are inexorably linked to that of the lighthouse, its keepers, and the families who once called the light station home.
In the mid-1860s, Bartola Pacetti constructed a small two-room house for his wife Martha on the north bank of Mosquito Inlet. The idea to turn the small home into a hotel came from an itinerant artist named William Aiken Walker who often camped on the Pacetti’s property. Walker reportedly urged Bartola and Martha to build a hotel that catered to the region’s growing tourist trade, believing the rich fishing grounds less than a stone’s throw from the Pacetti’s front porch would draw sportsmen and tourists in great numbers.
The opportunity to construct the resort finally presented itself when the US Light-House Establishment offered to buy ten acres of land from the Pacetti family for a new light station at Mosquito Inlet. The Pacetti’s sold the acreage to the US Government in 1883 for $400. From the sale of this land, Bartola and Martha Pacetti completed the construction of the Pacetti Hotel. In February, a small work party arrived to begin the construction of the new lighthouse facility. Some of these workers possibly slept in the recently completed hotel, at least until bunkhouses could be built nearby.
Although the $400 earned from the sale of the ten acres proved to be a financial windfall for the Pacetti family, the transaction was not without negative consequences. Bartola and Martha’s son Henry was seriously injured while working as a laborer for the lighthouse construction crew. While moving building materials from the river bank to the work site, a load of bricks fell, pulling on a rope that was wrapped around the young man’s leg. The damage was severe and doctors were forced to amputate the limb. Complications from the procedure eventually cost Henry his life in 1886. Bartola followed his son to the grave in 1898.
The popularity of the Pacetti establishment continued to grow under Martha’s care as news of the wonderful fishing opportunities afforded by the nearby waterways and Mrs. Pacetti’s hospitality spread. By 1900, the hotel had grown to include numerous guest bedrooms, a large kitchen, a parlor, a dining hall, and a sweeping front porch that afforded visitors an unobstructed view of Ponce Inlet and the Halifax and Indian Rivers. Travelers and outdoor enthusiasts from across the country flocked to the world-famous fishing resort, attracted not only by glowing reports of the establishment’s knowledgeable fishing guides but Martha’s reputation as an excellent cook as well.
Martha Pacetti eventually passed away in 1917. Following her death, the popularity of the Pacetti Hotel steadily declined, and the hotel slowly fell into a state of disrepair. Olivia Gamble, daughter of James Gamble, purchased the derelict property in 1936 in memory of her father who loved to visit the Ponce Inlet area. Olivia is credited with saving the historic structure by financing extensive repairs to the hotel that she later used as a guest house for her family and friends.
Cincinnati socialites Carl Louis Nippert and his wife Louise inherited the Pacetti property following Olivia Gamble’s in 1961. Heirs to the Gamble fortune, the Nipperts frequented the Pacetti Hotel on many occasions and were considered warm, welcoming, and well-respected members of the local Ponce Inlet community. In addition to inviting friends to visit the hotel for dinner parties and relaxing stays, the couple also opened their doors to the entire roster of their professional baseball team, the Cincinnati Reds. Town residents were amazed by the parade of famous ballplayers strolling along the quiet tree-lined streets of their seaside community at the end of the team’s annual spring training.
The Preservation Association’s first Executive Director and founding member Ann Caneer served as the property’s caretaker from 1970 until 2010. Ownership of the Pacetti Hotel was transferred to the Greenacres Foundation shortly after Louise Nippert’s death on July 23, 2012. The property remained vacant for the next seven years.
Pacetti Hotel Acquired by the Preservation Association
In September 2019, the Ponce De Leon Inlet Lighthouse Preservation Association was provided the long-awaited opportunity to acquire the historic hotel from the Green Acres Foundation. The Association’s Board of Trustees viewed the purchase of the Pacetti Hotel as a rare once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The acquisition of this cultural site will not only save one of Volusia County’s most endangered historical places but significantly enhance the museum’s ability to interpret the Ponce de Leon Inlet Light Station in more meaningful detail. The closing date for this real estate transaction is October 7, 2019.
The Ponce De Leon Inlet Lighthouse Preservation Association launched an ambitious multi-year plan to restore, preserve, rehabilitate, and develop the Pacetti Hotel into a public museum in 2020. The Association was greatly assisted in this endeavor through a two-million dollar grant from the Paul B. Hunter and Constance D. Hunter Charitable Foundation which agreed to help fund the project in exchange for naming rights for the museum in honor of its founder Constance D. Hunter.
The Constance D. Hunter Historic Pacetti Hotel Museum took more than four years to complete and officially opened to the public in the summer of 2024.