Light on a Hill

With its three stories, sweeping verandas and iconic, octagonal turret, Sunbright Manor is one of the most emblematic buildings in Walton County.

It’s a link to another era when DeFuniak Springs was little more than train tracks, magnolia groves and the secluded site of the Florida Chautauqua Winter Assembly, an initiative that gathered artists, entertainers and educators dedicated to enlightening rural America.

The Chautauqua cultural movement inspired merchant James T. Sherman and his wife Abigail to construct their Victorian home over four years beginning in 1886. The Shermans, who hailed from Broadhead, Wisconsin, made Sunbright their winter refuge and regularly attended Chautauqua retreats, but it wasn’t until the house changed hands that the manor gained widespread notoriety.

Sydney J. Catts acquired the manor in 1924. He was a lawyer and Baptist preacher and an early Florida governor. His was an audacious campaign slogan, according to DeFuniak Springs resident and history buff Diane Pickett. “There are only two things you can trust: The Lord Jesus Christ and Sydney J. Catts,” the candidate boasted.

Sunbright became the first home in Walton County to be equipped with indoor plumbing. For the governor, an outhouse was not acceptable.

Catts lived there with his wife, Alice, until his death in 1936. The ensuing decades would see a series of owners. Its current owner, Patrick O’Neill, would discover that the years have not been kind to the structure.

New Life For Old Bones

Afternoon light casts a warm glow over the Magnolia Suite, named for the flowering groves that historically dotted the grounds at Sunbright Manor. The room, which sleeps two and features Southern-inspired floral decor in warm tones of cream and pink, is ideal for a couple’s retreat. Photo by Mike Fender

O’Neill personally never intended to take on the massive job of turning a century-old mansion into a fully functional bed and breakfast. In recent years, he devoted his time and construction expertise to building Twin Lakes Camp Resort in DeFuniak Springs.

With the resort well established, O’Neill presented a list of possible next projects to his family and his resort business partners, David and Heather Campbell.

Sunbright was the clear winner.

“My wife is native to the area,” O’Neill said. “Her dad moved here in the ’40s and worked on boats with the Destins and the Marlers. My wife had always loved Sunbright, so it had her vote and everyone else’s. When David and Heather agreed to manage the inn, I said, ‘OK, I’m gonna go with the providence here, and we’ll see where it leads us.’”

O’Neill hired an expert on Victorian home renovation, Paul Rushing of Rushing Construction. Rushing’s father renovated historic homes in DeFuniak’s Circle Drive Historic District for 50 years and taught Paul the tools of the trade. Rushing was tasked with renovating the inn and its interior; O’Neill would handle everything outside of it.

As it turned out, the team was up against a lot.

“There was rot,” O’Neill said. “The biggest problem we encountered was the foundation. We thought we would be in and out of here in six months, but it took us four times longer than we thought and cost us four times as much.”

In reimagining Sunbright Manor as an inn, the O’Neills have incorporated designs that are true to its original features. Sweeping verandas wrap the three-story home, which surrounds an iconic octagonal turret. Photo by Mike Fender

As O’Neill describes it, Sunbright was “sinking.” Beams had rotted, and bricks supporting the home were soft and crumbling. The crew ended up leveling then lifting the home, pouring a new footer and then installing a new, rebar-and-concrete stem wall slab foundation and top plate.

In the walls, studs were replaced and laminate beams were added for additional strength. The crew made quick work of the water-damaged parapet and leaning turret, which, over the last century, had been slowly disintegrating.

Sunbright suffered a fire sometime in the 1930s. Trusses and shingles, long charred, were replaced.

Outside, it was a family affair.

“My kids and I labored together at Sunbright daily,” O’Neill said. “We fixed the underground water storage areas, which were the size of three swimming pools, for stormwater retention. We devoted a summer to laying pavers, building fences, installing utilities and irrigation, and adding plants and other landscape features, including the iron gate out front.”

A big part of the vision, O’Neill said, was marrying history with modernity.

“The present is as important as the past,” he said. “We wanted to keep its function as an inn with all the comforts and amenities — WiFi, air conditioning, soundproof rooms — but keep it looking the same as it always has. That’s why our slogan is, ‘The rest is history.’”

Rooms That Celebrate The Past

The Loblolly Suite, with its deep greens and rich golds, gives a nod to Walton County’s history as a center of pine resin harvesting and logging activity. Photo by Mike Fender

With a fresh coat of sunny, yellow paint on the outside, Sunbright Inn opened last November.

Eight bedrooms, each equipped with bathrooms and outfitted with era-appropriate wallpaper sourced from the United Kingdom, represent facets of Walton County’s heritage.

The first-floor parlor contains a history wall lined with antiques and original objects from Sunbright, as well as a reading room that O’Neill has stocked with leather-bound Harvard Classics. 

Near it is the Governor’s Suite, which with its king and antique queen bed, comfortably sleeps up to four. The room features donated items from Catts’ grandchildren, a claw foot tub and the home’s original brick chimney, which is complemented by rich burgundy, gold and cream interiors.

The neighboring Magnolia Suite features a chic and Southern floral rococo wallpaper. It sleeps two, and its pink, gold and ivory accents are ideal for a romantic getaway.

The first floor’s third room pays homage to the county’s rich logging history. Affectionately dubbed the Loblolly, this room also accommodates two guests, and its green and gold damask wallpaper and paneled wainscoting mimics sleeping beneath the stars in a Florida pine forest. 

O’Neill’s favorite feature of the home, its four-tabbed Chautauqua windows, are just up the stairs. Formerly stained glass, the windows are now clear. They are believed to have represented the four pillars of the Chautauqua movement: Art, Religion, Recreation and Education.

On the second floor, the Queen Anne is what O’Neill calls a “curtsy to the classic styles found in a Queen Anne house.” It is bathed in blue, gold and ivory, and is equipped with a king bed, private balcony and turret view.

The neighboring room, the Walton, is a nod to the county’s namesake, Colonel George Walton. The black and silver-hued room presents information about Walton and has porch access, a claw foot tub and a walk-in glass shower.

A family of four might occupy the L&N Suite, which pays tribute to the Louisiana Nashville railroad and historic train depot in DeFuniak Springs.

Sunbright’s large Chautauqua Suite is one of two third-story rooms. It houses two of the home’s prototypical, tabbed windows and contains two separate bedrooms that sleep a total of four. Its elegant navy, gold and ivory wallpaper recalls the Chautauqua movement’s original headquarters in New York.

The Library Suite pays homage to the DeFuniak Springs Library, which has been in continuous operation longer than any other library in the state. A clawfoot tub and chinoiserie-style wallpaper complement the classic design. A turret sitting room affords guests Sunbright Inn’s best views. Photo by Mike Fender

The Library turret room features a king bed and sitting area. Celebrating the DeFuniak Library, the oldest in all of Florida, the space features a large, plush couch, wood fireplace mantle and open-room tub. A Bible stand from the 1860s has been placed in the turret. On it, an antique Bible illustrated with hand-drawn paintings is open to Matthew 5:14-16 and the “city on a hill” scripture.

“It says the light in a house gives light to all,” O’Neill said. “And that’s what this whole project has led to, if I had to give it a purpose. It’s a renovation that fits with what’s happening in DeFuniak, starting with a new foundation and finishing with a spiritual meaning.”

O’Neill said one of his goals as a builder is to do it right — and to do it right the first time.

“Sunbright is done right,” he said. “It hopes to last another 137 years.”