Vero Beach Podcast - Meet Your Neighbors. Support Local. ™
Welcome to the Vero Beach Podcast—where we share the stories behind the businesses, makers, and dreamers shaping our community.
Each week, we’ll sit down with local business owners and community leaders to hear their journeys—the highs, the lows, and everything in between. From family-owned shops to bold startups, you’ll get to “meet your neighbors” and discover what makes Vero Beach such a vibrant place to live, work, and visit.
Because when we know the stories, it changes how we shop, connect and care for our community,
Meet Your Neighbors. Support Local. ™
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Vero Beach Podcast - Meet Your Neighbors. Support Local. ™
Coconut Casita - Part 1: From Family Home to Tropical Oasis
Stepping through the doorway of the Coconut Casita feels like entering another world – a tropical sanctuary where every object tells a story and the surrounding "jungle garden" whispers secrets of times past. In this heartfelt conversation with Linda Roberts, we uncover the remarkable journey of how a once "smoky, dingy, and sad" guesthouse transformed into one of Vero Beach's most beloved Airbnb destinations.
Linda shares her fascinating dual identity as both an internationally board certified lactation consultant and doula by day, and a passionate Airbnb host by night. The Coconut Casita wasn't born from a business plan but emerged organically following the passing of Linda's mother, with whom she had spent 15 years cultivating the lush garden from nothing but mud and a few trees. What started as a whim to perhaps host "three or four people" quickly blossomed into something much more meaningful.
What makes the Coconut Casita truly special is its authentic soul. From the Swiss-crafted family table that seated generations to her children's retired surfboards adorning the walls, every element has significance. Linda's approach to hospitality – offering garden tours, local culinary treats, and even occasional botanical cocktails while respecting guests' privacy – has created an environment where travelers from around the world feel instantly at home.
If Vero Beach is in your travel plans, the Coconut Casita might just become your new favorite getaway.
The Vero Beach Podcast & MyVeroBeach.com is presented by Killer Bee Marketing, helping local businesses in Vero Beach reach more customers. Learn more at killerbeemarketing.com
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All right, Well, welcome back to the Vero Beach podcast. I'm Brian and I'm Shawna, and today we're so excited about our guest that's joining us today. Her name is Linda. I didn't catch Linda's last name, Linda. What's your last name? Roberts? Linda Roberts from the Coconut Casita and man, this place is. We're excited to be able to come and interview you, Linda, because we have our own little story. When we first came here Because that was back in what? 2021. 2021. Yeah, and actually we were just looking at the dates it was May 10th and it's May 15th when we're recording this.
Speaker 2:So actually four years ago, this is the day we were leaving. Oh, that was a sad day.
Speaker 1:Now it's a happy day and you're back. Now it's a happy day and you're back Now. We're back, now, we're back, and we live in Bureau, so this is great.
Speaker 3:And we get to know you more.
Speaker 1:So we're excited to be here and learn more about the Coconut Casita. Why don't we just go ahead and start, Linda, and have you just share a little bit about who you are?
Speaker 3:Who I am, I guess. First of all I'm wife, mother of four. I have been in the business and moms for 32 years. I'm an internationally board certified lactation consultant. I'm a doula and a midwife's assistant. So I've had the pleasure and the privilege of helping bring little tiny people into the world and helping moms and babies, and I'm doing that on. That's my day job. So this is my night job.
Speaker 1:Now. We'll probably get into this later, but you've probably had some babies call you from the Airbnb at night too, complaining about problems. No, I'm just joking, I know Airbnb life could be Different kind of baby.
Speaker 2:It's probably good for you to kind of keep it on the download that you're a doula, because if someone's here and they're like my baby won't stop crying, they'll call you out here. Figure out why this baby's crying.
Speaker 1:I have.
Speaker 3:We've had pregnant moms come. We've had pregnant moms come. We've had moms with brand new babies come Sometimes I'll leave out a few of my favorite books, and I've actually done consults for guests. This was always kind of what my secret goal was. It never did come to fruition, but I wanted to turn this into kind of a very quiet, beautiful, garden-like birth center.
Speaker 1:Really.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So, that's on the shelf and we have had people rent it that were planning on having a baby One person. They ended up going past their due date so they couldn't have it here, but they were able to come here and really relax and enjoy those last two.
Speaker 2:They're always going to hold that over that baby too. They're going to be like you could have been born at the Coconut Casita, you stubborn little thing.
Speaker 1:A little romper If nobody here, if anybody listening not nobody here, nobody's here right now. So let's kind of like we're actually sitting in the Coconut Casita right now and it's really cool. If you've never been here, you definitely need a book room. Go to the Airbnb list. You need to check out. Go look at the photos. Right now we're sitting at the table right by the surf table Well, I call it the surf table, but the surfboard is right above the table. I have really good memories of this table too, and you're so nice. You brought us some wine to be able to sit down and just enjoy, and just sit down and have this conversation.
Speaker 1:Like a family it's just like a little family. It's very cool.
Speaker 2:It's one of my favorite places in the whole world because you just walk in and you know you're someplace special. First of all, your decorating style. I've never seen anything like it. It is so beautiful and calming and eclectic and big, huge tropical leaves and vases everywhere, such interesting little Things like I'm looking around right now and your eyes just drawn all over the place because there's so many beautiful things. And that's what I was drawn to the first time we came here. We walked in and all three of us were like wow, it's just special. I love hearing that.
Speaker 3:I love hearing that, and then that's the feeling I want to evoke, and everything around here is from the family. This table my parents actually had made in Switzerland by craftsmen and they had to decide with us three kids when we were all little how many grandkids are they going to have?
Speaker 1:This is just a family gem and a lot of the pieces in here there is.
Speaker 3:There is a soul to them and some love to them, and you're not going to find many that just came from big box stores and some of them are chipped and, you know, retired surfboards from the kids. That is so cool.
Speaker 1:You know, I remember when we came here, I had launched my business full time and it had been about a year since we've been full time doing the business and I knew I needed to take a break. And Shauna was telling me you need to take a break. And so I had a team then which made it possible for me to take that break. And this is where we came, as I wanted to go to a place that could really just unplug, relax. I surprised them with the charcuterie board, which I had no idea it was going to be what it was. I mean, it was beautiful, I think it was like on a big wooden.
Speaker 2:We still talk about that. It was on a wooden board with a banana leaf under it. And we were just so thrilled by that.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And just straight from the yard, and all of everything you put on that charcuterie board was so delicious and well balanced. Yeah, do you still offer that? I do.
Speaker 3:I don't really mention it, but a lot of people that have been here before I will always, happily. I love hosting and I love creating an experience and using things from the yard. Sometimes we'll even do a botanical cocktail setup. Oh, how fun. We'll use our mulberries and I love to use local products. So there's a little cottage bakery called Milk and Honey Bell. That is phenomenal. And so I'll use their bread, or they'll make even little coconut rolls for me.
Speaker 1:Oh, that is cool. So, Linda, tell me, how did you get led to starting this Airbnb?
Speaker 3:It's a kismet story really. So we bought this house I call it the hacienda from an open house because my mother was thinking of moving down. We lived in a little old 1920s house in a gorgeous little neighborhood deep in Vero and it was a little small. And we came to an open house and I remember walking in the driveway and it looked significantly different than it does now and we had two big Great Danes at the time. I thought, oh, if there's a f. And I remember walking in the driveway and it looked significantly different than it does now and we had two big Great Danes at the time. I thought, oh, if there's a fenced yard, we're good to go, this is our place. And we walked through it. We looked and it was this, this guest house.
Speaker 3:That kind of sealed the deal for us and everything was black that you can see, white and shag carpeting and no kitchen. So we got my mom down here. She came and looked at it. She sat down on a couch and the previous owner was like a smoker I think the son lived here. So it was not only smoky and dingy but it was just a little sad and my mom sat on the couch. She said I can't do this. I can't do this at all, but we ended up getting it and she was with us for 15 years, so it was fabulous, and her and I actually did the whole garden.
Speaker 3:There was just mud and some pine trees and some old oaks there was no garden out there before. Oh my goodness, so that's what 20 years can do.
Speaker 2:And listener. Once you see this garden, you're going to be properly shocked.
Speaker 3:I absolutely. Sometimes I just relax and I feel my mom, I feel her presence. So to me doing this as an Airbnb, we literally didn't know what we were going to do. After she passed and she was my best friend and we were the closest. Yeah, on a whim I just said oh, there's this new thing called Airbnb. I'll try it out there. Maybe we'll get three or four people and it just took off. But what I found is that I loved hosting.
Speaker 3:And I loved meeting people from all over the world and creating an experience and it felt like sharing sharing her, sharing her legacy and what we did together.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's beautiful did together.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's beautiful, I will say. You do such a beautiful hybrid form of hosting where you know it's not like a Airbnb where you're there in the house with the guest, but, as opposed to other Airbnbs that we've been to, where you never even meet the host, you make yourself available, which I love, because I realized that not everyone who comes to visit might want to interact, but some people like myself, you know, when I saw that you were offering a garden tour, that was so up my alley and so exciting and I got to actually meet you and talk to you, and I love that you do that, because there's so many times where we stay in an Airbnb and we think I wish I knew the person that's behind this, you know, because it's so interesting to learn about someone's story and now we get to learn even more about it and I love that.
Speaker 3:I really appreciate you saying that, because that's how I feel too. Not everybody wants to meet, so we just make ourselves available if you want to. You know you might see us out watering something, but we actually try and stay very quiet inside. I feel the same way when I go to different short-term rentals or if I go to another place. I want to meet the locals I love it.
Speaker 1:I didn't get to meet you when we first came but, there was some interesting things that happened that I'll be able to maybe rekindle some memories or thoughts. Or you might already know and you might be like all right, I'm already checking everything but we're going to find out. But what's one of your favorite memories from the early days?
Speaker 3:I remember one of the first guests we had was a 90-year-old woman from Switzerland and I think he was 93. And they were the most sprite little elves and they came here and they loved the garden and they would walk through the garden every day, every day. And you know, I got to. I think they stayed for a week and, um, sadly, he, he passed out and so she came running over to our house, so I came running over here, we got him to the hospital, I took him to the pharmacy, I you know, and he was fine, he was good.
Speaker 1:He was good. I was like wow, this is going really dark the other way. This is your favorite memory. The elf guy died here.
Speaker 3:No, but my favorite memory is that they ended up coming back.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's awesome.
Speaker 3:And they wanted us to come visit them. And I just remember their sweet faces and just walking the garden and just telling us how much they just loved being here.
Speaker 1:Oh wow, that is awesome that is so beautiful. Well, I think it would be crazy. I don't know how anybody could leave here and not enjoy being here, because it is just an amazing place.
Speaker 2:Maybe if you hate nature.
Speaker 1:Maybe if you hate nature.
Speaker 2:Then maybe.
Speaker 3:Or Florida critters, Florida critters yeah.
Speaker 1:Because we do.
Speaker 3:That's a good point we have birds and there's all sorts of things out there that are. But I think most people that come, they do come because they're looking for this. We've hosted weddings. We've hosted birthday parties and wedding receptions. And that's beautiful Small ones, tiny, tiny, tiny ones. But my son even. We had his wedding reception here.
Speaker 1:Oh that is so cool.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of love in the garden A lot of love.
Speaker 1:I call it the jungle garden.
Speaker 3:That's what I call it too.
Speaker 2:Every time I describe it, I say it's a jungle garden.
Speaker 1:You didn't get that from Linda. You came up with that on your own, I don't know for sure. I just didn't realize.
Speaker 2:I mean, that's what I've always said, so I must have gotten it from you at some point.
Speaker 3:Maybe, but it kind of is what it looks like. That's what it is, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:So that's how it all got started for you. So I'm excited to get to the next episode and I definitely encourage everybody to stay tuned in. You make sure you click the next episode. You're going to want to share a little bit of how I guess I didn't meet you, but Shauna met you because of something I did. We'll share that a little bit later as well. So with that, well, we're going to go ahead and wrap this episode up and we will See you later, neighbor.
