A Shell House Like No Other off Pine Island FL

Remember the Shell Chic Cottage in Austin Texas? Emily, the owner, incorporated shells everywhere, inside and outside her home, except for the exterior walls..., then I saw the Shell House on Pam's blog I Love Shelling!


Pam who lives on Sanibel island had posted a few pictures from a recent drive by via boat. The shell house sits on Demere Key, a private little island off Pine Island just north of Ft. Myers, FL. It is covered from head to toe with ancient whelk shells from mounds created by the Calusa Indians, a Native American tribe that populated the area more than 2,000 years ago.


Over 100 shell mounds in varying sizes, from small refuse heaps to large islands, are said to exist off the coast of Southwest Florida. But only one man as far as we know has created a master piece of a shell house.


That man is Phil Demere who originally built the shell house to be a winter resort in the late 1950's or very early 1960's. And coincidence has it that another Pam who blogs at Small Serendipities had done some extensive digging through old books and newspapers last year and shared what she learned about Demere's House of Shells.

Related Posts:
Seashell Covered
It's Called Coquillage
A Shell Chic Cottage in Austin Texas

Share