We lost a giant recently. A giant who leaves a huge void, but also an overwhelming legacy both for our Vilano Beach rentals and for the entire community.
Vivian Browning passed away on February 16, 2026. Her obituary lists a lot of her accomplishments—but there’s no way that 1000 words could sum up her life. So I’m just going to focus on the way her life (luckily and thankfully) intersected with ours.
Vivian was known as the unofficial “Mayor of Vilano Beach.” You may have seen her car—sporting a license plate that simply read “VILANO”. You may have bought her book—A History of Vilano and North Beaches—to learn more about the history of this lovely spot in Northeast Florida. Vivian had been a history teacher originally—long before she became a Realtor and a state recognized community planner—and she loved Vilano Beach.
You may have even seen the street named after her—Vivian Browning Avenue (it loops around Publix if you want to look for it).
Our Stories
We don’t want to lose the lead in this story—and the lead is that Vivian Browning was an enthusiastic, influential, persistent, strategic, and creative visionary. She had (and will have) a huge impact on Vilano Beach.
But we do want to explain why we are so grateful to her personally.
Our Beachcomber Origin Story
After buying the inn in 2010, we (Mike and Sandy) set some business goals. One of those goals was to offer universal hospitality—we wanted anyone who was coming to St. Augustine to find a lodging option that was perfect for their trip. That meant finding spaces with multiple bedrooms—so that families, friend groups, bachelorette parties, etc could look at Bayfront Marin House and say “This place is perfect for us.” (The inn already had a great reputation as an elegant and romantic spot for couples; lovebirds had been saying “This place is perfect for us” since the inn opened in 2004, hence our focus on larger rentals).
Given Mike’s love of the beach, we also wanted a place near the ocean so guests who wanted an even quieter retreat would have a salt-sprayed option.
Vivian Browning had a house for sale at 40 Beachcomber Way, just a few houses off the beach in Vilano. The houses on each side of the house–50 Beachcomber Way and 30 Beachcomber Way–were both owned by Ms. Browning. “I like to be able to pick my neighbors,” she laughed as she showed us the house. We said we’d talk about it and get back to her–although we already knew the house was a perfect addition to our downtown properties. We knew it would be the best of both worlds.
As we were getting ready to leave the house, Vivian mentioned that she also was selling the two oceanfront houses on the same street–10A and 10B Beachcomber Way. She was a partial owner of the houses, having bought them in the 1970s with a group of friends. She told us the price, which was out of our budget.
But Vivian really wanted us to look at them. To be polite, Mike agreed. Sandy–working remotely for her job in Maryland–said her goodbyes and went back to her office.
Sandy was at the top of the Usina Bridge when Mike called her and said “Turn around.”
Diamond in the Rough (Really Rough)
The houses hadn’t seen real renovations since the 70s, when Vivian and her group of 10 friends bought it. (Vivian later said they had wanted to update the houses but could never all agree on what to do first).
There was paneling. Lots of it. The front house had a red banquette that went around the entire open space. It had one ceiling that had shells in it (like a popcorn ceiling, but with shells).
Worst of all, both houses had windows that had lost their seals–and their view–from constant salt damage. But even through the film of 40 years, we knew the views would be spectacular.
We reiterated our budget dilemma to Vivian. She said “Everyone wants to sell. Maybe I can work something out.”
She did. She negotiated a much lower price and convinced one of the owners to hold part of the mortgage through a personal loan. That sale was written up separately and was recorded with the county. And that’s how we got on Beachfront Bargain Hunt! As you probably know by now, those people looking at houses to “buy” have already bought their house. The new show focused on oceanfront properties with achievable prices–they called and said we would be perfect.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, those renovated rooms became the Royal Palm (an ultra-romantic room with panoramic views), the Dunes Suite (a smaller room with access to a private oceanfront patio), and the Oceanfront Cottage (a two-bedroom house–our only pet friendly “room” at the beach!)
And it’s funny how things work out when you’re dealing with a strategic powerhouse. Vivian still chose her neighbors–but now our house was on the opposite side of hers!
Working the Plan
After renovating the two houses and opening them to our guests a year later, Vivian called us again. She said she wanted to sell the first house that we had looked at (it hadn’t sold during the first listing, so she reached out to us directly). Because we knew it would work as a larger house for families (still working towards that universal hospitality goal!), we quickly said yes.
Since the house had a larger than normal lot, we decided to add private pools to make it truly special. And that’s how the Lagoon Cottage and Saltwater Suite joined the bunch!
Opportunities Just Kept Coming
Vivian didn’t own the house at 21 Beachcomber Way–but she was the listing agent. She called us soon after listing and suggested we look at it. We did, and you know how that story ends. The house she sold us is now the Sandpiper, Atlantic, and Lookout Suites.
Vivian showed us other houses on the street–the one next to 21 Beachcomber, and at least two of the fisherman’s cottages in the part of Beachcomber Way referred to as the pagoda. (If you don’t know what that is, we suggest you read her book!) So we didn’t buy everything she showed us.
But we did always consider her suggestions. Because we knew that she had a vision for the street, and for Vilano Beach as a whole.
We’ll say it one more time: Vivian Browning was an enthusiastic, influential, persistent, strategic, and creative visionary. She had (and will have) a huge impact on Vilano Beach.
Thank you Vivian, RIP.