A Grand Lady Remembered: Cocoa’s Brevard Hotel Stood as a Beacon of Elegance for Seven Decades

Brevard Hotel was iconic resort that hosted dignitaries including Vice President Hubert Humphrey

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA — For more than 70 years, the Brevard Hotel stood proudly on the shores of the Indian River Lagoon, a glittering retreat where locals mingled with winter visitors and dignitaries, including Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

Known fondly as “The Grand Old Lady,” the hotel’s legacy remains deeply ingrained in the history of Cocoa, even decades after its demolition.

Built in 1922, the Brevard Hotel rose on a four-acre estate overlooking the lagoon, offering 53 rooms spread across an 18,000-square-foot property. Guests came for rest, relaxation, and the waterfront views that made the Space Coast a quiet jewel long before the rocket age.

By the 1930s, however, the once-promising resort had fallen into disrepair—until a determined family from Chicago brought it back to life. Hartley C. Laycock Sr., a former banker who had weathered the Great Depression, purchased and restored the abandoned hotel.

With community support and funds raised back in Chicago, the renovated Brevard Hotel reopened in December 1934, quickly regaining its reputation as a winter haven.

“This story reminds me a bit of It’s a Wonderful Life,” said Bob Laycock, Hartley’s grandson, in recounting his family’s history with the property.

“George Bailey does all he can to protect his depositors — and then karma kicks in. For my grandfather, rebuilding the Brevard Hotel was that second chance.”

For decades, the hotel flourished. Travel brochures from the 1950s invited “snowbirds” to Cocoa for a season of sunshine, comfort, and Southern charm. Guests paid less than $10 a night, enjoyed continental breakfasts in the lobby, and even received the seventh night free after paying for six.

Catherine Goretsky, who shared photographs of the hotel taken by her husband in 1957, fondly recalled the experience. “The room rates were incredibly low,” she said. “It was simple but beautiful. Those were wonderful days.”

The hotel’s corridors echoed with laughter, music, and even a Betty Crocker radio broadcast that once aired from the property. Families gathered in its lobby, romances bloomed—including the marriage of Laycock’s parents—and generations carried home stories of the elegant retreat on the lagoon.

But the golden era faded. By the early 1960s, the Laycock family sold the property. In the 1990s, financial troubles beset then-owner Tony Ninos, who struggled with back taxes and the cost of maintenance. In 1996, the Brevard Hotel was sold and ultimately torn down, replaced by Oleander Pointe Condominiums.

Although gone, fragments of the building remain. Salvaged pieces were incorporated into other Cocoa structures, ensuring the “Grand Old Lady” still whispers through the town she once helped define.

Today, locals remember the Brevard Hotel not just as a resort but as a gathering place where community, history, and memory converged. From Chicago bankers to vice presidents, from family milestones to childhood adventures, its story reflects both the endurance and fragility of Florida’s architectural treasures.

As the sun sets over the Indian River, those who remember the Brevard Hotel say its spirit lingers still—a testament to an era when elegance met small-town warmth on the Space Coast.

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