History 

By Cora S. Sadler.

For years during early Sebastian, 1437 US Highway 1 was Mrs. Carlile’s Boarding House.  Most of her boarders were bachelor fishermen who used the outside stairway on the north side of the main house to enter the long “bunk room”.  They took their meals in a building west of the main house which served as kitchen and dining room.  The separation was not uncommon in the south where kitchen fires could be hazardous.

In 1901, when ten-year old Charlie Sembler, his father Ned, and his Aunt Mabel Sembler, all New Yorkers, stepped from Henry Flagler’s train onto Sebastian soil for the first time, it was to Mrs. Carlile’s Boarding House that they were directed.

It wasn’t hard to find and they were welcomed by Mrs. Carlile who found places for the new-comers at the large dining table.

As they politely ate Mrs. Carlile’s southern cooking, they listened to the chatter of the others. Everyone appeared to be friendly and were helpful in suggesting places which might be available to a renter.

As Charlie ate and listened, he had a feeling that he was going to like living in Sebastian.  Little did he know that later he would be sitting in this same spot when his step-grandmother, Sarah Eloise, and his grandfather, Andrew Jackson Sembler, would be acquiring the place and would be operating it until his grandfather’s death in January 1911.

We do not know the date of the house or its builder, but there is in the records a property transaction dated June 1, 1888 between C. H. Hart and Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Carlile.

Following the Sembler’s vacancy, there was a period before Sam and Esther Braswell acquired the house.  For a few years the Braswells had rented it to the Charles Park family and it was there that their youngest son, Carroll, was born in 1919.  Sam and Esther occupied it until they sold it to Guy and Sadie Glasgow.  Guy was assigned to the area as agent for Standard Oil Company.  During the period from 1928 to 1955, the Glasgows made several changes: the outside stairs were replaced by indoor stairs; the breezeway between the buildings was enclosed, and best of all, an indoor bathroom was installed.  Their son, Prentiss, was born there.

In 1955 Glasgow sold to Engleson. Later Shirley Tyler had it as a gift shop.  In 1985 it was bought by Fred and Marilyn Reeves and was continued as a gift shop.

During May 1991 the Adans purchased the property and renovated the building as an office for Dr. Pamela Adan who is a chiropractic physician.  Her husband Orlando was a Sebastian Post Office employee.