LAURA (RIDING) JACKSON HOME

By  Mike Miller December 1, 2025

The Laura (Riding) Jackson Home is located on the Mueller Campus of Indian River State College in Vero Beach, Florida.

This modest 1910 homestead, once the quiet retreat of avant-garde poet Laura (Riding) Jackson, embodies her lifelong quest for truth through language.

Acquired by the Jacksons in the early 1940s amid citrus groves in nearby Wabasso, the home served as their sanctuary for nearly five decades.

Today, under the Laura (Riding) Jackson Preservation Foundation's stewardship, the site fosters writing workshops, poetry festivals, and tours.

It's a testament to Jackson's reclusive yet profound legacy, where simple living amplified her philosophical pursuits.

Laura (Riding) Jackson was born Laura Reichenthal in 1901 in New York City. She rose as a modernist force in poetry in the 1920s and 1930s.

She took the surname “Riding” as an Americanization of her birth name, enclosed in parentheses after her marriage.

She penned over 20 works of poetry, criticism, and fiction. Notable works include The Close Chaplet, Love as Love, Death as Death, and her Collected Poems.

She worked alongside luminaries like her former lover Robert Graves, with whom she had a notorious menage a quatre relationship.

Graves, an English poet and author, is famous for many books like I, Claudius and The Golden Fleece. The two collaborated on many projects.

The film The Laureate (2021) covers their 13-14 year tempestuous relationship. In 1941 Laura (Riding) Jackson renounced poetry after marrying Time magazine critic Schuyler B. Jackson.

She embraced a deliberate, electricity-free existence in Florida to refine her theories on words and meaning.

The home was built earlier, around 1910, by an unknown local pioneer, likely a Cracker settler drawn to the untamed Indian River wilderness.

It exemplifies Florida Cracker folk architecture, a style born of necessity in the subtropical heat.

The home has raised pine floors for airflow, a corrugated metal roof to deflect rain, deep wraparound porches for shade, and expansive windows for natural cross-ventilation.

The 1,400-square-foot frame house was crafted from locally milled Florida pine. The Jacksons later added a north bedroom, bathroom, and indoor plumbing.

They shunned modern power until 1989, relying on kerosene lamps and propane stoves. Jackson died in 1991, Schuyler having preceded her in 1968.

In 1994 the Foundation first relocated the house to the Environmental Learning Center. In 2019 it was moved to its current spot for stability.

It was designated a National Literary Landmark by Friends of Libraries USA on January 22, 1995 for Jackson's contributions to American letters. Its Literary Landmark status ensures enduring recognition.

This distinction, alongside its Florida Literary Map inclusion and American Writers Museum registry, underscores its role as one of Florida's two preserved author residences.

The other belongs to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.

The Laura (Riding) Jackson Home is at 6155 College Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32966, on Indian River State College’s Mueller Campus. It’s west of 58th Avenue, near the Brackett Library.

From November through April, docent-led walk-up tours are held on Tuesdays from 1 PM to 5 PM and the second Sunday monthly from 1 PM to 5 PM.

Summer visits require advance scheduling at (772) 569-6718 because it's closed during hurricane season (May - October).

The pole barn is reservable for events like workshops, meetings, or poetry readings. If it's not reserved, you can use the picnic tables in the barn.

Contact the Foundation via their website for rates and availability. Ample parking and restrooms are on-site. Groups of nine or more should reserve ahead.

Wear comfortable shoes for the gravel paths and native plant garden. Photography is welcome indoors to capture preserved artifacts like Jackson's journals.

LAURA (RIDING) JACKSON HOME WEBSITE

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