As soon as it was possible after acquiring the property, the Ellsworths dug a yacht basin on the adjacent Intracoastal Waterway, on the land side of US Highway 17. They built a small cottage between the highway and yacht basin so they could be close both to the wealthy people on the waterway and the potentially larger numbers of people driving down the main road from New York to Miami. (The idea of capitalizing on the highway also motivated Jack Nelson who built the El Rancho Motel, once featured in "Life" Magazine, about south.) Ken and Ginny cut roads, layered them with coquina (a local mix of sand and fossilized shells), and looked for residents.