By Laura Braune Smyer
For fifteen years after its inception, 30A’s quaintly idyllic beach community of Seaside was a little-known secret gem of a vacation spot along Florida’s Emerald Coast. But in 1996, the master-planned New Urbanist beach town hit the big time when it was chosen as the primary location for the filming of Jim Carrey’s next blockbuster, The Truman Show.
Acclaimed Director Peter Weir’s wife told him about Seaside, and he was immediately sold on the location. One of Seaside’s original homes – the perfectly precious yellow and white cottage at 31 Natchez Street – was well on its way to becoming perhaps the most recognizable building in South Walton.
In the film, each morning Jim Carrey steps out from the Seaside home’s vivid green front door and greets his neighbors with one of the movie’s most memorable lines:
“Good morning, and in case I don’t see ya—good afternoon, good evening, and good night!”
The Truman Show Movie Poster
Though many Seaside locations were used in the film (including the also-famous Modica Market), none have become as well-known or sought out as this colorful home on a quiet little street at the edge of this tiny beach town.
Embracing their Seaside getaway’s fame, owners Don and Vicky Gaetz officially dubbed the home “The Truman House,” and proudly display the moniker on the sign outside the gate. They even left the house number from the movie – 36 – fixed above the front door.
Two decades after the homemade Hollywood debut, tourists continue to seek out the Truman House for vacation photos.
So the next time you’re in the neighborhood, feel free to stroll by, pause, wave and say, “Good afternoon, good evening, and good night!”
