By The Costello-Deitz Group
Palm Beach has been home to some of the most storied private clubs in the country for more than a century. The clubs here are social institutions with deep histories and membership cultures that shape daily life in ways that go well beyond a golf game or a dinner reservation. For buyers considering a home in Palm Beach, understanding the island's country clubs is part of understanding the market itself.
Key Takeaways
The Everglades Club is the oldest and most historically significant private club on Palm Beach Island
The Bath and Tennis Club on South Ocean Boulevard is the island's preeminent beach and social club, drawing from the same era of Gilded Age institution-building
Seminole Golf Club in nearby Juno Beach is widely considered one of the finest private golf courses in the world
The Palm Beach Country Club anchors the island's North End and serves a membership profile distinct from the clubs of the southern island
The Everglades Club
The Everglades Club is the institution most associated with Palm Beach's private social life. Located at 356 Worth Avenue, it was designed by Addison Mizner and is a landmark building that established Mediterranean Revival as Palm Beach's defining architectural language.
The club's facilities span a golf course, tennis courts, multiple dining rooms, and a ballroom that serves as the setting for the island's most significant private social events. Membership is by invitation and carries social weight that few other affiliations on the island can match.
What the Everglades Club Offers Members
A golf course set within the club's 60-acre property near Worth Avenue, offering a rare in-town course experience that puts members at the heart of the island's most active social corridor
Multiple dining rooms and a ballroom whose ceiling opens to the sky, used for private dinners, charitable galas, and the events that define Palm Beach's social season
Tennis courts and a yacht basin that round out an amenity offering designed for the full breadth of island life rather than a single activity
A social infrastructure built over more than a century that connects members to the deepest layer of Palm Beach's private institutional life
The Bath and Tennis Club
The Bath and Tennis Club sits on South Ocean Boulevard in a 1926 building designed by Joseph Urban. The club's oceanfront position is its defining asset: direct Atlantic beach access, a pool, and a setting that makes it the center of Palm Beach's beach social life in ways that no inland club can replicate.
Where the Everglades Club organizes its life around golf and formal dining, the B&T is a beach club at its core. The combination of ocean access, tennis, and a social calendar tied to the rhythms of the island's season gives it a distinct character that draws members alongside, and often in addition to, the Everglades Club.
What the Bath and Tennis Club Offers Members
Direct Atlantic Ocean beach access in a private setting on South Ocean Boulevard, one of the most coveted stretches of Palm Beach coastline
Tennis courts and pool facilities that serve as daily gathering points during the island's season, with a social atmosphere built around the outdoor environment
Dining rooms whose atmosphere reflects the club's beach orientation
A social calendar that anchors the island's spring and fall season openings
Seminole Golf Club
Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach is consistently ranked among the finest private golf courses in the world. The Donald Ross design from 1929, renovated by Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw between 2016 and 2018, plays to 7,265 yards with a slope rating of 144. The course is defined by Ross's elevated, flashed-face bunkers and a strategic complexity that rewards repeated play over years rather than offering itself up on a first round.
The club has no website, no signage, and accepts no visitors. Access is exclusively through member sponsorship. The practice facilities, the course conditioning, and the level of personal service define a standard that has made Seminole a benchmark for serious golfers for nearly a century.
What Seminole Golf Club Offers Members
An 18-hole Donald Ross course renovated to current standards by Coore and Crenshaw, playing 7,265 yards with a slope rating of 144 and widely considered one of the top ten private courses in the world
Practice facilities maintained to match the playing course in conditioning and quality
A clubhouse and dining experience that is refined, understated, and entirely focused on the membership experience
No website, no visitors, no exceptions, and a member sponsorship requirement that reflects the club's private culture
Palm Beach Country Club
The Palm Beach Country Club occupies the island's North End and offers a membership experience that differs meaningfully in character from the more prominent southern island clubs. The club's setting aligns with the North End's quieter residential scale, and its amenities — golf, tennis, and private beach cabana access — serve members who prioritize a less socially intense club environment than the Everglades Club or the Bath and Tennis Club.
The year-round residential base of the North End has grown significantly in recent years, and the club's social programming has expanded accordingly, with events and activities that serve both seasonal and full-time residents throughout the year.
What the Palm Beach Country Club Offers Members
A golf course on the island's North End, offering members a quieter playing experience than the southern island's denser social environment
Private beach cabana access to the Atlantic, a meaningful amenity for North End residents whose club experience centers on the outdoors rather than formal dining rooms
Tennis facilities and a social calendar that have grown to reflect the North End's increasing year-round population
Proximity to the Lake Trail, the island's Intracoastal-side recreational path, that integrates the club into the North End's broader outdoor life
FAQs
How does club membership affect the real estate market in Palm Beach?
Proximity to the island's major clubs is a meaningful factor in how Palm Beach properties are priced. Estates in the Estate Section command premiums that reflect, in part, their adjacency to the Everglades Club and the Bath and Tennis Club's social geography.
Can we apply for club membership independently, or does it require a connection to a current member?
All of Palm Beach's most prominent private clubs require sponsorship by an existing member. Membership is by invitation only, and the process reflects each club's commitment to maintaining the character it has preserved for generations.
Is club membership typically included with a home purchase in Palm Beach?
It depends on the property. Some Palm Beach transactions involve the transfer of club memberships as part of the negotiated terms, particularly for resale properties where the seller holds island club memberships.
Contact The Costello-Deitz Group Today
Understanding Palm Beach's club landscape is part of understanding the island's real estate market at its deepest level. We work with buyers throughout Palm Beach and bring the local knowledge and professional relationships this market requires.
Reach out to us at
The Costello-Deitz Group to begin the conversation about your Palm Beach home search.
