Million-Dollar Trailer Park

Dec. 28, 2005 — -- Briny Breezes, Fla., is a modest patch of paradise -- 488 trailer lots sandwiched between the exclusive mansions, condos and country clubs of Palm Beach.

It is because this is a mobile-home park that Roger Bennett can afford to retire here.

"Well, it's kind of neat when you think of the money they've dropped on their places," he said. "And we've got the same amenities. We've got the beach and the sun."

With its spectacular beach frontage and protected harbor, Briny Breezes residents knew they had something special. Now they're being asked to give it up in exchange for some big bucks.

"Tin-can tourists" -- as they have been called -- have been retiring to Briny Breezes since the 1930s. Ten years ago, you could pick up a trailer home in Briny Breezes for less than $20,000. Now, that property is worth a cool million or so because a developer is offering to buy all 43 acres of Briny Breezes for $500 million.

Bill and Cora Lou Miller have a doublewide on a double lot, which means they'll get $1.46 million. The Millers will sell -- with regret.

"I know everybody down here," Bill Miller said. "You live in a condo, you don't even know the guy living across the hall from you."

At age 82, Paul McCarthy knows he's got a special place here in the sun. He does not want to leave, but he'll almost certainly get outvoted.

"We have our friends here," he said. "We'd be uprooted if we went to other places, and it just wouldn't be the same."

Trailer parks like Briny Breezes are already an endangered species in Florida. Briny Breezes may soon be extinct -- replaced by condo towers and townhouses beyond the reach of even these overnight millionaires.