The original Hotel DeFuniak stood on Baldwin Avenue between Tenth and Eleventh Streets. The location is now vacant and is often referred to as the Piggly Wiggly parking lot.
In the 1890s, the hotel was known as the Martin House. At some point in the mid-1900s, it was purchased by Mrs. Ruth L. Bruner and leased to her sister, Mrs. Jewette Moore. Mrs. Bruner and her husband Granger also owned the New Walton Hotel on Circle Drive, which was originally the Hotel Chautauqua.
Attorney James E. (Jim) Moore lived at the hotel while attending Walton High School. Others from southern Walton County also boarded there while attending school because commuting was not practical. One of Jim’s many books includes a novel featuring the hotel.
The hotel was demolished in 1961 or 1962, but parts of it have been utilized in private homes and some of its furnishings can be seen at the Walton County Heritage Museum.
In recent years, the former Lake Hotel at the southeast corner of Nelson Avenue and Eighth Street has been renovated and renamed the Hotel DeFuniak.