| **Financial Instruments and Fair Value Measurements - Additional information (Details) (USD $)** | 9 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended | 24 Months Ended |              |              |              |              | 9 Months Ended |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------|-----------------|-----------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|----------------|
||
| **Financial Instruments And Fair Value Measurements [Line Items]**                               |           |            |            |         |         |         |         |           |   |
| Long term debt                                                                                   | $ 37,832,000   |            |            | $ 36,062,000 | $ 26,404,000 | $ 26,818,000 | $ 29,300,000 |           |   |
| Area of timber land sold                                                                         |           | 132,055         |            |         |         |         |         |           |   |
| Maturity of notes receivables                                                                    |           | 15 years        |            |         |         |         |         |           |   |
| Aggregate amount of notes receivables                                                            |           | 183,300,000     | 183,300,000     |         |         |         |         |           |   |
| Monetized notes receivables                                                                      |           | 183,300,000     | 183,300,000     |         |         |         |         |           |   |
| Monetized note receivable, percentage                                                            |           | 90.00%          | 90.00%          |         |         |         |         |           |   |
| Proceeds from monetized note                                                                     |           |            | 163,000,000     |         |         |         |         |           |   |
| Notes, maturity period                                                                           | 15 years       |            |            |         |         |         |         |           |   |
| Note maturity year                                                                               |           |            |            |         |         |         |         | 2022           | 2024 |
| Retained interest                                                                                | $ 9,600,000    |            |            | $ 9,500,000  |         |         |         |           |   |
| Retained interest, effective interest rate                                                       |           |            |            |         |         |         |         | 3.70%          | 12.40% |

| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Cash Proceeds From Monetized Note
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**joe_CashProceedsFromMonetizedNote**Namespace Prefix:**joe_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**debit**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Discount rate on retained interest.
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**joe_DiscountRateOnRetainedInterest**Namespace Prefix:**joe_**Data Type:**num:percentItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Details**Name:**joe_FinancialInstrumentsAndFairValueMeasurementsLineItems**Namespace Prefix:**joe_**Data Type:**xbrli:stringItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Monetized Note Receivable
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**joe_MonetizedNoteReceivable**Namespace Prefix:**joe_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**debit**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Monetized Note Receivable, Percentage
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**joe_MonetizedNoteReceivablePercentage**Namespace Prefix:**joe_**Data Type:**num:percentItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Notes Maturity Year
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**joe_NotesMaturityYear**Namespace Prefix:**joe_**Data Type:**xbrli:gYearItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Promissory Notes Maturity Period
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**joe_PromissoryNotesMaturityPeriod**Namespace Prefix:**joe_**Data Type:**xbrli:durationItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Retained Interest
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**joe_RetainedInterest**Namespace Prefix:**joe_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**debit**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Timberland Acreage Sales
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**joe_TimberlandAcreageSales**Namespace Prefix:**joe_**Data Type:**xbrli:decimalItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Timber Notes Receivable
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**joe_TimberNotesReceivable**Namespace Prefix:**joe_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**debit**Period Type:**instant |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Timber Notes Receivable Maturity Period
+ References
No definition available.
+ Details**Name:**joe_TimberNotesReceivableMaturityPeriod**Namespace Prefix:**joe_**Data Type:**xbrli:durationItemType**Balance Type:**na**Period Type:**duration |
| X                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| - Definition
Carrying amount of long-term debt, net of unamortized discount or premium, including current and noncurrent amounts. Includes, but not limited to, notes payable, bonds payable, debentures, mortgage loans and commercial paper. Excludes capital lease obligations.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 03 -Paragraph 16 -Article 7Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 210 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.5-02.22) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6877327&loc=d3e13212-122682Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 944 -SubTopic 210 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.7-03.16) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879938&loc=d3e572229-122910Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 942 -SubTopic 210 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.9-03.16) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6876686&loc=d3e534808-122878Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 03 -Paragraph 16 -Article 9Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 02 -Paragraph 20, 22 -Article 5
+ Details**Name:**us-gaap_LongTermDebt**Namespace Prefix:**us-gaap_**Data Type:**xbrli:monetaryItemType**Balance Type:**credit**Period Type:**instant |