536 Alhambra Circle, Coral Gables $1,236,000
Laura Mullaney 305 790-1000
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Just Listed 1924 Ferdinand $875,000
1924 Ferdinand Street, Coral Gables $875,000
3/3, 2600 square feet, 60 ' X 120 ' lot
Laura Mullaney 305 790-1000
Monday, February 18, 2013
Design Wisdom from the East - Chinese Village Home
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| 5125 Riviera Drive, Coral Gables, Fl 33146 $949,000 www.ChineseVillageHouse.com |
The Chinese Village was designed by architect Henry Killam Murphy who was probably the best-known American architect at the time designing in the Chinese style. During the early years of his career he specialized in up-scale residential architecture in Connecticut but changed his focus in 1914 when he made his first of eight trips to China, finding a lifetime fascination for the architecture he found there. His first major commission came from Yale (he was a Yale graduate) which was looking to expand its medical campus in Changsha (Hunan.) Murphy believed that Chinese architectural traditions had a place in the western world and spent a lifetime adapting those motifs to American buildings. One of his most interesting and remarkable legacies is the Chinese Village in Coral Gables. There are many common elements found in each of the 8 residences in the Village yet all are unique. Murphy employed a compound style where each of the houses faces outward towards the street and they are placed densely together for maximum effect. A wall, averaging about ten feet in height, surrounds the compound and is intermittently pierced with Chinese motifs of cast concrete so delicately detailed that they appear to be actual bamboo.
These elaborately detailed houses with their brilliant primary colors accurately reflect the temple or palace architecture of the imperial "Forbidden City" of ancient China. Every detail is imbued with Asian symbolism usually lost on Westerners and based on concepts of Chinese cosmology such as feng shui (geomancy) and Taoism. The use of screen walls to face the main entrance of the house stems from the belief that evil things travel in straight lines. Colors are chosen for their symbolism as well. Red is the most auspicious color and signifies luck, happiness, health and prosperity. Chinese brides wear something red on their wedding day and red lanterns are hung on New Year's Day and weddings. Also, talismans and imagery of good fortune such as "door gods" are displayed on doorways to ward off evil and encourage the flow of good fortune. Which gets us back to the promise of good fortune for the new owner of this serenely magical Chinese/American pagoda. $949,000. www.ChineseVillageHouse.com Laura Mullaney 305 790-1000
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