Charming and Unique Homes of Coral Gables

Monday, February 18, 2013

Spanish Treasure Found in Coral Gables

1509 Garcia Avenue, Coral Gables, Fl 33146 $950,000

www.1509Garcia.com

Just SOLD 1115 Anastasia Av Coral Gables

Sold in January 2013 for $1,050,000

www.1115Anastasia.com

Design Wisdom from the East - Chinese Village Home

5125 Riviera Drive, Coral Gables, Fl 33146 $949,000

www.ChineseVillageHouse.com

Good fortune likely awaits the lucky new owner of this unique, historic work of art in the enigmatic 1920's built Chinese Village, a grouping of 8 Oriental style 2 story homes with bright yellow, blue, red or green glazed ceramic roof tiles, circular ”moon” windows and gates; intricately carved outrigger beams under the eaves extending out from the roof; upturned roof eaves with traditional statues of good luck animals (fu dogs) adorning the roof ridges, decorative lattice work gates, 10 foot tall high-walled courtyard entries, Chinese fret lattice work on gates, balcony railings, balastruades and friezes and multi-paned casement windows (the mullions are actually made of zinc).

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

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Old House Person or New House Person?

Are you an "old house person" or a "new house person"?

6704 Lejeune Rd, Coral Gables

Most people can tell you immediately which type of home they prefer but if there is any doubt take this test and you can probably figure it out;

You are probably an Old House Person if;

1. In general, you revere things which have a past, a history and which have attained dignity through maturity having withstood the "test of time".

2. You feel a connection to objects that are still and quiet but which you sense have a power and a richness, forged in a long ago time by human hands, which can never be duplicated.

3. You feel most comfortable in a space that has been designed in accordance with the concept of "The Golden Mean".

4. In any home you consider you value utility when it is clever and takes advantage of renewable resources like sunlight or thermodynamics or cross ventilation and you abhor the wastefulness of homes with no such cleverness of design.

5. You prefer a home's architectural ornamentation to be more Frank Lloyd Wright than LasVegas

6. You feel that hairline cracks and dents and floors that creak and walls that are not always "true" in an old home are no cause to abandon the place and are as part of the natural order of things as are wrinkles on the face of someone you love.

7. You feel it is a privilege and an honor to carry on a tradition of caring for and loving a worthy structure born of human ingenuity, craftsmanship and knowledge of beauty.

Now, if you are a "New House Person" you:

1. Are like an explorer, happiest when you are the first to have discovered something new that no one else has ever laid claim to.

2. Are not willing to be forever ready to leap into "fix-it mode" and prefer your home to be self-sufficient and not always begging for help.

3. You prefer to live in a space that is a blank slate ready for your imprint and unfettered with the baggage of the past.

4. You must have the very latest, hottest technological innovations in appliances, sound systems, wi-fi, computer, lighting and security systems.

5. You want to enjoy your home not fight with it or try to appease it.

Sometimes and Old House Person and a New House Person are married to each other. This can create problems but sometimes there are homes that offer the perfect marriage of Old and New such as

536 Alhambra Circle, Coral Gables...just listed at $1,236,000.00

www.536Alhambra.com

www.GablesHistoricHomes.com