The American Architect
Vol. CXV
Wednesday, June 11, 1919
Number 2268
An Italian House at Miami, Florida
Gordon E. Mayer, Architect
FOR many years, Northern men of wealth have sought and found locations in the South where they have built pretentious houses set in spacious grounds. Here, during the rigorous months of the Northern winters, they have found health and recreation amidst the most luxurious surroundings.
The house of Charles L. Briggs, of Haverhill, Mass., located at Miami, Florida, and illustrated in this issue, presents an excellent example of the type of house referred to. Its location is on a lot approximately 200 x 700 feet, and as indicating the highly restricted nature of its neighborhood it may
be mentioned that this lot and those of this tract are sold at as high a price as $30,000 for a hundred feet frontage.
The architect states that on receiving the commission, a primitive dense jungle or “hammock” covered the entire site. In order to facilitate the determination of the contours of the property, and to avoid the destruction of natural features of the landscape effects it might be desired to retain, paths were cut through the jungle with machete and axe. Later, when the landscape effects were under consideration, the various paths and roads were all laid out so as to retain as far as possible the fine old tree
Copyright, 1919, The Architectural & Building Press (Inc.)
VIEW FROM NORTHEAST