A Sample of Well-Preserved Miami Art Deco - South Beach

Historic Sites

Feb 17

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, South Beach was mostly coconut farmland, Miami Beach exploded as a beachfront community in the 1920’s. Wealthy entrepreneurs built grand properties and the South Beach neighborhood experienced an architectural boom. Many of the building styles included Art Deco, Nautical Moderne and Streamline Moderne.

Miami Beach became the training ground for the military troops from 1942 to 1945, and many of the Miami Beach hotels became the barracks and the restaurants mess halls.

The once trendy area saw a reduction in popularity in the 1960’s to the 1980’s becoming predominately a retirement village and an unsavory place due to the connection with narcotics trafficking.

The survival of the icon buildings is due to a handful of activists who founded the Miami Design Preservation League and saved the South Beach skyline from becoming blocks and blocks of more high-rise buildings.

South Beach has had a colorful history and today is said to have the highest concentration of Art Deco-style buildings in the world.

Here is what caught my eye, I hope you enjoy!

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The art deco style Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater opened in October of 1958 with a history of guest performers including Frank Sinatra, Jack Benny and Bob Hope.

Paul Miami Beach at 450 Lincoln Road. Lincoln Road was once known as the ‘Fifth Avenue of the South’ in the 1920’s. In 1962, eight blocks of Lincoln Road were repaved and redesigned, creating one of the nation’s first pedestrian-only malls.

Public art in a construction area

The art deco concrete block stucco Ocean Plaza Hotel at 1430 Ocean Drive was built in 1941

South Beach Architectural Photographs: Art Deco to Contemporary

By Clemence, Paul

Greenline Goods Whiskey Glasses - 10 Oz Tumbler Set for Miami lovers, Etched with Miami City Map Old Fashioned Rocks Glass - Set of 2

American Art Deco: Architecture and Regionalism

By Breeze, Carla

The Crescent Hotel was built in 1938

More street art

Candy-colored life guard stations dot the beach all along South Beach

Sitting in Lummus Park looking up at the palm trees and high rise buildings. Lummus Park is located between the Atlantic Ocean and Ocean Drive.

The Penguin Hotel at 1418 Ocean Drive was designed by Henry Hohauser in 1948

The current Club Pulse building was originally the Edgewater Hotel, and it was designed by Roy F. France in 1935.

The Winter Haven Hotel was designed by Albert Anis and opened in 1939 on Ocean Drive overlooking Lummus Park, the beach and ocean.

At 1320 Ocean Drive is The Cavalier Hotel, built in 1936 and designed by Roy F. France.

The Cardozo Hotel was built in 1939 and was named after Benjamin Cardozo, one of the first Jewish jurors appointed to the US Supreme Court. The hotel was designed by Henry Hohauser and since 1992 has been owned by Gloria and Emilio Estefan.

The Leslie Hotel at 1244 Ocean Drive was was designed by Albert Anis. The hotel was built in 1937 and originally called The Edsinger.

The mansion at 1116 Ocean Drive is the former home of designer Gianni Versace from 1992 until his murder here in 1997. The mansion commissioned in 1930 for philanthropist, architect, author and Standard Oil heir Alden Freeman and was modeled after the oldest house in the western hemisphere, the ‘Alcazar de Colon’ built in 1510 in Santo Domingo. When Freeman died in 1937, the mansion was purchased and turned into a 30-unit apartment building. Versace went through a 3-year renovation of the the 23,462-square-foot property at a cost of $32 million. Today, Casa Casuarina is a luxury resort owned by the Nakash family, founders of the Jordache clothing brand.

The outdoor Pool+Patio area of the The Clevelander Hotel, designed by Albert Anis and built in 1938.

Originally opened as a hotel in 1939, The Carlyle is now a condominium building located at 1250 Ocean Drive. The building played the role of the gay nightclub in the movie ‘The Birdcage’.

What you should know:

There are walking trail through Lummis Park and you can also walk the beach.
Public restrooms are available.
You could spend a couple of hours to a couple of days here.
Parking can be difficult. Parking garages and on the street parking is available, check posted parking regulations signs.
There are many restaurant and entertainment options.
There are Citibike bicycle rentals.
Grab a seat on the wall separating the sand from Ocean Drive as the sun sets and the neon signs light up.