Built in 1924, this historic Tudor Revival family home in Miami's Shorecrest survived almost a hundred years of people moving in and out, neighborhood highs and neighborhood lows, renovations, new kitchens, changing tastes, and whatever the '70s threw at it, always being the kind of house that everyone always says has "charm." Designed to be an old English fantasy that you lived in, it would have had interiors that evoked ye old past just as seductively as its exteriors still do.
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Often called the most beautiful horse race track in the world, Miami's Hialeah Park has had a long and storied history. Famous for its setting, its prestigious races, the many famous horses that won there, and of course the flock of bright pink flamingos that nested in its infield, Hialeah Park was, and still is a legend. Opening for thoroughbred horse racing in 1925, Hialeah Park by now is almost one hundred years old. A faded grand dame that no longer holds thoroughbred racing, but stays alive as much as it can through its newer casino, Hialeah's track, grandstands, clubhouse, and paddock areas all still exist and could easily be brought back to their glory days. Hialeah really comes alive, however, in many vintage newsreels recorded there, some of which are still available online.
Located on just under an acre of land, extremely close to the sweeping Lake Worth views of S. Flagler Drive, but on a leafy and extremely quiet dead-end street, this Balinese compound was built in 1950, yet has been thoroughly updated for contemporary life. Located at 250 Essex Lane, does that updating, along with the obscene excesses of today's real estate market, justify a $22 million price tag, however?
Like a whiny child that hates to share, the Disney Company has abruptly announced they are pulling out of their plan to build a Brightline train station on Disney property. “As many people who are involved in this project are aware, the new route configuration does not support a Disney Springs station and as a result, we don’t anticipate being part of this project," Disney spokesperson Avery Maehrer recently told the Orlando Business Journal. Mr. Maehrer didn't elaborate further, but like any good spokesperson he still managed to say very little and a whole lot at the very same time.
An adorably ancient coral rock house and accompanying guest cottage on Coconut Grove's Oak Avenue, at numbers 3041 and 3041 1/2 practically spitting distance from Main Highway, is the kind of property that could only ever exist in the Grove. Oozing old grove salty sailor vibes from between every stone, the house is historically designated by the City of Miami, making it most certainly not the kind of place one would or even could buy just for the land and "location, location, location" investment potential.
Sometimes a property arises that appears to be the absolute definition of obscenely luxurious decadence, to practically an irresponsible degree. That's one way to describe this rental that recently hit the market at 242 Washington Avenue for an absolutely lavish $21,000 a month, in the heart of South Beach's South-of-Fifth enclave.
In April the owners of the Mai-Kai, the iconic and now-shuttered polynesian themed restaurant in Broward County, unveiled their grand plans to the City of Oakland Park and neighborhood residents for the property, including an enhanced entrance experience and banquet hall, along with necessary repairs to the roof and air conditioning systems, a new kitchen, and restoration of the main dining rooms. A part of the 65-year-old building's roof caved in back in October of 2020, leading to the closure of the Mai-Kai and questions as to the venue's future - a future that is increasingly looking to be in safe hands.
The quaint cottage at 3564 Avocado Ave, in the heart of the South Grove, combines a home originally built in 1936, replete with brick walls, a blue front door, Pecky Cypress paneling, and a gabled roof, along with a breezier section with sliding glass doors and a beamed ceiling that may have been added a few decades later to open out to the pool. Containing four bedrooms and four baths in just under 3,000 square feet, the house feels like a charming melange of old-Miami charm from a few different eras, with a huge price tag that seems appropriate for the maniacal post-pandemic housing market of today. Newly listed at $3.5M, the owners are asking more than twice what the house went for merely four years ago. Check out the photos, below.
Just a few months ago, this 10,000 square foot Palm Beach estate on a sweeping piece of property facing Lake Worth sold for a whopping $55 million, which any sane person might think was an impressive enough price tag, after having been on the market for about five months. But this is how over-the-top the current real estate market is. The house appears to have been almost immediately whallopped back onto the market, with a new listing price of $79 million. If that brash of a flip isn't proof we live in truly bizarre real estate times, than what is?
