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Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Comparing Coral Gables and Miami wooden homes

In response to the post, "Let the upheaval continue": 


Another difference between Coral Gables and Miami, is that the photo posted with the letter, shows the historic shotgun homes being preserved in Coral Gables. In Miami, (see photo here above and below of 3859 Washington Avenue and 3603 Charles Avenue in Village West; these are new  "historic resources" of the City of Miami under their experimental highly acclaimed (by their staff, at least) "thematic" "Wood Frame Vernacular Residences of Coconut Grove Village West Multiple Property Designation.


I also provide two additional images from the Historic Preservation staff report recommending designation of buildings for historic resource designation. Both deal with 3447 William Avenue.


The community referred to the two-story residence as the "Bullard House." A review of City Directories, US Federal Census records and Deeds, indicates the Bullard Family lived in the home for multiple decades and owned it since its construction. This is the current house.

The first is from the beginning of the report that focuses on the 3447 William Avenue property as an example of the important “Wood Frame Vernacular Residences” that should be designated. Do read the caption. The other attachment is the page in the report that showed the current photo and the photo that the staff and the Historic and Environmental Preservation Board used to determine if there were significant changes in the structure that disqualified it from designation as an historic resource. Take a careful look at both photos.


Tax Card photo of 3447 William Avenue house.

Guess what? 3447 William Avenue was excluded from historic resource designation, because the Preservation Officer Warren Adams recommended "...removal of the property as the original building had either been extensively altered or the original building had been demolished and replaced with the existing building.”  That is right, after supposedly detailed research to place the building on the List, and using it as a poster child of what needed to be preserved, it was excluded because at the point of final consideration, it was not known if the “...original building had been either extensively altered or the original building had been demolished and replaced with the existing building.” More than a slight lack of due diligence and failure to exercise due care, it would seem. 


(Note that this first 3347 William Avenue, page 13 in the official report in the records of the City of Miami, disappeared in the final report—deleted, and the report (but not the table of contents) re-paginated.

Frank Schnidman
Miami 


(Note; Frank is an attorney representing 16 of the appellants regarding the Wood Houses in Village West)

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6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Coral Gables homes are tastefully preserved and clustered. The Grove ones are just a hodgepodge of "housing stuff" and spread all over. Very poor decision for the Grove.

August 21, 2018 8:57 AM  
Blogger James said...

I'm sorry, but the quest to stop development and make peoples houses historic without their consent in the West Grove is the epitome of "white privilege". The homeowners of north and south Grove have reaped the benefits of increased property values and selling their properties to developers for more than it should probably be worth, but now that it's moving into the West Grove those same homeowners are telling west grove homeowners that "we know what's best, you don't want this development in your neighborhood". Who are we to tell a homeowner that they shouldn't be allowed to sell their property for the highest amount possible? Who are we to designate a property historical without the homeowner's request or consent, when a historical designation could make the house cost prohibitive for them to keep up?

August 21, 2018 3:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You tell ‘em, James. You are so right!

August 21, 2018 6:11 PM  
Anonymous Laura A. said...

This comment "but the quest to stop development and make peoples houses historic without their consent in the West Grove is the epitome of "white privilege" is hilariously funny. Obviously, it was written either by (A) a developer or (B) someone with ties to real estate development. For African-American families who own properties in the Grove, the historic designation will only increase their property value (see examples: San Francisco, Savannah, Key West, etc.). The fact is that the people who oppose these historic designations want to get African-Americans moved out of the community and "gentrify" the neighborhood. Gentrification will mean that there will be no place for lower middle class and middle class African-Americans in the West Grove: that history will be erased by rich WHITE developers and rich Hispanic developers who do not care about the important Bahamian and black history of Coconut Grove. Listen to Arva Moore Parks and get a historical designation for the entire village. This is something that regularly happens in places like Houston and Atlanta. You do not need to be a town-ship. Protesting without real, sustainable action leads to nothing.

August 21, 2018 7:40 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Imagine if change never took place we'd all be living in caves, suffering from mosquito born diseases, urinating and crapping in the streets, crucified on crosses, wearing Crocker sacks, hot in summers, cold in winters and would have to catch our own food, climb coconut trees, and walk a lot. Live in the past, live in the future, you can now have both in the Grove. A lot of people are looking forward to a new exciting Grove. Jobie Steppe

August 22, 2018 3:38 PM  
Blogger Jackson Stewart said...

@Laura A

The grandest 'historic' property in West Grove does not come close to even the most modest properties in those cities you mentioned. Your comparison is like saying old cars should be protected because the SL300 Mercedes is good looking.

August 22, 2018 3:52 PM  

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