More Hidden Treasures
Rediscovering the city’s small-scale vintage buildings
As Coral Gables continues to define itself as a modern metropolis, residents and visitors alike can opt to look away from their iPhones (temporarily of course) to see the city in real time and at ground level… from the trenches, so to speak. What you’ll find as you stroll (rather than troll) our streets and neighborhoods is a notable coalescence of architectural styles from the 1920s to the 2020s — a century-long “unity of opposites” that embraces both a remembrance of things past as well as an acceptance of things to come. The view is of a built environment where the mix is the message, and the streetscapes are full of surprises.
In this follow-up to our previous story about the city’s overlooked “little treasures,” we’ve made some new discoveries, in the process identifying more historical sites that are hidden in plain sight. As one of only a few cities in the world to have been purposely planned and supervised since its inception, Coral Gables today may even qualify as a UNESCO World Heritage Site — a significant honorific to the visionaries who made Coral Gables not only architecturally distinctive, but also experientially groundbreaking.
More Little Treasures in the City Beautiful
2731, 2733 & 2735 Ponce de Leon Blvd
These three contiguous buildings were erected in 1924, a year of prodigious construction throughout the burgeoning city. As the defining element of the Arts & Crafts Section of Coral Gables, the series of low-rise buildings surrounding today’s Ponce Circle Park followed the European concept of street-level shops whose occupants lived on the floor above — an early and perhaps more civilized precursor of today’s live/work environments. While undergoing conversion to commercial use in the intervening years, these buildings retain their original scale and character.
2745 Ponce de Leon Boulevard
Adjacent to the trio of buildings at 2731, 2733, and 2735 Ponce, the two-story structure at 2745 Ponce, built in 1926, aligns with the vertical mass of its neighbors, creating a homogeneous streetscape. Architecturally, these were, and are, good neighbors. Today repurposed for commercial use, 2745 Ponce looks up to its surrounding modern towers but thankfully manages to hold its own.
133 Sevilla Avenue
As Ponce de Leon Boulevard gently curves eastward onto Sevilla Avenue, one more 1926 building appears as a kind of historic capstone to Merrick’s unfulfilled vision for this area of Coral Gables. Derailed by both the 1926 hurricane and the 1929 Depression, the Arts & Crafts Section was never fully realized. All the more reason to stop, look, and appreciate what remains of those remarkable first days.
Coco Plum Woman’s Club, 1375 Sunset Drive
Founded in 1912, the club was incorporated in 1916, and, in 1926, a Mediterranean Revival clubhouse was designed by Howard & Early and built by Knight Construction Company for $75,000. The elegantly restrained exterior conceals opulent interior details and event spaces. The clubhouse is locally designated and was listed on The National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Hotel Ponce de Leon, 1721 Ponce de Leon Boulevard
Constructed in 1923, this three-story building was the second hotel rising on Ponce de Leon Boulevard. Operating as both an apartment house and a hotel over the decades, this simple structure is one of the last remaining 1920s commercial buildings in the city center. Vintage architectural details remain on the exterior structure, while the interior has been extensively remodeled.
268-270 Alhambra Circle
This mixed-use structure typifies the formative character and scale of the city’s downtown district. Designed in 1926 by H. George Fink, it exemplifies a City Beautiful ideal of combining commercial and residential spaces within a single building. The 1953/54 City Directory lists the clothier “Stow on The Wold” as the retail occupant, which remained in place until 1995.
The Horse Fountain, 1200 Ponce de Leon Boulevard
This one-of-a-kind sculpture was imported from Italy in 1973 through community and civic fundraising efforts, then installed at its present location in the city’s North Ponce Garden District. The classically inspired fountain sits peacefully in a small triangular greenspace adjoining one of our signature north-south thoroughfares. As such, it is often overlooked… but it should not be underestimated.
Our extant “little treasures” can and should remind us of the depth and breadth of the Gables’ original Master Plan, and what it took to envision and subsequently create a new city at the dawn of a new century. From its grand hotels and private palazzos to its European-inspired public plazas and modest homes, offices, and storefronts, Coral Gables was not only making news — it was making history.
Story written by Bruce Fitzgerald and Karelia Martinez Carbonell, president of the Historic Preservation Association of Coral Gables. Photos by Vicki Cerda.