Just after posting about coal heir Wayne Boich Jr.'s $19 million-and-change purchase of three adjacent waterfront houses in Miami Beach to build his ultimate bachelor pad, we got an email from a P.R. lady announcing Mr. Boich's engagement to a little lady named Cynthia Marin, whom he met in Italy. Looks like it won't be a bachelor pad at all, but a family home.
Now that all the who-married-who gossip is out of the way, let's get to the dirt. Apparently, one of the three homes purchased by Boich and Bride has a proud architectural history according to one commenter on the story. We can't find any images, particularly of the interior, and Google street view shows off a very minimal front facade, but we're dyyyying to find out more. If anybody has any insight, please send it in to the tip line. So far, here's what we know:
One of those houses (4700 N Bay Road) was designed by Jorge Arango, a fine Colombian modernist architect who went to school with Eero Saarinen and IM Pei. He only did four or five houses in Miami, and this might be the best. The house -- "Villa May", as it was built for the heiress of the May Company fortune in the 60s -- is a beauty, a real gem, and has been sitting vacant for at least the past eight years. It will be a real loss to the design culture of the city (such as it is) if the house is torn down... Although, as the house is built out of concrete block and cedar beams, it should take plenty of time and money to reduce it to rubble. Go see it while you can, and, while you're there, shake your fists at the owners who let it fall into its current deplorable condition. - athanasius_kircher. · Coal Mining Heir Blows $20M On Land For Party Palace [Curbed]
Loading comments...