Having already been sliced from its foundations, hoisted up onto rollers, and rotated 90 degrees, the historic Mediterranean Revival manse at 27 Star Island Drive was moved today from one side of its lot to another, a distance of maybe one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet. Like that other, ill-fated Star Island house, 27 was originally designed by Walter DeGarmo, Florida's first registered architect, in the 1920s, but that's where most of the similarities end. Desiring a new home, 42 Star's owners fought for over a year to demolish it, while at 27 Star, they (just?) moved it out of the way.
Along with its garage and service outbuilding, which was added by DeGarmo a few years after the main house, 27 Star was subject to a number of much less sensitive additions and alterations over the following years. Now, all of the newer stuff has been stripped away, and the house has been rotated and moved to the front of the lot, where it will be attached to the garage and restored as closely (well, as closely as a house that has been rotated 90% and given updated interiors can look) to its original appearance. In its final form, it will be the guesthouse to the much, much larger main house which will be built at the rear of the site.
· 27 Star Island Drive coverage [Curbed Miami]
· How to move a mansion: Star Island DeGarmo house is getting a new home [Miami Herald]
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