Lavender house, also known as Hermann V. Von Holst House is a private residence on the U.S…read more National Register of Historic Places in the historic old Floresta neighborhood in Boca Raton. It is located on 875 Alamanda Street. The neighborhood the house is in was initially designed by Addison Mizner but he went broke in 1926. Chicago Prairie School architect Hermann V. Von Holst along with partners purchased the development and he finished building the houses. Lavender House was the residence Holst built for himself. He went on to serve on the Boca Raton City Council from 1934 to 1948 and the planning board from 1940 to 1953. Although you can't tour this house it's worth driving through this beautiful historic neighborhood. It looks like the current owners embrace the history of their home as it is beautifully kept. They occasionally post pictures of the interior on their Facebook page dedicated to the home.

The first bridge built across the Boca Raton Inlet was a wooden bridge with pilings that had an…read moreopening for watercraft. It opened electrically, but had to be closed manually by the bridge tender from 1942 to 1964, Haven Ashe. At low tide the remnants of some pilings are still visible. It was replaced in 1964 with a modern bascule bridge. Today the Boca Raton Inlet Bascule Bridge carries traffic from A1A north across the inlet. It is one of only four bridges in the United States with the Hanover skew design also known as a knee girder bascule. The Boca Raton Inlet Bridge extends 540 feet in length. It was designed by Hardesty and Hanover consulting engineers of New York. Their design allowed the bridge to cross the inlet at a sharp 45 degree angle. The Hanover skew design allows for even load distribution over a shorter span using a single leaf instead of the more expensive double leaf, swing bridge, and retractable drawbridge designs. If you have ever driven across the Boca Raton Bascule Bridge you will notice the sharp incline that takes you up to a beautiful view of the inlet. If you were to walk over the bridge you would notice the jagged pivot point on the deck. It was a lot of fun to drive over it on a gorgeous afternoon as we took a trip up the coast in a convertible.

Just off Lake Boca Raton on the Boca Raton Inlet, the Boca Raton Inlet Bascule Bridge carries state…read moreRoute A1A traffic north across the inlet. This bridge has a restricted opening schedule and opens each quarter-hour from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on demand at all other times. The bridge has a 23-foot closed vertical clearance with 45 feet of horizontal space at the center span. We took it recently as we took a nice drive up A1A....The bridge's southern point intersects El Camino Real , which brings you to many of the nice businesses in Boca Raton. Mariners are advised to proceed through the Boca Raton Inlet only if they posses prior local knowledge of the area. Despite dredging, the inlet is quite dynamic and continually shoaling. Depending on the schedule, the bridge can be opened by horn signal (one long, one short) or by hailing the bridge tender on VHF Channel 09.

I walked by this building under re-construction and was curious about it. So did some research…read more Here's the background. Pompano Beach's rich cultural heritage dates back to 1908, and is the second oldest city in Broward County. Over the decades, there have been countless historic buildings demolished and replaced with new construction. While new development is essential for a community's success, the history of a community contributes greatly to its personality. Historic preservation provides a link to the roots of the community and its people. Overall, historic preservation adds to the quality of life, making for a more livable community. The McNab House and garage preservation initiative is an important part of saving Pompano Beach's history. The effort to save the McNab House and garage from demolition was driven by the Pompano Beach Historical Society with strong support from the McNab Family and numerous stakeholders in Pompano Beach. The vision for the entire park is to create a state-of-the-art botanical garden with Floridian, tropical landscaping, plants, and water features throughout the site; an open-air event lawn; a separate event facility/building for indoor and/or covered weddings and private events; a commercial kitchen annex building to serve the historic home-turned-restaurant. The redeveloped McNab Botanical Gardens will accommodate not only casual and fine dining, but also art exhibits, educational seminars, small music concerts, and much more. A children's garden and a potential book or gift shop may also be part of the project. While the concept calls for private operators for the restaurant, café, and potential wine bar in the basement, the Garden itself will remain open to the public during business hours and be operated by a professional park operator in cooperation with the Master Operator. On April 16th, 2019, the CRA Board voted to preserve the existing McNab House built in 1926 and gave staff direction to relocate the house to McNab Park (2250 E. Atlantic Blvd.) within the East CRA boundary. The house was moved on March 1st, 2020. The McNab House will be refurbished to provide space for a restaurant. Can't wait until it opens :)

I would love to live in a historic home that has a name. This house was built in 1926 is located in…read morethe historic neighborhood of Old Floresta in Boca Raton. It is one of the 29 homes Addison Mizner designed in the Mediterranean Revival style with stucco walls, wrought iron balconies, and barrel tile roofs. The contractor went bankrupt before the neighborhood was completed and the project was finished by Herman Von Holst and his investors. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 24, 1992. It was the home of Fred C. Aiken who was a film producer and mayor of Boca Raton until 1938. The house has spiral staircases, Moorish columns, wood floors, a Spanish clay roof, and plastered kitchen walls. The outside has arched columns and stucco walls. I love the architecture design of Addison Mizner. You can see his work throughout Boca Raton. This house is a private residence so you can't tour it, you can only view it from the outside. This is one of my favorite homes in one of my favorite neighborhoods.

The Raulerson House is the oldest standing home in Boca Raton. It is a Boca Raton designated…read morehistoric site. The two story home is 1,911 square feet and it was built in 1905. It used to sit on Palmetto Park Blvd where a shopping center now sits and it was moved to it's current location. The house is named for Boca pioneers Bert and Annie Raulerson who came to the area in 1903. They built the home and grew oranges and worked in a fruit packing house. When they constructed the house a lot of windows added to keep it cool since there was no air conditioning. The house also sits on pilings to keep air moving underneath it and to prevent rot. Wood used to build homes in this time period were pecky cypress and Dade county pine. Another nice feature of the home is a beautiful front porch. Diane DeMarco restored it when she was the owner. Diane has served as president of the Delray Beach Historical Preservation Board and as a member of the Boca Raton Historical Preservation Board. In 2010 the Boca Raton children's museum had hoped to acquire the house from its owner Robert Muller to add next to their other historic buildings, Singing Pines and the Arvida Cottage. The deal fell through and the museum ended up building a replica of Boca Raton's oldest home, Thomas Moore Rickards house instead. This home is privately owned so you can not tour the inside but it is part of the tour on the geotourist app put together by the Boca Raton Historical Society.

This unique "castle" began as a concrete block house that was built in the 1920's. The coral rock…read moreon the outside and the spires were added later -- in the 1970's. In 1985, the City of Fort Lauderdale listed it as a possible candidate for historic preservation; However, it wasn't until 2022 (after the current owner purchased the property) that the City commission gave it landmark status. The miniature "castle" is located in the Tarpon River neighborhood on the banks of the New River. To the west of the property is the tiniest city park you'll ever see. A small buffer area where the ground is covered with small stones. You wouldn't know it was even an "official" park except for the Parks & Recreation sign. Two City employees were taking measurements of it when we stopped by to see the "castle". Along the River, there is dockage for four large boats. The property has a lovely tree shaded area with stone lions and seating. Per Zillow, it's two lots together with a total area is just under 18.000 square feet. The "castle" itself is only a one-bedroom, one bath house with just under 900 square feet. There is a fence around the property, but you can see over and through it; and when we visited you could walk just inside the open part of the fence even though there were construction workers right next to it. It still is private property so you must be respectful. It's not technically open to the public. So glad we got to see Fort Lauderdale's only "castle".

I love to explore the history of south Florida. There are so many grand houses and buildings from…read morethe 1920's during Florida's land boom years before hurricanes and the Great Depression robbed many of their fortunes. One such 1920s beauty is the 1924 Curci House built by Frank and Rosina Curci, a pioneer family who came to the area in 1907 with their three small children. The house is located in the city of Hallandale which has four heritage and one historic site. The family struggled when they arrived at SW 5th Avenue and West Dixie Highway but they put in work and became prosperous from farming tomatoes and fruit and later on they opened a construction business. The Curci's eventually had eleven children and Mr. Curci spoke five languages and was an accomplished musician. "Villa Providence" was the couples dream home which they built on their eleven acre property. It was constructed from concrete filled terra cotta block walls with termite impervious Dade pine floors. They added Cuban tile details can be found throughout the house and there is glass from Italy imbedded in the outside stucco finish. The house was so well built that it was able to withstand the Great Hurricane of 1926 when it served as a refuge for many in the community. The family remained in their home until the 1950's. The home is listed on the Hallandale website as being open on the first Saturday of every month between 11am and 4pm but they have shut it down to tours since the pandemic and never bothered to reopen although it appears that it can be rented for private events. There is a huge fence surrounding the property so for now you can only view the home from the street. It is such a disappointment to see it closed. Nearby Hollywood reopened their historic Hammerstein House and Hallandale should consider doing the same.

The first bridge to cross over the Intracoastal in Deerfield Beach was built in 1917. Before that…read moreyou either had to cross the Intracoastal by boat or swim it. The bridge was a revolving structure with a wooden floor that was opened by a hand crank. The bridge could turn parallel to shore to allow boats to pass. The first bridge tender was a man named Payette and he was succeeded Roosevelt family and then Jones family. The J.D. Butler Bridge is a bascule bridge built in 1957 but paid for with 1953 bond issue. The bridge is named in honor of Deerfield Beach pioneer, James D. Butler who came to Florida with his wife Alice Butler. The couple married in 1906 in Texas and came to visit a relative in Florida in 1910 and ended up staying. James had made money by owning a small grocery store. Later when he moved to Deerfield Beach he farmed green beans. In 1957 Mr. Butler attended the dedication of the bridge along with U.S. representative Paul G. Rogers. The bridge was built at a cost of $730, 673 and was completed ahead of schedule. At 444 feet it was the longest, widest, and highest bridge in Broward County when it opened. Today you can walk and drive across the bridge but if you have a bike there are signs posted to please walk it across the bridge. The bridge is at the base of Sullivan Park and there is a set of stairs in the park that take you to the top of the bridge where you can take in a stunning view of the intracoastal below.