The Glenn H. Curtiss Mansion and Gardens is a historic home located at 500 Deer Run in Miami Springs,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and open to the public as an event space or for private tours by prior arrangement. It is located at the northern edge of

Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the greater Miami metropolitan area with over 1,000 daily flights to 167 domestic and international destinations, including most c ...

History

Designed in the

Pueblo Revival The Pueblo Revival style or Santa Fe style is a regional architectural style of the Southwestern United States, which draws its inspiration from Santa Fe de Nuevo México's traditional Pueblo architecture, the Spanish missions, and Territor ...

style, the mansion was constructed in 1925 by aviation pioneer Glenn Hammond Curtiss, developer of the Cities of

Hialeah Hialeah ( ; ) is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. With a population of 223,109 as of the 2020 census, Hialeah is the sixth-largest city in Florida. It is the second largest city by population in the Miami metropolitan area, whi ...

and

Opa-locka, Florida Opa-locka is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,463, up from 15,219 in 2010. The city was developed by Glenn Curtiss. Developed based on a ''One Thousand and One Nights'' theme, Op ...

, as well as Miami Springs. Curtiss lived at the large, two-story residence with his wife, Lena Curtiss, until his death in 1930. Mrs. Curtiss referred to the mansion as "Dar-Err-Aha," which means "House of Happiness." The mansion was the largest of Pueblo themed houses built by the Curtiss-Wright Company in its development of

Country Club A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offe ...

Estates in Miami Springs. The house features a central patio that faces the eastern perimeter of the golf course. The landscaped estate consisted of over , with a small lake on the east side of the property. Curtiss brought many species of water birds to the lake, including

flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbea ...

s and swans. Together with the adjacent property, it formed a complex. After Curtiss's death in the early 1930s, Lena Curtiss married an old friend and business associate of her husband, H. Sayre Wheeler. Wheeler served as mayor of Miami Springs from 1942 to 1944, and was also part owner of the Michaels and Wheeler Insurance Company. The couple lived in the house until the late 1940s. The estate was sold in the mid-1950s and became the world-renowned Miami Springs Villas. It was sold to Forte Hotels, International, Inc. in the late 1970s and is currently owned by the city of Miami Springs. Since 1998, the Pueblo Revival-style Mansion has been the property of the City of Miami Springs, and the not-for-profit all volunteer Curtiss Mansion, Inc. was formed to restore and operate this historic home. Designated a Miami Springs historic site in 1987, the mansion was added to the NRHP on December 21, 2001.

Architecture

Its architect, Martin L. Hampton, was one of

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

's most prominent

architects An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

during the 1920s—his designs include the former Miami Beach City Hall and the Congress Building in downtown Miami. The house is roughly V-shaped in plan and constructed of hollow

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

tile with a rough textured stucco exterior. The roof is flat with very irregular parapet walls embellished by projecting waterspouts and irregular shaped openings. The main entrance to the residence is set within a deeply recessed T-shaped opening and marked by a flat-roofed porte cochere. At the south end of the lake is an arbor and barbecue grill. The grill was constructed of oolitic

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

(coral rock), which was a by-product of digging the lake.

Restoration

Beginning in the late 1970s, the house was subject to

vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The term ...

and a number of fires. In 1998, a public/private partnership of Curtiss Mansion, Inc. (CMI), along with the State of Florida Division of Historical Resources, Miami-Dade County, Miami-Dade County Commissioner Rebeca Sosa, the Miami-Dade County Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Florida Municipal Insurance Trust, the Miami Springs Historical Society, the City of Miami Springs and countless private and corporate donors, the Mansion doors reopened to the public in 2012. After 17 years of grassroots efforts, including raising several million dollars, the Mansion became available for historic, cultural, educational, recreational, social, civic and other community uses. Although the mansion is owned by the City of Miami Springs, CMI is tasked with sustaining fundraising efforts, maintenance, daily operations and oversight of the Mansion and all of its activities.

Sources

* http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/aviation/gle.htm Accessed in 2006

References

External links