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Addison Mizner
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==Florida== In January 1918, aged 46, Mizner visited [[Palm Beach, Florida]] for his health, at the suggestion of [[Paris Singer]], whose house guest he was.<ref name=Curl />{{rp|38}} He was "prepared to die", but instead recovered.<ref name=Bubil /> He decided to stay. The existing architecture in Palm Beach was wooden β Flagler's two hotels, the [[Royal Poinciana Hotel|Royal Poinciana]] and [[The Breakers (hotel)|The Breakers]] (burned 1925), were wooden<ref name=Seebohm />{{rp|155}} β and in a style better suited for colder weather, Mizner tells us.{{where|date=December 2017}} Familiar from Guatemala with Hispanic warm climate architecture, he chose it as a style more appropriate for [[South Florida]]. His [[Mediterranean Revival]] designs won the attention and patronage of wealthy clients, who preferred to build their own individual ocean-front mansions. Constructed of stone, tile, and stucco, his buildings were better suited to Florida's semi-tropical climate (and threat of hurricanes) than the wooden shingle-style resort architecture imported from the Northeast. As a result of Mizner, "Palm Beach was transformed.".<ref name=Orr1977 />{{rp|48}} Mizner "designed with the wealthy in mind"; people "began building private residences on a grand scale."<ref name=Orr1977 />{{rp|46}} As a result in large part of Mizner, "by 1925 Palm Beach had established itself as ''the'' resort community of the United States."<ref name=Orr1977 />{{rp|48}} Mizner's concept of architect was that he did not just design a building, but also its interior decoration and gardens.<ref name=Orr1977 />{{rp|37}} His houses were generally one room deep to allow [[natural ventilation|cross-ventilation]], with kitchens located in wings to keep their heat away from living areas. Kitchens were also located [[downwind]] of the dining area. They were built with courtyards on various levels, replete with arcades and lofty galleries; rooms featured exposed rafters and vaulted ceilings; tiled pools and [[mosaics]] were said to resemble those of [[Pompeii]]<ref name=Federal/>{{rp|230}} (if that is not another of Mizner's exaggerations). Other characteristic features included [[loggia]]s, [[colonnade]]s, clusters of columns supporting [[arch]]es, [[French door]]s, [[casement window]]s, [[tile|barrel tile]] roofs, [[hearth]]s, grand [[stairway]]s and decorative [[ironwork]]. ===The Everglades Club=== [[File:EvergladesClub.jpg|thumb|The [[Everglades Club]], [[Palm Beach, Florida]].]] Mizner's first big commission, and the project that made him famous, was the [[Everglades Club]], which opened in January 1919. It was a "revelation" and its architectural effect "cannot be exaggerated".<ref name=Seebohm />{{rp|163}} Another scholar says that Mizner "revolutionized Palm Beach architecture".<ref name=Curl />{{rp|1}} No one had seen anything like it: a "gorgeous pink stucco palace, with arcades, wrought-iron balconies, and terra-cotta-tile roofs."<ref name=Seebohm />{{rp|163}} There were two four-hundred-year-old doors, and chairs of the same antiquity.<ref name=Seebohm />{{rp|164}} Hispanic tiles were everywhere. "It took the place by storm", said Singer years later.<ref name=Seebohm />{{rp|165}} An even larger project, the 147-room mansion [[El Mirasol (mansion)|El Mirasol]] (demolished), followed in 1919.<ref name=Seebohm />{{rp|166β168}} Mizner received many subsequent commissions, in what was the most successful part of his career. From 1919 to 1924 he designed about thirty-eight houses in Palm Beach. His clients were wealthy and socially prominent: [[Gurnee Munn]], [[John Shaffer Phipps]], [[Barclay Harding Warburton II]], [[Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr.]], [[Edward Shearson]], [[Rodman Wanamaker]], [[Paul Moore Sr.]], and [[Edward T. Stotesbury|Eva Stotesbury]] among them.<ref name=Seebohm />{{rp|170}} For them, he created "a Mediterranean village".<ref name=Seebohm />{{rp|171}} ===Mizner Industries=== To make materials for the Everglades Club, he and [[Paris Singer]] purchased a small facility and began the manufacture of roof and floor tiles, with a sideline production of ironwork and furniture. The factory also made pottery; Mizner viewed pottery as something that "could be effectively used to integrate an indoor and outdoor color scheme."<ref name=Orr1977 />{{rp|53}} The factory was called "Las Manos" ("The Hands"), referring to the way products were made there: "con las manos", with our hands, by hand. After the Club was completed in 1919, Singer sold Mizner his interest in the factory,<ref>{{citation |pages=55β62, at p. 59 |first1=Alex |last1=Waugh |first2=Robert V. |last2=Doyle |contribution=Alex in Miznerland |title=The Many Mizners. California Clan Extraordinary |year=1978 |publisher=[[Oakland Museum]] |editor=J. Camille Showalter}}</ref><ref name=Orr1977 />{{rp|52}} which prospered. In [[West Palm Beach, Florida|West Palm Beach]], "just east of the railroad,"<ref name=Orr1977 />{{rp|52}} by 1925 Mizner Industries Incorporated was making, according to its catalog, "pottery, roof and floor tile, [[antique furniture|period furniture]], [[wicker]], upholstering, repairing, antique [[millwork (building material)|millwork]] and hardware, bronze [[sash window|sash]],<ref name=Orr1977 />{{rp|56}} [[wrought iron]], [[stained glass windows|stained]] and [[came glasswork|leaded]] glass windows, reconstructed and ornamental stone, and imitation marble."<ref name=Orr1977 />{{rp|52β53}}<ref name=Federal/>{{rp|230}}<ref name=Boomtime />{{rp|48}} It was one of the largest manufacturing companies in Palm Beach County.<ref name=built >{{cite web |title=Mizner's Dream:The Built and the Unbuilt |access-date=January 2, 2018 |url=http://www.bocahistory.org/mizners-dream/default.asp |publisher=Boca Raton Historical Society & Museum |archive-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103011728/http://www.bocahistory.org/mizners-dream/default.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> Mizner lacked the talent for making conventional plans and specifications. Everything was done off-the-cuff. Plans for one house were drawn in the sand on the beach. He was a pioneer in developing artificial or cast stone, a combination of [[coquina]] shell, [[lime (material)|lime]], and a cement mixture. He also used "woodite", a composite material with a wood component, which could be poured and molded.<ref name=Orr1977 />{{rp|59}} As a result, Mizner Industries sold "precast plastering", highly ornate plaster coffered ceilings and mouldings,<ref name=Orr1977 />{{rp|54}} and with woodite, besides antique-style doors, the paneling of a complete room, all at a relatively low cost.<ref name=Orr1977 />{{rp|58}} "One of the major difficulties in identifying Mizner buildings is the presence of Mizner Industries stonework on non-Mizner buildings";<ref name=Orr1977 />{{rp|54}} a number of buildings he did not build are frequently misattributed to him.<ref name=Orr1977 />{{rp|50 n. 19}} Mizner Industries, copying imported antiques or photographs, manufactured beds, tables, [[taboret]]s, chests, dressing tables, wardrobes, "all pieces of furniture imaginable." There were two qualities: "a superior, handcrafted line ... extremely difficult to distinguish from authentic Spanish antiques," and another "good, sturdy line with little or no hand attention."<ref name=Orr1977 />{{rp|58}} ===Mizner's Florida style=== Mizner was anything but a follower of styles. He would improvise a building's design as he went; he was someone who "would take a lot of liberties",<ref name=Bubil /> who "let his imagination run riot".<ref name=Seebohm />{{rp|137}} In the end, Mizner would create a pink-walled, red-tiled, wrought iron-gated world of unreal luxury. Developers loved the Mizner style because it gave their brand-new developments an air of established, Old World elegance. It was imitated in new developments in the Florida peninsula. "It is style," said Donald Curl. "As an architect, he introduced Mediterranean revival, or Spanish revival, or whatever you wanted to call it. He made it not only popular but fashionable. Mizner was someone who was willing to take a lot of liberties and design buildings that were good for the climate and the lifestyle of the people who were his clients."<ref name=Bubil /> "I never begin to design a home without first imagining some sort of romance about it. Once I have my story, then the plans take place easily."<ref name=Seebohm />{{rp|175}} Mizner created a version of Spanish style that was appropriate to twentieth-century Florida. <blockquote> The loggia room has survived as the [[Florida room]]. The changing room is now an essential. The focal point, now swimming pool with bridge or hanging basket chair, creates the necessary element of excitement. Native building materials are touted. Red tile remains a precious commodity. Pastel colors prevail. Meandering streets with boutiques are today's key to a successful commercial adventure. The advantages of mixed residential and commercial use have become obvious.<ref name=Orr1977 />{{rp|48}} </blockquote> ==="Antiquing" buildings=== To get the all-important appearance of antiquity Mizner inflicted vandalism. He deliberately smudged up new rooms with burning pots of tarpaper, took penknife to woodwork and statuary, chipped tiles, used acid to rust the iron, made wormholes with an icepick,<ref name=Orr1977 />{{rp|54, 56β58}} cracked a [[fireplace mantle|mantle]] with a [[sledgehammer]], all creating what he called "the kiss of the centuries."<ref name=Silvin />{{rp|37}} He hired inexperienced help to lay roof tiles awry, and once had men in hobnailed boots walk up and down a stairway before the cement set to get the effect of centuries of wear. One of his original contributions to architecture was the discovery that worm-eaten [[cypress]] gave the desired effect of age; thus "[[mycelium|pecky]]" [[Taxodium distichum|cypress]], weak and worthless for structural elements, suddenly became the [[mahogany]] paneling of Palm Beach.<ref>{{citation |url=http://colebrookhistoricalsociety.org/PDF%20Images/Mizner,%20Addison.pdf |magazine=American Heritage |date=August 1965 |title=The Bubble in the Sun |first=George B. |last=Tindall |access-date=January 4, 2018 |archive-date=January 8, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108062847/http://colebrookhistoricalsociety.org/PDF%20Images/Mizner,%20Addison.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=The Cause of Pecky Cypress|journal=Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club|author=William A. Murrill|year=1939|volume=66|pages = 87β92|number=2|doi=10.2307/2480993|jstor=2480993}}</ref>
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