A 1935 Mediterranean Revival apartment house by Martin L. Hampton, with original ironwork and mosaics one block from Lincoln Road.
At a glance
Penthouse Court, today called Les Jardins of South Beach Condominium, stands at 1620-22 Pennsylvania Avenue in the Miami Beach Architectural District. The property consists of two symmetrical three-storey buildings with Spanish tile roofs, wrought-iron balconies and a garden entered through an iron flamingo gate.
History
Building permit 6240 was issued by the City of Miami Beach in 1934, and the apartments were completed the following year in the Art Deco area of South Beach. The late 1930s saw a wave of real estate investment in Miami Beach, which led architects to design Mediterranean Revival houses and apartments around Flamingo Park. Penthouse Court belongs to that period.
What you see
Martin L. Hampton designed the building. He was active in Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables and Hollywood during the 1920s and 1930s, with projects including the Great Southern Hotel of Hollywood (1924), the Bathing Casino of Hollywood (1925), the Country Club of Coral Gables (1923) and Miami Beach City Hall (1927).
Each building has three apartments on the first and second floors and one penthouse on the third. The second floor carries two balconies per building; the third floor has one. Original hand-forged iron staircase railings from the 1930s remain in place, along with an iron gate leading to the third-floor penthouse.
The mosaics are the property’s most distinctive feature. They appear in the common areas, the garden, the stairwells and some interiors, enriching the Mediterranean character of the complex.
Cultural significance
The property is listed in the City of Miami Beach Historic Property Viewer and on the RuskinaARC historic database. A list of Martin L. Hampton’s work appears on page 17 of the National Register of Historic Places nomination form for the Congress Building, which records Penthouse Court as designed by the architect in 1934.
Key facts
- Country: United States
- City: Miami Beach
- Coordinates: 25.789838, -80.134643
Practical information & getting there
The building is one block from Lincoln Road. It sits within the Miami Beach Architectural District.
Sources & resources
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