1928, restored quietly.

Casa Brickell occupies a 1928 Mediterranean shell on Biscayne Bay, restored over two slow years. The hand-troweled lime plaster, carved cypress beams, and arched openings are original. The kitchens, baths, and rooms beyond are quiet, restrained, and built for long stays.

Six suites face the bay or the garden courtyard. The plunge pool sits at the terrace edge above the dock. Mornings start with sunrise on the water; afternoons end with the loggia in dappled palm shadow. Booking is direct, the calendar is the host's, and there is no third party between you and the keys.

The bones of the house came from a Spanish-Colonial-Revival catalog that arrived by ship from Tampa. The carpenters were Cuban; the tilers, Catalan. The original architect, who signed the drawings simply “A. Mendez,” built three houses in Brickell in the late 1920s and four in Coral Gables. Two are still standing. This one is the only bayfront.

We took the property in 2024 with the lime plaster cracked in twelve places, the cypress beams blackened, and the kitchen unrecognizable. Two years later, the bones are honest again; the rooms are restrained; the pool is where the carriage house used to be.