Tasteful Friends: Al Capone's Miami manse is criminally beautiful

It'd be my idea of South Florida perfection if it wasn't for the liklihood that it'd be totally underwater during a Category 4 direct hit.

Better to seek higher ground in Coral Gables.

The interiors are ugly but the building is gorgeous. I hope that whoever buys it understands how to use space.

At least it has a pool.

Someone effed up the interior. It is hideous and has to be gutted inside. Sadly, there is no authentic architecture or historic provenance to this place. Why was this done? Name the person who did this?

Might white of Al

I'm getting a glare headache, just from looking at pictures of all that shade-free light-colored cement!

How is the chocolate cake there?

All the best criminals have good chocolate cake at their Florida getaways.

[quote] “The furnishings right now are staged, but they could be for sale,”

Staged? I couldn't tell with all the blank walls and the furniture looking like it was grabbed in a hurry at an IKEA fire sale.

When you allow your soon-to-be ex a free hand to decorate your winter house, you get Al Capone's Miami manse.

The kitchen has been massacred.

Who ever thought it would be a good idea to gut the inside and leave it looking like cheap sheetrock? It's lovey on the outside, but ever so awful from the few rooms we can see inside. Travesty

Another collection of photos.

Awesomely Amazing !

I'll take it ..........

I think I spotted the entrance to Capone's other secret vault in that bathroom pic.

Thank you, R12, very interesting pictures. Interesting because I've never seen such a horrible job of staging in a house going for eight figures!

That said, the terraces and the pool look quite stunning.

Is it just me or do some of the pictures look photoshopped as in the furniture digitally placed in the rooms? To me some of the furnitures' angles look off.

OK, I couldn't find the pictures from the original link which appeared to be to a more modern house. The pictures at R12 are of the Capone house.

Comments:

(1) The outside - I love it. Much more interesting and gracious than the modern houses on either side. The outdoor living spaces are lovely.

(2) Is that first indoor picture the entry hall? Because if it is, then there isn't one.

(3) Ceiling lights - Those look like the cheap ceiling lights you buy at Home Depot. In such a house, they are a sacrilege.

(4) It looks as if there is only one over head light in the kitchen.

(5) Of course, all period details have been removed.

(6) The building right on the water is the pool house/cabana.

The people who did this are nitwits and barbarians.

Here's a better picture of the entry through the gatehouse, from the street.

All the period characteristics are gone. Like R17 said, the lighting looks sparse and the fixtures look cheap.

Wow, can I rent Al Capone's little gatehouse? It's the perfect size for one person!

Does it come with beach and pool privileges?

Holy White, Batman!

There isn’t a drop of color anywhere. My eyes hurt.

Whoever did this manse needs to be banned from flipping property? Actually, owning property? It is god damn hideous.

R17 The picture shows a street looking very much like the one Ingrid Bergman drove down with Cary Grant in 'Notorious' in 1946.

This house is destined for the thread about "The worst dissonance between interior and exterior".

I seriously cannot recall seeing a beautiful architectural complex so badly undermined by tragic furnishings.

There is literally no trace of what was surely the original Jazz Age opulence left.

Can you imagine what the original "jazz age opulence" was like? Sure, it may be all plain white and junk furniture now that some useless hack has gotten ahold of the place, but what the hell did it look like when a tasteless gangster owned the place?

What the heck did ostentatious nouveau-riche bad taste look like during the Art Deco era, anyway?

This article about the restoration is from 2015.

There are some other pictures, especially of the outside.

And, yes, there were older light fixtures which means the choice of Home Depot's specials was deliberate.

From the Smithsonian article

[quote] The mob boss bought his home on Miami Beach’s Palm Island waterfront the year before the massacre, in 1928. He laid down $40,000 for a 6,000-foot main villa, then spent another $200,000 to build a gatehouse facing the street, a seven-foot-high wall, search lights, a coral rock grotto and a cabana facing the water. According to Preservation Nation, Capone wanted protection on both sides of the estate.

Article about Capone in Miami and the house.

Lots of history of Capone from that period.

[quote] What the heck did ostentatious nouveau-riche bad taste look like during the Art Deco era, anyway?

Sounds like Capone loved the house and wanted the best for the changes he made. Also about the other home he had rented for his wife and son. (See article at R27.)

It was probably once magnificent but unless that thing is landmarked it'll surely be torn down and replaced.

This is a video of the house from 2012. Lots of outside stuff. Some inside.

You get a much better feel for the property.

The rest of you can fight all you want over the main house, just give me that guest cottage by the pool and I'll be happy.

If you watch the video at R30, you'll hear that the pool used to get water directly from the bay and there were 3 diving boards attached to the pool house so 3 could dive at once.

At one time, the pool was the largest in South Florida.

[quote] Wow, can I rent Al Capone's little gatehouse? It's the perfect size for one person!

[quote] Does it come with beach and pool privileges?

Sounds like you missed your chance, R19. Story is that one of the previous owners did rent the out buildings.