mediterranean house - biscayne park MIAMI FLORIDA

BISCAYNE PARK RESIDENCE
This residence is located in Biscayne Park, a small residential area of North Miami, Florida, USA The houses in this quaint little area , number in the amount of approximately 1,300 and were built between 1930 and 1938 with fairly generous lots where old growth of flora and fauna abound, creating a welcome home for northern birds to fly to during the winter months. Biscayne Park is an official bird sanctuary for blue jays, cardinals, red headed woodpeckers, wild parrots and blue and white herons.
This particular residence is located on a 100 foot wide by 155 foot deep lot that backs up to a 60 foot wide fresh water canal that is home to the ever decreasing supply of manatees, as well as ducks, turtles and iguanas.
Davila embellished this 1936 residence with the same romance that depicts the typical 1930’s Mediterranean home, so popular in California that it was brought to Florida by popular demand. All existing carpeting was lifted, exposing well oiled, long plank oak floors. Vaulted ceilings canopied the living room and family room but the challenge was to run central air conditioning and install lighting in these beautiful ceilings with no attic or crawl space to facilitate the installation. Davila chose to run the duct work for central air conditioning across the center of the family room by creating a large beam to conceal the duct work and vents, staining the wood to match the wood ceiling.
Halogen lighting fixtures black matte finish, were installed on a track on the living room vaulted wood ceiling and surface mounted on the family room ceiling. thereby solving the lighting installation dilemma Davila believes that faux treatment on walls can add depth and movement .
Faux painting by artist Emil Bodourov was applied to the existing handmade skip trowell stucco walls Davila specified a more subtle, elegant faux design for both the dining and living rooms using off white linen flat paint with saddle glaze and matte sealer. Details were actually etched into the original paint exposing the unique green color used back in the 1930s !For the family room, Davila specified a most unorthodox design application inspired by the weather worn walls of Europe and Latin America. Lime paint was originally brought to Latin America by the Europeans. The weathered look on the family room walls was achieved by hand rubbing lime paint color over color, trimmed at the top with repeated patterns borrowed from old churches and museum ceilings seen in Cuzco, Peru. Faux painted door surroundings flank dark wood stained French doors. In the bedroom, Davila specified a Gothic feeling for the design combined with marigold yellow walls and green trim with brown and red flowers, making a rather small, uninteresting room grand yet playful.
Dark cherry stained moldings were installed in every room to enhance and age the ambiance of the residence.