The Villages of Coral Gables

When people think of Coral Gables today, many think of stately Mediterranean Revival homes, the Biltmore, the Venetian Pool and Miracle Mile. This being said, anyone that has tried to renovate their home in the City Beautiful tends to think of getting building permits and going in front of the architectural board.

As one of the first planned communities in the United States, the reason for this is simple: George Merrick, upon founding the Gables back in 1925, wanted to inspire people with the city’s architecture. This is what he envisioned the villages of Coral Gables (the Dutch South African, the Chinese, the French Normandy, the Florida Pioneer, the French Country, the French City, and the Italian) to do and is subsequently a major factor in why the Gables looks as it does today.

Merrick hired some of the country’s most prominent architects to design the villages and then wanted their expert input on new construction. This has become a staple of Coral Gables’ aesthetic and led its development in a way that makes the Gables stand out from the neighborhoods that surround it.

The city’s work at maintaining its building and zoning structure has (in part) led it to maintain property values that are generally higherthan the rest of South Florida. In the enevitable cycles that the real estate industry goes through, Coral Gables (as a whole) tends to have shallower drops in value and recover more quickly than Miami-Dade county.

Tune in over the next few months as we dive into the details of each village and show a different side of Coral Gables.