Vagabond Motel

Last updated
Vagabond Motel
Vagabond Motel.jpg
Vagabond Hotel after reopening in 2014
USA Florida location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location7301 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, Florida
Coordinates 25°50′34″N80°11′02″W / 25.84278°N 80.18389°W / 25.84278; -80.18389
Built1953
Architect Robert Swartburg
NRHP reference No. 14001086
Added to NRHPDecember 29, 2014

The Vagabond Motel is a historic motel located at 7301 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami, Florida that exhibits Miami Modern architecture. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in late 2014 after being nominated by the state. [1] The building was constructed in 1953 and was designed by Robert Swartburg. After sitting vacant for years, the building was reopened in 2014 as a restaurant and hotel. [2]

Claims that the Vagabond Motel was once a hangout for Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack are false. The Biscayne Times debunked those rumors in 2012. In the 1950s and 1960s, celebrities frequented the long-gone Vagabonds' Club in downtown Miami, not the middle-class family motel on the Upper East Side. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miami Beach, Florida</span> City in Florida, United States

Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which separates the Beach from the mainland city of Miami. The neighborhood of South Beach, comprising the southernmost 2.5 sq mi (6.5 km2) of Miami Beach, along with Downtown Miami and the PortMiami, collectively form the commercial center of South Florida. Miami Beach's population is 82,890 according to the 2020 census. It has been one of America's pre-eminent beach resorts since the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunny Isles Beach, Florida</span> City in Florida

Sunny Isles Beach is a city located on a barrier island in northeast Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of South Florida's Miami metropolitan area and is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Intracoastal Waterway on the west. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 22,342.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom Tower (Miami)</span> Building in Miami, Florida, US

The Freedom Tower is a building in Miami, Florida. It was designed by Schultze and Weaver and is currently used as a contemporary art museum and a central office to different disciplines in the arts associated with Miami Dade College. It is located at 600 Biscayne Boulevard on Miami Dade College's Wolfson Campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Beach</span> Neighborhood of Miami Beach in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States

South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south of Dade Boulevard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Key</span> Neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States

Virginia Key is an 863-acre (3.49 km2) barrier island in Miami, Florida. It is located in Biscayne Bay south of Brickell and north of Key Biscayne and is accessible from the mainland via the Rickenbacker Causeway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miami Modern architecture</span>

Miami Modernist architecture, or MiMo, is a regional style of architecture that developed in South Florida during the post-war period. The style was internationally recognized as a regionalist response to the International Style. It can be seen in most of the larger Miami and Miami Beach resorts built after the Great Depression. Because MiMo styling was not just a response to international architectural movements but also to client demands, themes of glamour, fun, and material excess were added to otherwise stark, minimalist, and efficient styles of the era. The style can be most observed today in Middle and Upper Miami Beach along Collins Avenue, as well as along the Biscayne Boulevard corridor starting from around Midtown, through the Design District and into the Upper Eastside.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vizcaya Museum and Gardens</span> Historic house in Florida, United States

The Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, previously known as Villa Vizcaya, is the former villa and estate of businessman James Deering, of the Deering McCormick-International Harvester fortune, on Biscayne Bay in the present-day Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida. The early 20th-century Vizcaya estate also includes extensive Italian Renaissance gardens, native woodland landscape, and a historic village outbuildings compound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln Road</span> United States historic place

Lincoln Road Mall is a pedestrian road running east–west parallel between 16th Street and 17th Street in Miami Beach, Florida, United States. Once completely open to vehicular traffic, it now hosts a pedestrian mall replete with shops, restaurants, galleries, and other businesses between Washington Avenue with a traffic accessible street extending east to the Atlantic Ocean and west to Alton Road with a traffic accessible street extending to Biscayne Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bay Shore Historic District</span> Historic district in Florida, United States

The Bay Shore Historic District is a U.S. historic district located in Miami, Florida. The district is bounded by Northeast 55th Street, Biscayne Boulevard, Northeast 60th Street and Biscayne Bay, in the Morningside section of the Upper Eastside neighborhood. It contains 223 historic buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boca Chita Key Historic District</span> Historic district in Florida, United States

The Boca Chita Key Historic District is a U.S. historic district within the Biscayne National Park in Miami-Dade County, Homestead, Florida. Located on the northwest section of Boca Chita Key, delimited by Biscayne Bay in the north and west and a half ruined stone wall on its southern side, it contains three historic buildings and the Boca Chita Lighthouse. On 1 August 1997, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural, historical and recreational values.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greater Downtown Miami</span> Neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States

Downtown Miami is the urban city center of Miami, Florida. The city's greater downtown region consists of the Central Business District, Brickell, the Historic District, Government Center, the Arts & Entertainment District, and Park West. It is divided by the Miami River and is bordered by Midtown Miami's Edgewater and Wynwood sections to its north, Biscayne Bay to its east, the Health District and Overtown to its west, and Coconut Grove to its south.

<i>Half Moon</i> (shipwreck)

The Half Moon was a racing sailboat; it sank in 1930 near Miami, Florida, United States. The wreck is outside Bear Cut, which separates Virginia Key from Key Biscayne. Christened Germania, the racing yacht featured a chrome-nickel steel hull built by Krupp-Germania-Werft in 1908 in Kiel, Germany. During a visit to England in 1914, the yacht was seized as a 'war prize'. After changing owners several times, and surviving an especially-violent storm off Virginia, the yacht became a floating restaurant and dance hall off Miami. It sank near Key Biscayne in 1930. In 2000, the wreck became the seventh Florida Underwater Archaeological Preserve. In 2001, it was added to the US National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midtown Miami</span> Neighborhood in Miami, Florida

Midtown Miami is the collective term for the Wynwood and Edgewater neighborhoods of Miami, Florida. It is located north of Downtown and south of the Miami Design District and is roughly bound by North 20th Street to the south, I-195 to the north, I-95 to the west, and Biscayne Bay to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old United States Post Office and Courthouse (Miami, Florida)</span> United States historic place

The Old U.S. Post Office and Courthouse is a historic courthouse in Miami, Florida. It is located at 100-118 Northeast 1st Avenue. Constructed over three years (1912–14), it was designed by Kiehnel and Elliott and Oscar Wenderoth. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on January 4, 1989. The Miami-Dade County Tax Records say this building was built in 1917 .

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upper Eastside</span> Neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States

The Upper Eastside is a neighborhood in Miami, Florida. It is north of Edgewater, east of Little Haiti, south of the village of Miami Shores, and sits on Biscayne Bay. In geographical order from south to north and east to west, it contains the subdivisions of Magnolia Park, Bay Point, Morningside, Bayside, Belle Meade, Shorecrest, and Palm Grove. The MiMo District along Biscayne Boulevard in the area is host to many art galleries, shops and restaurants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shrine Building (Miami, Florida)</span> Building in Miami, Florida

The Shrine Building, also known as Boulevard Shops, is an Art Deco commercial building in Miami, Florida built in 1930. It was designed by Robert Law Weed and is an "elegant, local interpretation" of the Art Deco style including Seminole Indian motifs. The second floor was occupied by the Mahi Shriners for thirteen years, from 1930 to 1943.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bacardi Buildings (Miami)</span> Set of buildings in Miami, Florida, USA

The Bacardi Buildings are a landmark of Midtown Miami and served as the former headquarters of Bacardi USA. The site, located at 2100 Biscayne Boulevard, consists of the Bacardi Imports Tower and the Bacardi Imports Administration Annex, also known as "The Jewel Box". The tower and the annex were constructed in 1963 and 1973, respectively, and in 2018 they were added to the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Business District (Miami)</span> Central business district in the United States

The Central Business District (CBD) of Miami is the historic central business district and city center of what has become Greater Downtown Miami in Miami, Florida. Over 92,000 people work in Miami's Central Business District.

B. Robert Swartburg was an American architect working in New York and Florida primarily known for his Modern and Streamline Moderne architectural style. He was one of the leading modernist architects in South Florida contributing greatly to the development of MiMo Modern style in the post- WWII 40s and 50's. In his 35-year career he is said to have designed over 1000 buildings. Swartburg was also an accomplished artist who painted for pleasure, and executed murals and sculptures to embellish his buildings.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. Viglucci, Andres (2015-02-09). "South Florida's Vagabond Motel, Mai-Kai Restaurant on National Register of Historic Places". Miami Herald . Retrieved 2015-12-27.
  3. Terence Cantarella (2012-08-01). "A Tale of Two Vagabonds" . Retrieved 2017-01-18.