C & A House 10

One of the new and large homes. But this one reminds me of the older homes. The surround of the front door and the windows look just like the ones of the 20's and the 30's.

C & A House 9 Needs Help

The owner was a retired bachelor that didn't keep up the property for the last ten years of his life. When he was more active the garden was a botanical forest and the building was well kept. Now we just hope that who ever buys the property will see it as a gem to fix and not a piece of land that can be used to build a super big house.

C & A House 8

Too many of these new houses look like twins.

C & A House 7

The house shouts new, new, new. There was once a fine little old Spanish style house. This new house is OK, but I miss the old house.

C & A House 6

The three windows show up again. Certain architectural styles can date a house and these windows show up in houses of the 20's. Our house has some things that place it in the 30's.

C & A House 5

Another house with three windows in the stairwell. You can't build a copy of a house within one mile from the original house in Coral Gabels. But you can use an idea but not the entire house. You can find these stairwell windows in many of our houses. I grew up in a house that had a twin 1.2 miles from our house. It wasn't an exact copy, it was about 20% smaller. The small house was torn down to make way for a large home.

C & A House 4

The C & A house is any house on the historic streets of Castile Ave. or Asturia Ave. In the 20's these streets had some of the most interesting houses in the city. The small and medium sized houses were what our city was all about. Some of the houses have been torn down to give way to a larger house.
Notice the 3 windows, they open to the stairwell and show up in many old houses in the C & A group.

Schomburgkia wallisii Or You Might Just Call It An Orchid

Last night it went down to 41f and the night before it was 39f but this orchid is looking good in the sun this morning. I had the well water running in the pond for the last two days because the cichlids (fish) will die when the temperature goes lower then 40f. The breadfruit tree needed the warm water for the same reason.

It Must Be Cold Outside.

Dew on the window means that it must be cold outside. It's just relative. For 2 months we had nights down in the 60's and last week it hit the 50's. Last night it dropped to 39f in the Miami area. The thermometer in the open garage read 49f. The breadfruit tree, some Ae Ae bananas and one or two small plants will show temperature damage, but the rest of the garden will get through this very coooold night.

C & A House 3, Best Of The Group

Forty years ago when we were looking for a house, this was the one that we wanted. But it wasn't for sale. We looked at a house directly across the street but couldn't think of living across from the house that we wanted. Twenty years later when it was up for sale we were too pleased with our house to think of moving. We knew the house we have now was the one we would buy before we even looked at the inside. So house 3 is second on my list and I have never been inside.

C & A House 2

The curb appeal can't be topped. When I was last in this house it did not have crown molding, stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, and slabs of granite all over the house. This house doesn't even have a great room. But I can tell you this is a great home.

More Color For The Winter

This orchid looks like a newly produced hybrid that you can buy in any big box store like Home Depot. It's a species from the jungles that was found over 70 years ago. This clone (divisions of the original plant) was extremely expensive until they were produced with cells from the original plant. Now the price is related to the production cost and not for its rarity. I have 6 of them hanging in the tree enjoying the winter temperatures. This week we have night temperatures in the 50's. Lan (Miami Blog) also has this orchid in his back yard.

Heliconia Princess Diane

Diane is a friend of mine and she and her husband brought this Heliconia clone from Jamaica. It blooms all year long and I thought we needed some color. We were down to the 50's in the evening this past week.

This C & A House Is The First Of A Series

This house was built on one lot with gardens on separate lots. The lot west of the house was sold a few years ago and a modern house was built. This is a very nice looking house but for some of us that remember the original garden much has been lost.

Podocarpus macrophyllus, Ficus benjamina And Ficus pumila

The first two are trees and the third is a vine. Man can fiddle with nature and produce hedges and concrete columns covered green. These plants get attention every week or two, as you can see the small piles of clippings. I think it looks good, oh but what work to keep it looking just right.