Lavender house, also known as Hermann V. Von Holst House is a private residence on the U.S…read more National Register of Historic Places in the historic old Floresta neighborhood in Boca Raton. It is located on 875 Alamanda Street. The neighborhood the house is in was initially designed by Addison Mizner but he went broke in 1926. Chicago Prairie School architect Hermann V. Von Holst along with partners purchased the development and he finished building the houses. Lavender House was the residence Holst built for himself. He went on to serve on the Boca Raton City Council from 1934 to 1948 and the planning board from 1940 to 1953. Although you can't tour this house it's worth driving through this beautiful historic neighborhood. It looks like the current owners embrace the history of their home as it is beautifully kept. They occasionally post pictures of the interior on their Facebook page dedicated to the home.

This neighborhood was designed by Addison Mizner in a Mediterranean style that you can see…read morethroughout the city of Boca Raton. It is located off of Palmetto Rd behind the Boca Raton Art Museum art school. The houses were designed for the executives of Mizner's company and one was for his brother the Reverend Henry Mizner who retired to Boca Raton. The Robinson Company were contracted to construct 29 homes in the neighborhood but they went bankrupt before they could finish. Architect Herman Von Holst from Chicago who owned the land foreclosed and along with investors he finished designing the subdivision and named it Old Floreresta meaning "a delightful rural place" in Spanish. The houses have certain characteristics in common, barrel tile roofs, wrought iron balconies, and Spanish style architecture. The homes are on narrow tree lines streets. Some of the notable homes in the subdivision are 888 Oleander St owned by Henry Mizner who lived in Acacia, 875 Alamanda St. was the home of Herman Von Holst and he named his home Lavender House. He went on to serve on both the Boca Raton town council and planning boards. The house is now on the National Register of Historic Places as is 801 Hibiscus St, it was owned by film producer and mayor of Boca Raton Fred Aiken. Other well known residents of the neighborhood were Thomas Fleming who founded Florida Atlantic University, Don Estridge who worked on the IMB personal computer, and Nathaniel Weyl who authored the book "Red Star Over Cuba" In 1990 Boca Raton named Old Floresta it's first historic district. The homes in the neighborhood are privately owned so you are not able to tour them. You are free however to drive through the beautiful neighborhood or even better bike it if you are able to do so. Although the homes I mentioned are not for sale a lot of other ones are. I saw quite a few for sale signs in the neighborhood. I am sure they are way out of my price range but it's free to dream.

Imagine my surprise to find a listing for the Old Floresta Historic District in Yelp. Like wow,…read morewhoever wrote this did a great service for helpers who seek out historic areas in Palm Beach county, areas which may be close to where they live or work. And this is OUR neighborhood. It's where we drive into and out of daily. It's where we walk our sato Bori. And where we drive friends around to show them the authentic ORIGINAL Mizner designed homes, as well as those which mimic the Mizner look. The streets are narrow, some cannot accommodate two cars going in either direction without riding up into someone's lawn. The foliage is heavy, very heavy. People who visit us or do work for us always comment that it reminds them of Coral Gables. As a historic district the City monitors carefully all renovations which affect the exterior in any manner at all, as plans must be reviewed by Historic division as well as City Code Compliance. Things like roof materials and colors, driveway design and materials, alterations to windows and doors or subtle things like the removal of a tree and its replacement. And that's all good! I love Old Floresta. I don't love the drivers who try through our area on the way to Boca Regional Hospital or anywhere else and roll through stop signs. I hope they get tickets when police set up traps. Our neighborhood is quiet, well preserved and a place where families walk with their children and their dogs and just chill. While not a gated community it is tucked away off Palmetto Park Road, east of 95 and west of Dixie, on the north side of the street. If you find the old Art School on the north side of Palmetto, you access Old Floresta on either Paloma or Cardinal (NW9). Drive slow when in our community. Or better yet, walk around. Oh by the way, on Halloween the homeowners really go craycray decorating their homes and thousands go trick treating.

Stuart and William L. Kester were originally from West Virginia. They came to Pompano to pursue…read morefishing in the 1920's and in 1937 built the wood frame bungalows that they called "pepper crates" in Pompano and Deerfield Beach. Since they were inexpensive to build soon everyone was constructing them for residents and visitors alike. They were constructed of Dade County pine and had indoor plumbing and running water. They measured 25 feet by 35 feet. Some had a beach view and ranged from one to three bedrooms. At their height of popularity there were 150 of them. All of the cottages were white with playing card suites cut of out their shutters. Houses cost under a thousand dollars to build and you could rent one for as little as $29 a month. I wish you could still get beach front property for that amount. The two Kester cottages owned by the Pompano Beach Historical Society were donated to them by Kester's nephew Stewart. They were moved from their original location to Founders Park behind the Historical Society building. Usually they are locked up but they open them for tours when they do the once a month historical trolley tour. The next time the cottages will be open is on January 12 from 9 to 10 AM. The cottages are filled with historical items from Pompano Beach's history. If you can't tour them they have a wonderful 3-D virtual tour on the website they have have set up for the cottages. One other Kester cottage remains on the grounds of the Butler House in Deerfield Beach.

I would love to live in a historic home that has a name. This house was built in 1926 is located in…read morethe historic neighborhood of Old Floresta in Boca Raton. It is one of the 29 homes Addison Mizner designed in the Mediterranean Revival style with stucco walls, wrought iron balconies, and barrel tile roofs. The contractor went bankrupt before the neighborhood was completed and the project was finished by Herman Von Holst and his investors. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 24, 1992. It was the home of Fred C. Aiken who was a film producer and mayor of Boca Raton until 1938. The house has spiral staircases, Moorish columns, wood floors, a Spanish clay roof, and plastered kitchen walls. The outside has arched columns and stucco walls. I love the architecture design of Addison Mizner. You can see his work throughout Boca Raton. This house is a private residence so you can't tour it, you can only view it from the outside. This is one of my favorite homes in one of my favorite neighborhoods.

The Raulerson House is the oldest standing home in Boca Raton. It is a Boca Raton designated…read morehistoric site. The two story home is 1,911 square feet and it was built in 1905. It used to sit on Palmetto Park Blvd where a shopping center now sits and it was moved to it's current location. The house is named for Boca pioneers Bert and Annie Raulerson who came to the area in 1903. They built the home and grew oranges and worked in a fruit packing house. When they constructed the house a lot of windows added to keep it cool since there was no air conditioning. The house also sits on pilings to keep air moving underneath it and to prevent rot. Wood used to build homes in this time period were pecky cypress and Dade county pine. Another nice feature of the home is a beautiful front porch. Diane DeMarco restored it when she was the owner. Diane has served as president of the Delray Beach Historical Preservation Board and as a member of the Boca Raton Historical Preservation Board. In 2010 the Boca Raton children's museum had hoped to acquire the house from its owner Robert Muller to add next to their other historic buildings, Singing Pines and the Arvida Cottage. The deal fell through and the museum ended up building a replica of Boca Raton's oldest home, Thomas Moore Rickards house instead. This home is privately owned so you can not tour the inside but it is part of the tour on the geotourist app put together by the Boca Raton Historical Society.

On Saturday 08/30/24, we took a road trip to the Pompano Beach area to sight see the area. We found…read morerecommendations to see the Hillsboro Lighthouse, Roy L. Rogers Park, and the museum. We love to visit lighthouses when we can and decided to see one this also. At Hillsboro Park, also called Roy L. Rogers Family Park, we came across this small but pretty park and museum and decided to explore. It is a one room museum filled with information about the lighthouse that was built in 1907. You can sign up for boat tours to visit the Lighthouse once a month thru the museum. It is free. Only 8 people can comfortably fit inside, so there is a waitline. But it goes fast. Some people choose to climb up the outside of the Lighthouse at their own risk. Others climb the 175 stairs inside to get to the top. The tours are short and they are once a month. Sign up at the museum. It is an active Lighthouse that still send signals. This is worth seeing close up.

Hillsboro Inlet Lighthouse is an easy Five Stars. Growing up in South Florida and being Aquarius I…read morelove lighthouses. This one was one of the first lighthouses I remember as a child. I really miss seeing it now. It's been beatified a lot over the years. The lighthouse was constructed in 1907. It's automated now and flashes every 20 seconds. If you're in the area check it out.

Pearl City is a historic neighborhood just north of downtown Boca Raton. The neighborhood was…read moreplated on May 30, 1915, a decade before Boca Raton was incorporated. The neighborhood was created when Thomas M. Rickards, Henry M. Flagler's agent decided to return to North Carolina and sell his land holdings. Rickards hired his successor George Ashley Long to survey and sell the property. Long created a three block subdivision and began selling lots along the Florida East Coast Railway tracks north of the railroad tracks and it became Pearl City. Alex Hughes was the first person to buy a lot and he became a community leader. Hughes Park in Boca is named in his honor. Other founding family names are the Swansons, Clarks, Johnsons, Alburys, Wrights and Cunninghams. Long went on to become the first mayor of Boca Raton. Eventually the neighborhood spread eight more blocks to the north. Residents of the neighborhood were the blue collar African Americans employed at resorts, farms, and in construction. Many people worked at Butts farm growing green beans or at the Boca Raton Resort once it was built. The last wooden residence in Pearl City is the historic Fountain House at 156 NE Pearl St. It was built in 1929 Alvin and Gladys Fountain. Small wooden houses were once common in the area but now there are very few left. Pearl City was designated a historic district by the decree of the Boca Raton City Council in 2002. At that time the city used 6.2 million dollars they received from Community Development Block Grants from the federal government to improve infra structure in the community. The reason the area was named Pearl City has been lost to time. The prevailing theory behind the name is that it is related to the Hawaii Pearl Pineapple because pineapples were grown in the area and harvested in a shed in the neighborhood. Another theory is that the first baby born in the community was named Pearl. The other two streets in the neighborhood are named after precious gems, Ruby and Sapphire streets. A notable neighborhood landmark is a memorial dedicated to Martin Luther King in front of the Ebeneezer Baptist Church which was organized in 1918.

In 2012 the City of Pompano Beach adopted an ordinance to place public art in the city. Works are…read morechosen by the Public Art Committee and the Old Town Mural is part of the public art program. It's so much fun finding new art popping up in different places in the city. There is a ten year master plan that proposes 27 new pieces of art. Periodically Pompano will list a call for artist submissions on their public arts page and at that time artists can submit their work for consideration for the next project. The Old Town Mural was created by South Florida artist Carlos Gonzalez. He won the competition held by the Public Arts Committee and his design was chosen. The mural is located on an exterior wall in the Old Town section of Pompano located across the street frrom the Pompano Beach Cultural Center. In bright colors, the 98 foot high mural depicts the landmarks and historic sites in Pompano Beach. Scenes include the Pompano Beach pier, the Hillsboro Lighthouse, fruilts and vegetables from when Pompano Beach started out as a farming community, historic buildings, and a Pompano fish. The best time to come and see this mural is during Old Town Untapped, a food arts, and shopping event held on the first Friday of every month. The city planted some flowers in front of the mural and it is the perfect back drop for taking pictures. I really love this mural and am excited to see what the committee approves next.

Kudos to the artist . We were near the mural in the small park listening to a free rock band …read more Apparently they have free monthly concerts near the old town mural . Yippy to free concerts and beautiful art .

It's always a good movie experience at any IPIC theater. This time, we were at the Boca location…read more We made it just in time for trailers. Seats were clean and I always loved the clean sweet smell of the theater. Throw blankets were waiting for us as well. Our waiter came to us just as our movie started. Drinks and the charcuterie plate took about 20 mins. This has been the standard wait time, especially with a full theater. We had a great time and enjoyed our movie.

Hidden gem! For me at least! I've been in Boca around 3 or 4 years and I'm actually a frequent…read morevisitor at Mizner Park. But I didn't even realize this theater was here for the longest time. And it's really great! The auditoriums are sensational, they look great, they're clean and they have comfortable chairs and blankets so it's very enjoyable to watch a movie here. You could also order food from their extensive menu and have it delivered to your seat, which is great. The food is pretty good quality too, and for a movie theater it's unbelievably good. If you haven't seen a movie here I would strongly recommend checking it out. This place rules. Five stars!

Above & Beyond Service - Thank You, Captain Patrick!…read more We're staying at the beautiful Omni Fort Lauderdale Hotel and decided to head over to Las Olas Boulevard for dinner. On the way back, we chose to try the Fort Lauderdale Water Taxi--and it ended up being one of the best decisions of our trip. It was an easy walk to the stop, followed by a gorgeous boat ride through the canals, and we were dropped off right in front of our hotel. Everything about the experience was seamless... until I realized I had left my purse on the boat. Panic set in immediately. I scrambled to find the Water Taxi phone number, fully expecting to leave a message and hope for the best. Instead, after a quick recording, I was given the option to speak to a supervisor--and to my surprise, a real person picked up. That person was Captain Patrick--and he was absolutely incredible. Calm, reassuring, and immediately proactive, he asked which boat I had been on and then called the captain directly while I was still on the phone. Within seconds, he confirmed they had found my purse. Without hesitation, he coordinated a handoff to the next water taxi heading back toward my stop. Not even 10 minutes later, the boat arrived--and my purse was safely back in my hands. I truly could not have asked for a better outcome to a situation I completely created myself. The level of care, urgency, and professionalism Captain Patrick showed was beyond anything I expected. He turned a stressful moment into a story I'll actually be grateful for. The Water Taxi is already a fun and unique way to experience Fort Lauderdale--but it's the people like Captain Patrick who make it exceptional. Highly, highly recommend!

Got a day to waste? Take the water taxi!…read more Took the taxi to get to one restaurant. Just one. Left at 11am. Didn't get back to my point of origination until 5pm. It was an OUTRAGEOUS waste of time waiting for this taxi, then that taxi, not knowing when the next taxi would appear. One taxi was pulling up to the restaurant where I had been waiting for an hour. Finally! I thought. Nope, suddenly the 'captain' changed his mind and left me standing there dumbfounded. Had to wait another hour for another boat. That's TWO hours of waiting outside after completing my meal. Gross lack of coordination between boats. Passengers were confused on which boat to jump on; it's three different routes. Boats are not marked as to which is going where. The boats move as slow as molasses, too. The good? The staff were nice and gave tour information as you crept along. Other than that, save your TIME and money and take a taxi on wheels, instead. You just want to get where you're going. Who has time to waste like that?!?