Key Biscayne, Florida, USA
Designed by Scott Hughes of Hughes Umbanhowar Architects, this new single-family home inspires the imagination of today’s Miami residents as the original house did almost 100 years ago.
The house won a 2020 American Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum.
What contributes to the impression that the structure is floating on the sea is the lifting of the main living level approximately 10 feet above the existing grade.
This allows the inevitable floodwaters to flow beneath rather than against the sides of the building.
A series of massive concrete pedestals connect the post-tensioned slab of the living levels to the pile caps below grade.
Organized into three distinct two-story zones running east to west, the middle of the house defines the public space with a two-story living room, dining and media room.
The western wing of the house is for private usage with the kitchen/family room on the western tip and the master bedroom above.
The eastern wing contains the guest bedrooms and the technical space requirements.
The site was created to embody the attractions of an exotic distant land.
Visible from the Miami shore, this projection from the southwestern corner (bay-side) of Key Biscayne was created in the early 1900s to be a protective lagoon providing access to the otherwise inaccessible barrier island.
Just as importantly it created the foundation for an exotic architectural folly appearing, when seen from the mainland, to float magically on the sea.
The owner of the island, W. J. Matheson, built a palatial concrete weekend and getaway entertainment home named “Mashta House.” Mashta is an Egyptian name meaning “home or resting spot by the sea.”
It was of Moorish style with a huge ballroom and high domed ceilings. Built for amusement more than for practical reasons, the elite of the time — Vanderbilts, Carnegies, and Mellons — were said to have been among the many who arrived by yacht and engaged in the revelry at Mashta House.
Abandoned in the late 1930s, the house was heavily damaged by storms and slowly decayed. Its remnants were visible until the 1950s.
Hughes Umbanhowar Architects 21st-Century version of Key Biscayne Mashta House in Miami
Architects: Hughes Umbanhowar Architects
Client: Client: Prime Group Management
