Palm Beach: An Architectural Heritage: Stories in Preservation and Architecture

Palm Beach houses and gardens resplendent with old grandeur yet wonderfully alive for today are the subject of this elegant volume.

Palm Beach details the meticulous restorations of more than thirty great houses and public buildings on what has been called ＂America’s Riviera.＂ These houses were restored from 1988 to the present, and each house has won the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach’s coveted Ballinger Award. The Ballinger Award, presented by the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, commemorates a restoration or renovation that best exemplifies the traditions of Palm Beach’s original houses and the architect who designed them. First given 1988 in honor of the late Robert I. Ballinger Jr., former chairman of the Palm Beach Landmarks Preservation Commission--an individual who worked tirelessly for many years to instill in others a pride in the island’s architectural heritage. The year 2018 marks the 30th anniversary of this award’s inception, and this book features the award winners from the past 30 years to celebrate this milestone, showcasing the extraordinary homes that have garnered this coveted award.
The cycle of building and restoration chronicled here encompasses one of the country’s enduring architectural landscapes, as well as the dynamics of its social history. Public and private structures designed by some of the style-setting early architects are depicted, including the works of Addison Mizner, Joseph Urban, and Maurice Fatio, as well as anonymous designers whose feats of imagination rivaled those of the most celebrated professionals.