Studying the Neighborhood Before Designing: A Renovation in Macfarlane Homestead, Coral Gables

Coral Gables' Macfarlane Homestead Historic District is one of Miami's most architecturally preserved neighborhoods and one of the few that requires a community engagement and socialization process, on top of municipal design review, before approving any intervention.

For this residential renovation and carport addition, the starting point was the neighborhood itself: before proposing anything, we studied the typology and character of the surrounding homes. The result is an addition that reads as part of the place, not something added after the fact: decorative column and railing details drawn from the district's historic vernacular, a high-contrast blue and white palette that references the neighborhood's established identity, and natural wood accents that soften the composition.

Navigating a historic district's socialization process isn't a formality, it's a conversation with the community that can reshape a project midway if it isn't anticipated. We brought this proposal through to approval without compromising the original design intent.

1,282 square feet, architectural design, feasibility study, and permitting. A project that proves respecting context and proposing something with its own character aren't opposing goals.