Texas Magnate Buys Architectural Gem—So He Can Tear It Down
Alfred Browning Parker’s “Sea Aerie” in Coral Gables has been celebrated as a landmark.
City of Coral Gables
A Texas construction mogul who shelled out $36 million for an architectural landmark in Coral Gables, Florida, is seeking permission to tear it down—leaving the creator’s family aghast. “I think it’s dreadful, unbelievable,” Robin Parker, son of architect Alfred Browning Parker, told the Miami Herald. “This is a fantastic house. I can’t imagine anyone even contemplating tearing it down. It’s a crime.” The newspaper says the buyer is Felix Sorkin of General Technologies and that a developer-friendly state law prevents locals from saving the home.
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