Trapp Homestead
Encyclopedia
The Trapp Homestead is a historic home in the Coconut Grove section of the City of Miami
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is located at 2521 South Bayshore Drive. On November 10, 1994, it was added to the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

. The home was constructed in 1887 out of oolitic lime
Oolite
Oolite is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. The name derives from the Hellenic word òoion for egg. Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 mm; rocks composed of ooids larger than 2 mm are called pisolites...

 quarried locally by Caleb Trapp (aged 70, at the time) and his son, Harlan. During construction, the Trapps lived on a thatched hut at the front of the property. The property is believed to be the oldest-standing masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...

 home in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The estate's construction pre-dates the incorporation of the City of Miami. The estate was particularly notable at the time because it was one of the few stone structures in Miami-Dade County (then called Dade County), as nearly all structures in the area were built of wood at that time.

History

Originally, the property consisted of approximately 2.5 acres (10,117.2 m²) overlooking Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay is a lagoon that is approximately 35 miles long and up to 8 miles wide located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida, United States. It is usually divided for purposes of discussion and analysis into three parts: North Bay, Central Bay, and South Bay. Its area is...

 before what is now called South Bayshore Drive was built. When the road was first built, it was known as Rhodes Boulevard and was named for Mrs. Trapp's family, which had previously settled in the area and received a 400 acres (1.6 km²) land grant
Land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate – land or its privileges – made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service...

. Subsequently, Main Street, which was later renamed Tigertail Avenue was constructed along property's northern boundary.

The Trapp family pioneered the famed "Trapp Avocado
Avocado
The avocado is a tree native to Central Mexico, classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae along with cinnamon, camphor and bay laurel...

" and sold them by boat to early Miami area hotels. They also grew and milled coontie starch sold for local use. A road in Coconut Grove located just a few blocks away is named Trapp Avenue in honor of the Trapp family. The Trapps were significant community leaders in the area and Mr. Trapp was one of the fourteen founding members of the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club. Mrs. Trapp is believed to have given the first teachers' test for the local public school at the estate. She was also one of the first Public School Teachers in the area. In 1887 or 1888 a school taught by Harlan Trapp was opened in Lemon City, now a part of Miami.

In the years that followed, numerous mansions were constructed along Rhodes Boulevard/South Bayshore Drive and the street became notable in Miami for its expensive and substantial homes located on top of the Silver Bluff overlooking Biscayne Bay. The Trapp family later sold off various parts of the property where numerous homes and apartments were constructed.

In 1951, the Connelly Family of Atlanta, Georgia purchased the property and used it as a part-time residence. It started to collapse in 1978. In the 1980s and 1990s, many of the other homes located on the sold off neighboring lots were demolished and all that remained were the four decaying structures on the central portion of the property, with the main building holding up best, though poorly.

Between 1994 and 1996, the Connellys purchased the remaining parcels on each side of the central parcel and had the site officially entered into the National Register of Historic Places. Meanwhile, the property continued to decline and several buildings became uninhabitable. The estate became well known with community activists who feared that the buildings would collapse and that a developer would purchase the property for highrise development.

In 2005, the already-weakened roof of the main house suffered serious damage in Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

 and Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma was the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic basin. Wilma was the twenty-second storm , thirteenth hurricane, sixth major hurricane, and fourth Category 5 hurricane of the record-breaking 2005 season...

, while other buildings on the site suffered more serious damage and it was determined that the secondary buildings could not be saved from demolition.

Preservation

In early 2006, the Connellys sold the property to Lisa and Victor Mendelson, longtime Miami and Coconut Grove residents, who worked with a historic preservationist architect, Richard Heisenbottle, FAIA to develop a plan to restore the main house and add an appropriate addition to it for their family's private use. Minor zoning variances were needed to accommodate the height of the crow's nest. The plans were approved by the City of Miami's Historic and Environmental Preservation Board in the Fall of 2006. Construction commenced in April 2010 and is expected to be complete in 12 months.
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