Private estate near downtown South Miami

Here’s a virtual tour and photos:  5353 SW 60th Place, listed at $799,000 (previously over $1 million) is a beautiful, architect-designed two story home with a master bedroom and sundeck at the top of a sweeping staircase overlooking a private 39,000 square foot garden with koi ponds and a resort-style pool and deck. This is the residence of a local artist who specializes in sculptures of birds and butterflies.  His works dot the area and are for sale. Enter the “Koi Gardens” iron-gates and you’ll find yourself in a relaxing escape just five minutes from downtown South Miami, but a world away from all the hustle and bustle.  You can reach me at 305-401-8058 or bishopric.r@ewm.com to schedule an appointment or for more information.

Worthy of Architectural Digest!

This 1954 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 2,600 square-foot home in Miami Springs has been completely re-modeled by the owner/construction professional.  He spared no expense.   An over-sized covered porch overlooks a magnificent pool and patio area worthy of Architectural Digest.  There is a guest house with its own covered porch that features a summer kitchen.  Marble floors, wood inlaid ceilings, tasteful wall coverings, and textured columns grace the interior that features an expansive eat-in kitchen with stainless steel appliances.  There is both a full-sized living room and family room. The home is on a full lot and a half in the heart of Miami Springs, the City of Trees.  Miami Springs is a delightful hideway north of Miami International airport and has golf courses, lakes, pedestrian walkways and has achieved national recognition in its efforts to promote a healthy tree canopy. 

I’d be glad to show you this home or any other in Miami Springs or South Florida.  You can reach me at bishopric.r@ewm or 305-401-8058.

If you’d like to see this fine home or would like information about any South Florida real estate, especially South Miami and Coral Gables, you can reach me at bishopric.r@ewm.com or 305-401-8058.

After three and a half months, a wall of Miami-Dade County building department permits, dozens of various workers wandering in and out, eating off paper plates with plastic forks out of cardboard boxes, the kitchen is finished. My life has sort of come to a halt in the last few weeks trying to get this job done. That, and a bad bout of illness, has kept me away from the blog for a while. Assuming we pass our plumbing, gas, electrical and mechanical/ventilation and then the master permit inspections in a few days, my life will get back into order enough to get back to somewhat regular blogging. I’m going to start covering South Miami more extensively–what’s happening, local events, local politics, restaurants, etc. So at least once a week I’ll be out there with my trusty camera seeing what’s going on and reporting about it.

If you’d like to know anything about South Florida real estate, in particular South Miami and Coral Gables, you can reach me at bishopric.r@ewm.com  or 305-401-8058. I’ll be glad to answer any of your questions.

High Pines Gem on Corner Lot

This property closed for $405,000.  It was originally priced at $625,000. This home at 5360 SW 76th Street on a large, 12,500 square foot lot in easy-living South Miami/High Pines has been reduced to $525,000. Three bedrooms, two baths, impeccably maintained with tile and refinished terrazzo floors, this corner residence is in the heart of the most desirable residential neighborhood in South Florida.  A special feature is the split plan, there is a one bedroom, one bath guest quarters across the breezeway.  So it would be perfect for a home office, artist’s studio or mother-in-law apartment.

You can reach me at bishopric.r@ewm or 305-401-8058.

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All the permits I had to pull.

I had to have architectural and engineering drawings done and approved to do so.  I also had to pass an “owners test” which is basically going down to the Building Department with my drivers license to prove I’m me working on my own house instead of someone else working on my house.  The logic of this completely escapes me.  But the good news is that the kitchen is back on track and we passed our “rough” inspections so we can put up the drywall.

Here are the cabinets in waiting in the living room. 

Cabinets ready for installation

I think Andy the Cabinet Man of A.G. Cabinets (305) 761-8967 has done a beautiful job of crafting these custom-made, maple cabinets. 

If you’d like to commiserate with me about home renovations, or find out about South Florida real estate, you can reach me at bishopric.r@ewm.com or 305-401-8058.

Three Cute Kittens

Awwwwww, aren’t they cute?

Soft-hearted Wife Extraordinaire picked them up at the hospital where she works.  We’re getting them inoculated, so they’ll be healthy.  But we can’t keep them, see The Adventures of Riggs the Hospital Cat to learn why Betty Boop won’t allow that.  (By the way, Riggs did eventually find a home.)

So, if you’re in need of a cuddly, warm, loving, cute–did I mention cute?–fluffy ball of fur, you can reach me at 305-401-8058 or bishopric.r@ewm.com.

The rest of the house is as beautiful!

The foreclosure property that was listed at $89,900 has been dropped by the bank down to $74,900.  You can read more about this fine 3-bedroom, 2 1/2 bath townhome in Cedar Woods in Homestead here.

You can contact me at bishopric.r@ewm.com or 305-401-8058.

What a new house will look like in Carmel, California

Carmel, CA is a beautiful city consumed with keeping it that way.  Unlike in Miami, when someone wants to build a home or alter an existing one, the approval process is exacting, lengthy, detailed, aimed at making sure the neighbors are not adversely impacted and the trees and environment are protected.  In Miami we just bulldoze what’s there and build basically whatever we want. The trees and the neighbors get priority here.  One of the first steps in construction of any sort is to erect a physical representation of the space the new structure will occupy.  This means putting up a framework in exactly the same space so that anyone can see what it will look like and, most importantly, the neighbors can tell what the new edifice will do to their view.  Here is a picture of the framework representing a new house being built down the street.  It will stay up until the public hearing on the construction. 

When you do construction, preservation of the trees is paramount.  You have to build around them if at all possible.  Many times, construction can’t take place because of trees.  Here’s an example of how construction was done to avoid injuring a tree.  Notice how the roof line was adjusted to go around the limb of the tree.

Miami has one of the lowest percentages of tree cover for any large metropolitan area.  Maybe we could learn something from California.

If you’d like any information about South Florida real estate or would like to talk about tree cover, you can reach me at bishopric.r@ewm.com or 305-401-8058.

Seagull contemplates lunch

The South Florida Real Estate Feast is on vacation for the holidays in Carmel, California.  Yesterday we drove up to Pacific Grove on Monterey Bay just to see the sights.  The natural beauty in this part of California is breathtaking.  The air clean, the water blue and beautiful, the rocks in the Pacific awesome. Found ourselves walking around Lover’s Point at one of the many many public parks on the water.  (Boy, could South Florida learn a few things from California about public spaces!)  We saw these young lovers wrapped up in themselves and oblivious to everything else around them, including this really big seagull intent on snatching their lunch in the plastic bag.  The seagull would inch closer and closer eyeing the bag first with one eye and then the other, but it could never quite bring itself to grab the goodies and go.  At least while we were watching.  Too funny.  Oh, and one of this gull’s confederates took revenge for my paparazzi activity with a well-placed aerial bombardment on my jacket, which went right into the washing machine when we got back to our place.

I’ll be back in Miami this week and if you’d like any information about easy-living South Miami/High Pines or Coral Gables real estate, you can reach me at bishopric.r@ewm.com or 305-401-8058.