A complete and well illustrated book detailing the story of Coral Gables. Archival photographs provide excellent historical detail about the City Beautiful.

The story of developers selling off the Sunshine State is as old as the first railroad tracks laid across the peninsula. But seldom do we hear about the men who actually built a better Florida. In George Merrick, Son of the South Wind, South Florida historian Arva Moore Parks recounts George Merrick's quest to distinguish himself from the legions of developers who sought only profit. Helping to create the land boom of the 1920s, Merrick transformed his family's citrus grove just outside of Miami into one of the finest planned communities: the "master suburb" of Coral Gables. With a team of architects and city planners, he built homes for the growing middle class in the Mediterranean Style using local stone, and he invested in public infrastructure by designing and building parks and pools, trolley lines and waterways. He pledged land for a library and the university that would become the University of Miami. Hailed in national publications as a visionary, Merrick was green before green, a New Urbanist before the movement even had a name. As Coral Gables and Merrick prospered, he reinvested in education, affordable housing, and other progressive causes. But the Great Depression ravaged Miami, and Merrick's idealism cost him his fortune. He died with an estate worth less than $400. With unprecedented access to the Merrick family and mining a treasure trove of Merrick’s personal letters, documents, speeches, and manuscripts, Parks presents the remarkable story of George Merrick and the development of one of the nation’s most iconic planned cities.

This ultimate foodie guide to the Florida city “features more than 70 restaurants, and the recipes reflect the diverse, multicultural culinary landscape” (Mitch & Mel Take Miami). A Taste of Coral Gables is brimming with all the great food and good vibes that make this sunny city in South Florida such a magnet for food lovers of all stripes. Filled with recipes, restaurant descriptions, menu highlights, chef profiles, wine pairings, and more, this one-stop resource on the Coral Gables food scene doubles as a restaurant guide and recipe resource to the best places the city has to offer. There are approximately seventy-five restaurants covered in the book, each with a two-page spread that contains color photographs, informative text on the origins and highlights of the restaurant, what makes it unique, and who the people are behind the restaurant’s unique atmosphere and cuisine. Each also features a recipe for one of the restaurant’s signature dishes for easy preparation at home. From such venerable dining establishments as the Palm d’Or at the Biltmore (haute cuisine in Old-World charm with New World sensibilities) to fun and funky specialty joints such as Ms. Cheezious (grilled cheese in every manner imaginable), to ethnic standouts such as Talavera (down-home Mexican), all bases are covered in this comprehensive culinary treasure trove paying homage to the “City Beautiful.”

Coral Gables: Miami Riviera was the original title for the many publicity and informational brochures published by the Coral Gables Corporation. These brochures revealed, to a winter-weary nation, the intentions, achievements, and progress of George E. Merrick's grand vision for "America's Most Beautiful Suburb," created during the Florida land boom of 1921-26. This book is specifically designed as a history and a pocket guide to showcase the many unique architectural features and places of this premier "boom time" city, from its beginnings until the present. The guide is organized into three sections. The first is an essay that compares the concept of the city with the influences of American 19th- and 20th-century city planning. The second section illustrates the patterns of Coral Gables development with original maps and the many grandiose planning functions for the "Master Suburb" that became a city. The third section offers six self-guided tours by sectors and themes of the city, featuring more than 90 sites and landmarks. These are illustrated with more than 120 archival and contemporary photos and the original advertisement drawings of Merrick's grand vision. Aristides J. Millas is associate professor of architecture at the University of Miami. Ellen J. Uguccioni is director of the Historic Preservation Division, City of Coral Gables.

Florida's architectural history can be traced to the Spanish colonial settlement of St Augustine in the mid-16th century. Casa Florida is an exhuberant, full-colour celebration of the enduring influence of the Spanish design upon Florida's resorts, private houses and gardens.