An infamous gangster died in Miami Beach. What happened to his home?
He had a famous name. He had a nice house. He lived among us in Miami Beach.
He also was one of the world’s most notorious gangsters.
Al Capone died at home on Jan. 25, 1947.
Here is a look back at his time and mansion in South Florida through the archives of the Miami Herald:
Al Capone’s mansion
Built in 1922, the former Capone residence was best known for the gangster’s years there before he died at the house in 1947.
The two-story house had nine bedrooms, six bathrooms and two half bathrooms. One of Palm Island’s first residences, Capone later added a 60-foot-long swimming pool, modeled after the Biltmore hotel in Coral Gables, one of his favorite local places.
Parker Henderson Jr., son of former Miami Mayor Parker Henderson, bought the house in 1928 and soon sold it for $40,000 to Mae Capone, Capone’s wife, according to Miami Herald archives. At the time, South Florida was still recovering from the the 1926 hurricane that flattened the area.
The house became party central for Capone and his cohorts, who needed respites from their Chicago day jobs of bootlegging, money laundering, prostitution and gambling.
Visiting often, Capone notoriously plotted and hid at the house, while ordering his Chicago gang to carry out the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. After the Valentine’s Day Massacre, Capone earned the nickname “Public Enemy Number One.” In 1931, Capone was sent to prison for tax evasion and served 6 1/2 years, most of them at the Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. He was released in 1939 and later returned to his Palm Island getaway. His family often gathered at the residence before he died there in 1947 from heart failure and neurosyphilis.
The end of Al Capone’s mansion
But what happened to the Capone’s mansion?
The house exchanged hands several times after Capone’s death, selling for millions in the early 2000s.
Developer Todd Michael Glaser and Berkshire Hathaway executive Nelson Gonzalez acquired the house in 2021 with plans to demolish the residence and replace it with a sleek mansion. After facing backlash from preservationists, the business duo sold the residence to the Claramonte family.
The home at 93 Palm Ave. was torn down in 2023, eliminating hope for those who had pushed for it to be saved ever since demolition plans were announced two years before. The mansion’s fate became almost certain when the property owner, the family living next door, requested a demolition permit from the city of Miami Beach.
Images from the past
