An architectural gem was just razed in Coral Gables. See the before and after photos

Backhoes have begun razing the famed “Sea Aerie” house designed and built in 1963 by famed Miami architect Alfred Browning Parker in Coral Gables — a demolition that came despite pleas from Parker’s family and preservationists and architects around the country.

A new owner — identified as Felix Sorkin, founder of General Technologies outside Houston — paid $36 million for a home widely regarded as a modern design masterwork but had plans to build a new home on the site. The tear-down was made possible by a controversial 2022 state law that prohibits local authorities from blocking the demolition of single-family homes in designated high-risk flood zones if they were not previously protected as historic or architectural landmarks.

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“I know there are a lot of people who are brokenhearted about this,” said the late architect’s daughter, Lebritia Kendrick Parker, who lived in the house as a young girl. “It’s tragic.”

The loss of the house also comes a week before a new documentary on Parker’s work that has been picked up by PBS will have its premiere in Gainesville, where the architect studied and taught at the University of Florida. The Gables Estates house is featured in the film.

Here’s what the home site looks like before and after the heavy equipment began destroying the home overlooking Biscayne Bay.

This story was originally published November 10, 2023 at 12:35 PM.