Americana Hotel Bal Harbour promises tropical fun on Miami Beach 1950s

Americana Hotel and pool circa 1956,
Florida State Archives

 By Jane Feehan

Laurence and Bob Tisch, operators of hotels in Atlantic City and in New York announced construction of their new Bal Harbour hotel, the Americana, in 1955. Property included 600 feet of ocean front and 10 acres of “playground” for the entire project. Designer Morris Lapidus was tapped as architect.

The Americana, once queen of Bal Harbour hotels, operated at 9701 Collins Avenue. It was the third major hotel designed by Morris Lapidus (1902-2001). He had worked on the San Souci Hotel on the beach in 1949, but only to complete work already begun by another architect. The first and second achievements of his architectural trifecta were the Fontainebleau at 4441 Collins, opened in 1954, and the Eden Roc next door at 4525 Collins in 1955. The Americana, as well as the other two hotels, received praise, criticism and plenty of publicity.

The Americana design represented a departure from the European-influenced style of the previous two hotels. The Bal Harbour resort featured mostly South American elements, a “modern tropical,” idea said  Laurence Tisch. Taylor Construction began work on the Americana in September 1955.

To accent his design concept, Lapidus included tiles imported from Mexico, Panama, Japan, and Italy. He was criticized by other architects for use of less luxurious—“cheap”— materials for guest rooms. Some complained about hearing noise such as ringing phones from adjacent rooms. Lapidus claimed guests came to Miami hotels for fun rather than privacy. The Tisch brothers defended their architect. 

The $17 million Americana Hotel, with 850 employees, 475 rooms, the 500-seat Carnival Supper club and Bal Masque Room night club opened for guests in November 1956. Rooms, which sold for $35-$75 (expensive at that time) featured black-white and color television sets as well as closed circuit TV.

Bal Masque entrance 1957 
Florida State Archives

Television and radio broadcasting company NBC arrived for its 30th anniversary bash in December that year with a lineup of shows normally aired from New York studios: The Today Show with host Dave Garroway, the Perry Como Show and the Steve Allen Show with Allen's wife Jayne Meadows. Newspapers reported entertainer Abbe Lane and husband Xavier Cugat performed at the Bal Masque Room for the NBC party.

No doubt the NBC bash raised the profile of the new Americana. The hotel sailed smoothly through the years with different owners, including the Sheraton, which was the last owner to take the helm. The hotel was demolished in 2007 to make way for the St. Regis condo hotel where a recent listing for a two-bedroom condo advertised a price of nearly $4 million.

Hotel lobby greenhouse,
circa 1956
Florida State Archives

More on Morris Lapidus

Born in Russia, Lapidus studied drama at New York University. His specialty was scene design. He also attended Columbia University where he studied general architecture. Lapidus settled on retail design before working in Miami, where his career soared. He designed Lincoln Road Mall as well. 

Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Jane Feehan.

Recommendation
For an excellent compilation of the history of Miami Beach hotels and a useful chronology, see Woggles and Cheese Holes by Howard Kleinberg, published in 2005 by The Greater Miami & The Beaches Hotel Association, Miami Beach, FL 33139.

Other sources:

The Miami News, July 17, 1955

The Miami Herald, Aug. 28, 1955

The Miami News, July 1, 1956

The Miami Herald, Nov. 11, 1956

The Miami News, Nov. 25, 1956

The Miami News, Nov. 24, 1956

The Miami Herald, Nov. 30, 1956

The Miami News, Dec. 14, 1956

The Miami Herald, Dec. 16, 1956

Tags: Americana Hotel, Sheraton Bal Harbour, Miami Beach hotels, Miami Beach in the 1950s, Morris Lapidus, Bal Harbour, Bal Harbor hotels

Morris Lapidus: Architect with a sense of fun ... ahead of his time?

Fontainebleau today
 Creative Commons
Wikipedia 

By Jane Feehan


Once mocked by critics, architect Morris Lapidus (1902-2001) designed 250 hotels and 1,200 other buildings throughout the world. Among his most noted buildings were the Fontainebleau Hotel (1954), Eden Roc Hotel (1955) and the Americana (1956) - all in Miami Beach.*

Lapidus was a retail architect whose first Miami Beach hotel commission was to complete the Sans Souci Hotel in 1949 (another architect began the work). He was known for his use of whiplash curved facades, bright colors, and heavy adornments. His was a blend of French provincial and Italian Renaissance styles, leading some of his peers to call his work “boarding house baroque,” even “pornography.”

When he saw the Fontainebleau, architect Frank Lloyd Wright exclaimed it looked like an “anthill.” That didn’t bother the Russian-born Lapidus who said, “I’m flattered. An anthill is one of the greatest abodes nature ever perfected.” Critics said he was pandering to the public. “My critic is the masses,” Lapidus answered. “I design for them. Let’s stop educating the human race. Let’s just make them happy.”

Miami Beach 1954 41st Sreet
Florida State Archives

And he did make the masses happy. Among its many “gaudy” features, the Fontainebleau (once called “America’s grossest national product”) was known for its staircase to nowhere. It actually led to a cloak room from which people could descend dramatically in all their jewels and other finery to an admiring audience. His Americana Hotel kept alligators in terrariums to remind tourists they were in Florida. “What I try to do is to create buildings which give people a sense of exhilaration and enjoyment,” Lapidus explained in a 1959 interview.

Architects today take a kinder view of Lapidus. Some call him the first post-modernist architect. He may have been ahead of his time, especially with pedestrian-friendly Lincoln Road Mall opened in November, 1960. Spanning several blocks, the outdoor mall was closed to traffic and accented with pools, fountains, shelters, gardens and tropical foliage.

Whatever critics think of him, Lapidus, who lived on Miami's Venetian Causeway until his death in 2001, will be remembered by his creed: “Even a doghouse or a birdhouse should have an adornment.”

*Fontainebleau Hotel - Listed year 2008 in National Register of Historic Places (as of April 2024 the hotel is owned by Fontainbleau Resorts and controlled by the Soffer family).
Open today

Sans Souci - now the RIU Florida Beach: 

Eden Roc  - now a Marriott Renaissance Hotel 

Americana imploded 2007

Sources:

Miami News, Sept. 3, 1959

Miami News, Nov. 26, 1960

New York Times, Jan. 20, 2001

LA Times, Jan. 20, 2001

Tags: Miami Beach history, Miami Beach architect, architect of Fountainebleau, architect of Eden Roc, architect of Americana, Lincoln Road architect, Miami Beach in the 1950s, Frank Lloyd Wright, Miami Beach hotels of the 1950s, film industry researcher, Morris Lapidus