You’re Invited – Party at The Barnacle
Join The Barnacle Society and The Barnacle Historic State Park in commemorating the 163rd birthday of Ralph Middleton Monroe, Coconut Grove pioneer and founder of the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club.
Ralph Monroe was a New Yorker who came to the wilds of South Florida in the late 1870’s and adopted Coconut Grove as his home. He built The Barnacle in 1891, a one story wood frame building on the ridge overlooking Biscayne Bay. In order to accommodate a family, he later jacked-up the one story home and inserted a new first floor under the original floor creating a two-story home. The Hurricane of 1926 and Hurricane Andrew took its toll on The Barnacle, but the original house survived both storms.
The original boat house, down by the water, was destroyed in the Hurricane of 1926. In re-building the boat house, Monroe designed the sides to give way to the wind so it would not collapse from storms. He raised the structure and placed ties down to the ground to prevent it from swaying in the high winds. He also build two break-away walls where water could flow through the house and back out without the structure sustaining any damage.
I am a luxury estate specialist in Coconut Grove, Coral Gables and The Village of Pinecrest. If you would like to schedule a buyer, seller or investor consultation, or would like a complementary market analysis of your home, please give me a call at 305-898-1852 or send me a note at Wellins.D@ewm.com.
