Spending any time in South Florida, you more than likely have heard the name Addison or Mizner. Where did these names originate? Mizner Park located at Plaza real, East Boca Raton and Addison Reserve at 7201 Addison Reserve Boulevard, Delray Beach. Both are named for Addison Mizner, famous for his designs of ornate pseudo-Spanish hotels and homes in Florida. Some of his works include the Everglades Club, Boca Raton Club, homes for Harold Vanderbuilt, Rodman Wanamaker, and A.J.D. Biddle. Mizner’s father was the U.S. minister to Guatemala and his brother Wilson Mizner managed the Hotel Rand in 1906.
Here are some highlighted of Mizner’s life:
- 1871 born in Bernicia, CA
- Circa 1900 moved to New York
- 1910 living at 142 W 44th St, Manhattan, NY, Mizner was single, living alone, and employed as a theatre manager
- 1917, moved to Palm Beach.
- 1920 living at 192 North Ocean Blvd, Palm Beach, FL, Mizner is listed as single, with 3 boarders and 2 servants. He was an architect at home.
- 1925, started Mizner Development Corp. Mizner couldn’t draw blueprints but his fondness for barel-tile roofs and Mediterranean architecture remains a standard in Boca Raton, Florida, to this day
- 1926 Mizner lost his fortune in the Florida land bubble of 1925-6
- 1930 living at 300 Worth Avenue, Palm Beach Town, FL, Mizner is llisted as married with 2 servant & 3 lodgers. He was employed as a domestic architect.
- 1933 Addison Mizner died Palm Beach FL
Sources: www.ancestry.com, www.historicpalmbeach.com
Marc D. Thompson, owner of VirtuFit® & VirtuGen, is a prominent fitness trainer, personal coach & professional genealogist with a background in medicine, exercise physiology & family history research. He has pioneered virtual training and teaches via webcam one-on-one and group classes.
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