Finish carpentry for Coral Gables homes and Mediterranean interiors

The Board of Architects and what it looks at

In Coral Gables, the Board of Architects, at least seven local architects, decides whether an application meets the city’s Design Review Standards for color, materials, fenestration and proportion. It meets Thursday mornings and grants a preliminary and a final approval before a building permit issues for new residences, additions, pools and roof tiles.

For finish carpentry, the line falls at the exterior wall. New entry doors or a wood ceiling on a front loggia change what the street sees, so ask the city early whether your change needs review. A coffered ceiling in the family room is out of the Board’s sight.

Building to the Mediterranean style

The zoning code defines Coral Gables Mediterranean architecture as a style that shows George Merrick’s vision for the city, and offers larger buildings a “Med Bonus” for following it. The city also publishes a Best Practices manual for single-family houses. Woodwork that sits well with this architecture tends to be heavier and darker than in a modern Florida house:

• Beamed ceilings in stained cypress or pine, sometimes with pecky cypress panels between.
• Arched openings cased with wide, flat trim instead of narrow colonial casing.
• Iron balusters under a stained wood handrail, often a scroll pattern.
• Raised-panel or plank doors hung in thick jambs that read as solid masonry openings.

Historic landmarks and the interior question

The city’s Historical Resources department issues Certificates of Appropriateness for local landmarks and properties in historic districts. Its guide says a COA is required before most exterior work and before a building permit can issue. Interior remodeling is not reviewed unless the owner applies for the historic property tax exemption. Then staff look at moldings, beamed ceilings, niches and stair details.

In an older Gables house, original crown, a turned-baluster stair or a beamed living room ceiling is usually worth repairing and matching instead of replacing, exemption or not.

Entry doors in the wind zone

Miami-Dade requires product approval for exterior doors, and the Board of Architects reviews how they look. Choose the door with your architect so it satisfies both. We hang and trim it, and case it to match the door work inside.