- Mountain Lake Estates Historic District
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Mountain Lake Estates Historic District
entrance to Mountain Lake Estates, with Bok Tower in distance
Location: Lake Wales, Florida Coordinates: 27°56′9.6″N 81°34′58.8″W / 27.936°N 81.583°WCoordinates: 27°56′9.6″N 81°34′58.8″W / 27.936°N 81.583°W Area: 896 acres (3.63 km2) Architectural style: Mission/[[Spanish Colonial Revival Style architecture|Spanish Revival]], Colonial Revival Governing body: Private NRHP Reference#: 93000871 Added to NRHP: August 26, 1993 The Mountain Lake Estates Historic District is a U.S. historic district (designated as such on August 26, 1993), located north of Lake Wales, Florida, off the US 27A Scenic Highway.
Mountain Lake Estates was first developed in the 1920s as an exclusive residential area created "to attract the nation's business elite."[1]. The developers hired Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. to design the community. Such wealthy and widely-known people as Edward W. Bok (long-time editor of Ladies' Home Journal and Pulitzer-Prize-winning author), August Heckscher (benefactor of the Heckscher Museum of Art), and Irving T. Bush (of Bush Terminal, Bush Tower, and Bush House fame) subsequently became early "snowbirds" and established winter homes in or near Mountain Lake Estates.[2]
The district contains 65 historic buildings, including two previously listed on the National Register: El Retiro Estate (today renamed "Pinewood" and part of the landmark Bok Tower Gardens[1]) and Mountain Lake Colony House.[1] Noted architect Wallace Neff, known for his celebrity clients' mansions in southern California (see for example Pickfair), designed one home within Mountain Lakes Estates, one of his few commissions outside California.[3]
Mission Revival, Colonial Revival, and other "revival" styles of architecture are most common.[2] House lots within the historic district can be sizable; as an example, Irving T. Bush's estate covered five acres (about 2 hectares).[4]
References
- ^ a b Division of Historical Resources, Florida Office of Cultural and Historical Programs. Florida's history through its places: Polk County
- ^ Environmental Management Office, Florida Department of Transportation (2004).Ridge scenic highway: Corridor management plan. Tallahassee, Florida, p. 134
- ^ Neff, Wallace (1989). Wallace Neff, 1895-1982: The Romance of Regional Architecture. San Marino, CA: Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, ISBN 0-873-28128-4, p. 128
- ^ "Florida auctions set." (Feb. 10, 1952). The New York Times, pg. 254
External links
Categories:- Historic districts in Florida
- Lake Wales, Florida
- National Register of Historic Places in Polk County, Florida
- Florida Registered Historic Places district stubs
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