In the 1920's, many of America's super-rich asked Addison Mizner to design Palm Beach mansions for them. There, in Florida's subtropical climate, he re-created stately European residences that he wanted to look as if they had been built over many generations, with owners over time making changes and additions as their fortunes waxed and waned.
The effect was often quite beautiful. And perhaps surprisingly, these palace-like homes were quite eco-efficient for their, or even our, time.
For example (in those pre-air-conditioning days) Mizner always tried to allow for cross-ventilation in every room of each house he designed. Prevailing breezes were considered, and buildings were one-room deep, with windows on at least two sides. The kitchen (with its heat) was kept away from living areas. And covered outdoor areas kept the heat of direct sunlight out of windows.
Dr. Donald Curl, one of my former professors, is probably the world's foremost authority on Mizner, who himself was a fascinating character. Mizner traveled widely and made a personal study of the mansions and other architectural treasures of Europe. At various times, he also had been a painter, an earstwhile gold miner in Alaska, and even a prize fighter.
It is thanks in large part to Dr. Curl that the world knows what it does of Addison Mizner.
Mizner personally bought out ancient villages in Spain to bring their treasures to Palm Beach, where the items themselves (or replicas his own workshop painstakingly created) adorned his home and those of his wealthy client friends. He had his workers soak outdoor flower pots in water saturated with cow manure, and then allowed moss to grow on the pots, "aging" them to add an Old World look to his mansions. But beyond just looks, those mansions in a number of ways embodied the wisdom of pre-Industrial Age design, and can teach us some lessons even today.
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