Around 1915, a few blocks of buildings on a barrier island in Florida’s Biscayne Bay were incorporated as the City of Miami Beach. The rest, as they say, is history. Glamorous Art Deco history, to be exact. But that doesn’t mean you have to be a history geek or art major to enjoy a world-renowned Miami Beach Art Deco walking tour. Although, at almost 9-square-miles, being in shape wouldn’t hurt. But don’t worry – we won’t walk that far!

Miami Beach’s Art Deco Beginnings

Fun fact: Miami Beach started as a failed coconut plantation. Once a hotel was built, its fortunes changed. With easy access to sandy beaches and ocean swells, the small city became an instant hit with the well to do. Captains of industry, stars of stage and screen, and wealthy socialites were drawn to its sunny shores. Chic resorts and hotels quickly followed.

After World War I and the Great Depression, Art Deco’s popularity soared all over the world. The style represented luxury and glamour, and captured the world’s new found faith in social and technological progress. Though born in France, American architects embraced the form, which dominated Manhattan’s building boom of the 1920s and ’30s.

Miami Beach personified that exuberance in its resorts and beaches. Architects fused the city’s lean Industrial style with Art Deco designs and American glamour. Suddenly, the smaller hotels and office buildings had an enduring style unique to the island.

So how does Miami Beach become the Art Deco capital of the world?

By World War II, the rest of the world had moved past Art Deco, but Miami Beach kept right on going. In the Post War years, Mid-Century Modern took hold in Palm Springs. Across the country, famed architect Morris Lapidus pioneered the lavish, over-the-top Miami Modern, or MiMo. According to Lapidus, it was made for Americans just getting accustomed to luxury. In describing the overflowing style of the Fontainebleau in North Beach, Lapidus explained that when guests walked in, they felt like they had arrived.

“This is what we’ve dreamed of. This is what we saw in the movies, and this is what we imagined it might be.”

Today, that small sliver of Florida real estate is home to the largest collection of Art Deco buildings in the world! The Miami Beach Architectural District spreads across the southern end of the city, starting at Dade Boulevard. In 1979, it became the first entire historic district to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Fun Fact: there are nearly 1,000 buildings in the district! Don’t worry, we’ll just hit the highlights, plus a few stops to keep things interesting for everyone – Art Deco devotee or not. So let’s get going on our Miami Beach Art Deco District Walking Tour!

Iconic Ocean Drive – Miami Beach’s Art Deco Epicenter

But first, coffee!

We started in the morning at Starbucks (of course!) on Ocean Drive at 14th Place, right on the corner by Lummus Park. It’s the perfect place and plan to start our Miami Beach Art Deco walking tour! With coffee and camera in hand, we will stroll all the way down Ocean Drive to 5th Street, enjoying the cool ocean breeze and gawking at the pastel colored buildings. Our first photo stop is a personal favorite: the McAlpin Hotel. This building is more than just one of the city’s top selfie spots; it’s one of the city’s finest examples of Art Deco architecture. L. Murray Dixon, one of the giants in Art Deco, designed the hotel in 1940, along with many more of Miami’s most iconic buildings.

Although just about every building is photo-worthy, a few more highlights in the next few blocks include the Cardozo, owned by Gloria and Emilio Estefan (who own several properties in the area), the sleek Carlyle, and the lemon-yellow Leslie. The Carlyle may seem familiar: It was the setting for The Birdcage with Robin Williams and Nathan Lane.

Some would say this area is even better looking all lit up at night, so you could make this a twilight tour ending at Starbucks or the nightclubs down the street. Either way, this block is the “money shot” of Miami Beach!

Miami Beach Party Palaces: Casa Casaurina and The Clevelander

Between 12th and 11th Streets, you’ll see one of the most famous homes in South Beach, Casa Casaurina. Better known as the Versace Mansion, the Mediterranean Revival estate was built in the 1930s, and is a private party club today. Not only did Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace live here, it’s where he was shockingly gunned down by a serial killer on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. Decades later, the motive for the killing is still unknown.

Further down Ocean Drive, the infamous Miami Beach party scene begins in earnest at the Clevelander. Built in 1938, the colorful hotel is known for its poolside bar and street-side stage. No matter when you go, it’s worth exploring the oasis that is the Clevelander.

Across the street at 10th is the Art Deco Welcome Center. Although it’s the home of the Miami Design Preservation League, it’s a surprisingly plain building. Inside you can learn more about the design styles prominent in Miami Beach through the years. You can also find information on events in the area, and sign up for tours ($20 to $25).

Art Deco Darlings in the Heart of South Beach

In the next few blocks, you’ll see more famous “SoBe” venues. The popular Hotel Breakwater is here, plus the Estefan’s restaurant, Lario’s on the Beach. The musical stars opened Lario’s in 1992. It quickly became THE place in Miami for authentic Cuban cuisine – and killer mojitos! It has been closed for renovations since mid-2020, though.

Strolling further, you’ll pass the Colony Hotel, the Beacon, and the Avalon. Even if you don’t know the names, you’ve certainly seen their faces.

Eventually, we come to the Park Central Hotel. Built in 1937, it was the first of the Miami Beach hotels to be restored to its full Art Deco glory in 1987. The “portholes,” metal rails, and tall façade are meant to resemble the ocean liners at the nearby Port of Miami. In the 1940s and ’50s, it’s where a Hollywood clientele defined South Beach as a glamorous playground for the rich and famous.

About the Pastel Paradise

Ocean Avenue stretches out like a fashion runway for buildings swathed in warm, summery pastel colors. It’s a hallmark of the Art Deco District, but some have been critical of the paint jobs, complaining that before the TV show Miami Vice, Miami Beach did not wear pastels. (Nor loafers without socks, but I digress.) But the pastels actually pre-date Miami Vice.

The Art Deco movement itself did not have a defined palette, concerning itself more with form and materials. At other Art Deco icons around the globe, black and chrome, lavish gold, and pearly whites are dominant colors. In the Miami Beach of the mid-70s, there was no color theme (aside from mostly white), and the buildings were aging. That’s where preservationist Leonard Horowitz entered the picture.

Horowitz, and his partner in Art Deco, Barbara Capitman, set up the Miami Design Preservation League and got funding to revitalize the Art Deco District. Horowitz pulled together 40 colors for the Miami Color Palette, representing the tropical flair of the seaside community. It came to be known as the Pastel Paradise and, while it may have been representative of the community, it was not well received. Even Horowitz had doubts at times but, over time, the Art Deco District’s new paint job came to be a defining feature that drew attention and tourists from around the world. And, of course, and the producers of Miami Vice.

You can watch the 1989 documentary A Pastel Paradise on You Tube. It details Leonard Horowitz and the Miami Design Preservation League’s work to make Miami Beach the iconic beauty we know today. It was their work that resulted in the Art Deco District being added to the National Registry of Historic Places.

The (Re)Birthplace of Miami Beach Art Deco

With that bit of history, there is one more highly recommended stop to pay homage to the genius of Leonard Horowitz. At the corner of Washington and 7th is an iconic building that was once the stark white Friedman’s Bakery. It is the first building that got a Horowitz makeover. His genius and impact were validated when this building graced the cover of Progressive Architecture magazine in November 1982.

SoFi and Other Options

Strictly speaking, the Art Deco District ends at 5th Street and this is where Part One of our tour concludes. However, you could continue a few blocks further on Ocean Drive to explore the South of Fifth (SoFi) neighborhood. You can wave to the cruise ships leaving for and returning from the Bahamas and Caribbean at South Pointe Park. If you turn west on 3rd Street, you can visit the Jewish Museum of Florida at Washington Avenue, just two streets west of Ocean Drive.

The walk from our start at Starbucks down to South Pointe Park is just 1.5 miles. Making it a round trip up the shore and along Lummus Park is a nice walk with stunning scenery. It’s a popular part of South Beach, thanks to the mile-plus of Atlantic shoreline. After all, without that beach, this entire area would just be another barrier island.

Repositioning for Part Two

We’ll pick up Part Two a little less than 1.5 miles north on Washington Avenue at Lincoln Road. The walk back up Washington is not non-stop eye candy, but it has its moments! Or, you can pick up a CitiBike across the street from the Jewish Museum and pedal to Lincoln Park, where you can return the bike.

The acclaimed restaurant HaSalon has an eye-popping building at Washington and 5th. You might want that South Beach selfie with the SoBe statue at Washington and 6th. And then there is the former Friedman’s Bakery at 7th. Miami Beach’s beautiful Old City Call is at 11th Street and, for the daring, the World Erotic Art Museum is at Washington and 12th. It’s not much to see from the outside, but we imagine it’s another story inside. Española Way is just a few blocks away, and Lincoln Road shortly after that.

Ready for Part Two? See more historic buildings on Lincoln Road and Collins Avenue, plus a map of our route.

No time to finish? Want to keep it handy? You can Pin it for later, or continue to Part Two!

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