MIAMI — When you open the front door of the new Mayfair House Hotel & Garden — the original carved wooden door that has been lovingly restored — you enter the past and gaze into the future.
Your first step inside reveals a lush tropical garden, an oasis away from the bustling streets of Coconut Grove. Walk out into the open-air courtyard filled with greenery and gaze at the floors above, where outdoor walkways lead to cool, dark, elegant rooms. Grab a seat, order a drink and marvel that somehow, miraculously, a piece of the Grove’s past has been preserved.
History is endangered these days in Coconut Grove, Miami's oldest neighborhood. While crowds have returned to the refurbished CocoWalk and the many new restaurants, the charming old bungalows are being replaced by huge concrete cubes at an alarming rate, and gentrification threatens the historic Black Grove neighborhood.
