Florida’s architectural history can be traced to the Spanish colonial settlement of St. Augustine in the mid-16 century, while the state’s architectural development reached its mature stage in the 19th century. Casa Florida is an exuberant, full-color celebration of the enduring influence of Spanish architecture and design upon Florida’s resorts, private houses, and gardens.
Casa Florida explores the earliest influences of the Spanish style in the Sunshine State, its revival in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and its contemporary expression in architecture today, with a strong focus on the style’s unifying concept of fantasy and Florida’s unique tendency to inspire enraptured states of mind and spectacular built environments. Susan Sully provides colorful history and anecdotes that complement Steven Brooke’s magnificent full-color photography of the region’s signature style in examples representing the entire state and ranging from the charming to the splendid.