Addison Mizner - Legacy

Legacy

Mizner's buildings were typically dismissed by Modernist critics for their eclectic historicist aesthetic. Many were torn down and redeveloped, but a number of those that survive are now on the National Register.

The Mizner name lives on. On the grounds of the Boca Raton Resort and Club is Mizner Lake Estates, an intimate 15-estate gated enclave of million dollar homes with 24 hour security. In Delray Beach can be found Addison Reserve Country Club, a golf and tennis community of 717 luxury single-family homes situated on 653 acres (2.64 km2). It consists of nineteen villages with names such as "Mirasol" and "Playa Rienta" Also in Boca Raton is Mizner Park an upscale lifestyle center with shops, rental apartments, and offices. In March 2005, an 11-foot-tall (3.4 m) statue of the architect by Colombian sculptor Cristobal Gaviria was erected in Boca Raton at Mizner Boulevard and U.S. 1 to commemorate his visionary contributions to both the city and Florida architecture. In addition, an elementary school in Boca Raton was named for him in 1968.

He was the brother and sometime partner of businessman, raconteur and playwright Wilson Mizner. The brothers' series of scams and picaresque misadventures were the inspiration for Stephen Sondheim's musical Road Show (2008). Previously, in 1952, Addison's friend, Irving Berlin, wrote a musical called Palm Beach which never got produced. It featured Addison, his friends, and his clients. In 1951 Theodore Pratt wrote a novel, The Big Bubble, which is a thinly veiled biography of Mizner.