Eden Roc Hotel

Nestled in the heart of the city, this gorgeous building sits on the edge of a beautiful sea.

The Eden Roc Hotel is located on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach. It was designed in the Miami Modern style by Morris Lapidus. Although it is one of the best-known hotels in the world, there’s a story about it that very few people know. You’re about to discover that story.

Morris Lapidus, a famed architect who designed the Fontainebleau Miami Beach back in 1954, was commissioned to design the Eden Roc for the site immediately to the north of the hotel. The hotel was designed for Harry Mufson, who owned the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel which had been estranged from his former partner.

One of the most acrimonious, personal legal battles in Miami Beach history happened when Mufson sued Novack. Mufson said he didn’t want any of the French stuff that was used at the Fontainebleau. That’s for kids.

In 1961, Bernard Novack built a wall between the Fontainebleau and the Eden Roc hotels in Miami. This spite wall was designed to block the view of one hotel from the other, with each considered to be among the most luxurious hotels of its era.

All the rooms of the hotel faced south, but on the north side, there was a single window that belonged to Novack. For some reason, this one room that had been left untouched with only a single window facing north seemed to stand out, especially because of how jarring it was to see it. It served as an oceanfront penthouse which he created for the purpose of keeping an eye on Harry and his guests at the Eden Roc.

The Fontainebleau’s sweeping curves were avoided by architect Morris Lapidus, who chose a more formal composition that pays homage to the earlier Miami Beach hotels. The hotel is surmounted by a large enclosure. There was an addition that was installed to cover the spite wall on the south side of the property.