The first Historic American Landscape Survey (HALS) course offered at the University of Miami, School of Architecture, was the documentation of an early homestead and ‘attraction’ garden the “Orchid Jungle.” As a documental project it represented a chance to record one of the earliest attitudes about building in one of south Florida’s most precious resources: a sub-tropical hammock. The extensive research, field notes, site photography, final drawings and report have been filed with archives of the Library of Congress, HALS division: HALS NO. FL-4.
The University of Miami, School of Architecture student documentation team was: Angela Ayuso, Lacey Block, Lisa Blacklidge, Angela Diaz, Peter Miller, Christopher Rodriguez, and Nicole St. Germain. Permission to work on the site and access to the site was given by Miami-Dade County Parks and Recreation Department of (MDCPD), and the Department of Environmental Resource Management (DERM). The following individuals were instrumental in assisting with this effort: Howard Gregg, Assistant Director of MDCPD, Maria Nardi, Chief of Planning and Research MDCPD, Joe Maguire, Natural Areas Manager; Jane Dozier, Environmental Resource Project Supervisor for Natural Areas Management, Alice Warren, Ph.D, ISA certified arborist with Natural Areas Management who provided the permits to work on the site, and at DERM: Tiffany Smith who was instrumental in providing access to important primary resource material. To view the full HALS submission please visit the Library of Congress website.
