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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for ICAA Florida Chapter
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260418T093000
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SUMMARY:Saturday Morning Walking Tours
DESCRIPTION:Join the ICAA FL Chapter on one of the Saturday Morning Walking Tours offered below. You will learn about the rich history of our City Beautiful and three of its historic buildings. \nThere are multiple tours to choose from\, please purchase a ticket for the specific tour you would like to attend.\nSpace is limited to 20 people per tour.\nAll tours meet in Lobby of the Biltmore Hotel for transportation to tour site\, please be on time.\n  \n  \n\n1. Merrick House (2 tour times)\nThe Coral Gables Merrick House was the childhood home of George Merrick\, the founder of the City of Coral Gables. The home\, constructed between 1907 & 1910\, still stands. The charming home’s exterior was constructed of limestone walls with a gabled roof ultimately inspiring the name of Coral Gables.\nOriginally from Duxbury\, MA\, the young Merrick’s family moved to Miami in 1889\, to escape the New England winters. There first foray into working in FL was to run a fruit and vegetable plantation in the wilderness five miles west of the new city of Miami. Over the years\, Merrick came to dream of building a planned city with a Mediterranean style\, grand entrances\, fountains\, and plazas. Eventually\, he would one day transform the family’s plantation into the City of Coral Gables. \nMerrick House Tour #1 – 9:30 AM \n\nMeet in Biltmore Lobby @ 9:15 am for transport to Merrick House\n\nMerrick House Tour #2 – 9:45 AM \n\n\nMeet in Biltmore Lobby @ 9:30 am for transport to Merrick House\n\n\n\nGet Tickets \n  \n2. The Biltmore to The Venetian Pool\nRecognizing the importance of having a luxury resort hotel in the city\, George Merrick turned to John McEntee Bowman\, President of the Biltmore Hotel chain. The New York firm of Leonard Schultz and S. Fullerton Weaver was selected by Bowman to design the hotel and ground was broken in 1925. At cost of $10 million\, The Miami-Biltmore Hotel and Country Club\, boasting a golf course and 350 rooms\, officially opened on January 15\, 1926. At the time\, the hotel’s pool was the largest hotel pool in the United States. The magnificent tower is modeled after the Giralda Tower from the Cathedral of Seville in Spain. In November of 1942\, The Miami-Biltmore Hotel and Country Club was turned over to the United States of America for use as a hospital that opened in March of 1943. In 1946 the hotel became an Army general hospital\, and the Veterans Administration (VA) took over in July of 1947. The VA Hospital was closed in 1968 with ownership eventually being transferred to the City of Coral Gables in 1973. A grand re-opening of The Biltmore took place in December 31\, 1987\, 61 years after it first opened. \nThen\, Jorge Hernandez will guide the tour to The Venetian Pool. The Venetian pool was opened in 1924 as the Venetian Casino. The pool was a creation that was a result of the Grand Plan that George Merrick had for a City that would embody true hometown living. \nAs George Merrick went about creating a City with Mediterranean features such as grand entrances\, plazas and Mediterranean-style homes\, the limestone being used to create the buildings was taken from a quarry pit. This quarry became Venetian Pool through the efforts of Merrick\, artist Denman Fink\, and architect Phineas Paist. \nThe pool was transformed into a paradise that is included in the National Register of Historic Places\, one of a select few swimming pools to have such a designation. \n  \n\n\n\n\n  \n  \nThe Biltmore Hotel & Venetian Pool Tour – 10:30 AM\n\n\n\nMeet in Biltmore lobby at 10:15 AM\n\n\nICAA FL Tour Lead: Jorge Hernandez\n\n\n  \nGet Tickets \n  \n3. The Venetian Pool to the Biltmore Hotel\nThis is the second round of the tours of the Venetian Pool & The Biltmore Hotel. This tour will be led by Jorge Hernandez\, and will begin at the Venetian Pool.  \n\n  \n\n\n\n\n  \n  \nVenetian Pool & Biltmore Hotel Tour #2 – 12:00 PM  \n\nMeet in Biltmore Lobby @ 11:45 am for transportation to Venetian Pool\nICAA FL Tour Lead: Jorge Hernandez\n\n\nGet Tickets \n 
URL:https://flclassicist.org/calendar-events/saturday-morning-walking-tours-2026/
CATEGORIES:Programs & Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://flclassicist.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Merrick-House-Tour-Coral-Gables.jpg
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