Will a Gables ranch home be deemed ‘historic?’ There’s no answer — yet

The provocative question of whether a 1937 ranch home in Coral Gables merits designation as a protected historic property will have to wait for another day.

At owner Lourdes Valls’ request, the city historic preservation board unanimously agreed on Wednesday to defer consideration of a proposed designation of the house until its next meeting in January. It was the second deferral granted to Valls since the city preservation office proposed designation of the house in November.

Valls’ daughter, Desiree Valls, told the board that the family just hired attorney Mario Garcia-Serra, who frequently handles land-use cases in the Gables, and he needed time to prepare.

Desiree Valls said her family was caught by surprise by the designation proposal. It was triggered by a Coral Gables rule requiring that the city preservation office review any building older than 50 years whose owner seeks permission to tear it down. The regulation is designed to protect buildings of architectural or historic significance.

“It came from left field,” Valls told the board of the proposed designation.

The family requested the review in September in preparation for filing for a demolition permit. No permit to tear the house down can be issued while the decision on designation is pending.

An analysis by the city preservation office concluded that the house, designed by noted Miami architect Russell Pancoast, merits protection as an “excellent” example of the city’s earliest custom ranch homes. The modest though skillfully designed house, which has restrained Art Deco features, helped pave the way for a shift to modern architecture in the city from its founding Mediterranean style, the report says.

Millions of ranch homes were built across America starting in the 1930s. Some cities have begun designating notable examples as historic to preserve the architectural legacy of the day.

The Pancoast house is believed to be the first such rambler to come up for landmark consideration in the Gables. The city is best known as a bulwark of Mediterranean architecture but hundreds if not thousands of ranch homes were built in the Gables after the Great Depression and World War II.

Lourdes Valls, a member of the family that runs the Versailles and La Carreta restaurant empire, purchased the house for $875,000 in 2018, Miami-Dade County records show.