A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph..
A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Some clouds. Low 79F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
These days, the house is barely visible from the street. Lush vegetation obscures the view from the front, and the house seems to blend in with its neighbors. But when the house at 270 Harbor Drive was built in the mid 1970s, it caused a sensation.
At that time, most houses on the Key were smaller. When the Mackle brothers arrived to develop the island shortly after the causeway opened in 1947, they built compact three-bedroom, one-bath houses at a starting price of $10,000. Some owners added a small screened-in porch. The houses were just right for returning veterans looking to purchase a home under the GI Bill.
The house at 270 Harbor was designed by George Khoury for prominent Miami neurologist, Dr. Sherif Shafey, his wife Wafiya, and their two sons, Omar and Joey. Wafiya was a Fulbright Scholar who later taught Arabic at the University of Miami. The Shafeys sold the house in 1998, and both have since passed away.
Omar now lives in Charlotte, NC. I recently spoke with him about the house and asked him what it was like growing up there.
“My favorite childhood memories involve daredevil stunts in the backyard with my brother,” Omar recalled. “Once we decided to try diving off the house’s mirrored window ledges into the swimming pool. We didn’t realize at the time that my parents were inside, panicking because they didn’t know if we would make it.”
While the Mackle houses were built at ground level—their cozy living rooms flowing seamlessly out onto tidy front lawns—the house at 270 Harbor was different. It was one of the first elevated houses on the Key, so visitors arriving for dinner parties had to climb a dozen stairs to get in. That’s the norm for many houses on the Key today, but it wasn’t back then. The house stood out like a steel safe in a row of wooden cigar boxes.
The Shafeys bought the property for about $160,000. Hearing that figure for a waterfront house today is jaw-dropping, but keep in mind this was almost 50 years ago. When the Shafeys decided to tear down the existing 15-year-old house to make room for their dream home — a 5,200 square-foot house made of poured concrete—it was big news, even somewhat scandalous. Enough so that the Miami Herald covered the story.
The house has a distinctive post-modern design, with exposed concrete and stark geometric lines, that has stood the test of time. The house that once was marveled at for its size was eventually deemed too small. In 2017 subsequent owners put on a 1800 square-foot addition.
“I have always liked the house,” recalls Key resident Jose Ortega, president of CDC Builders. “I was pleased when the current owner elected to remodel and add on to the house instead of tearing it down. It would have been less costly to raze and rebuild, but they decided the structure was unique and should be preserved.”
Omar vividly recalls afternoons standing on the seawall behind the house. Once he saw a hammerhead shark spawn. “Angelfish, cowfish, snapper and sergeant majors schooled on every piling or post. I grew up there and have seen many changes in the Bay. Some of the fish are gone now, but it’s good the dolphins and manatees keep coming back.”
For over seven decades, families have been putting down roots in what has become our Village. Each generation of children comes up with its own repertoire of daredevil stunts that frighten parents. And newcomers arrive each year with their own ideas about what a dream home should look like. Let’s continue to welcome them.