Addison Mizner was born in Benicia, California, the seventh of eight children. As a young man, he lived in Central America and Spain which would shape his architectural vocabulary years later. He didn’t follow the typical path towards becoming an architect. After apprenticing with San Francisco architect Willis Polk, he went on to prospect for gold in the Yukon, and eventually made his way to New York. There, he began to develop relationships with clients who commissioned country homes on Long Island. After the onset of World War I and health troubles, he was invited to Palm Beach by Paris Singer—a pivotal point in his story. He completed his first major project, the Everglades Club in 1919 which set the tone for Mizner’s residential commissions that followed soon after for clients such as the Stotesburys and the Phipps. Casa de Leoni, Via Mizner, and the Warden house are a few of his important extant works in Palm Beach. Mizner also started his own factory, Mizner Industries to create building materials for his designs, which included everything from barrel roof tiles to pottery. In 1925, Mizner began to develop Boca Raton, which coincided with the Florida land boom bust and was never fully realized. Mizner’s architectural style, known as Mizner Mediterranean Revival shaped the image of Palm Beach and left a lasting impact on the built environment.
