Paradise for Sale by Nick Wynne

Author:Nick Wynne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The History Press

Wealthy heir to the famous sewing machine fortune, Paris Singer was the dominant force in the Everglades Club, Palm Beach’s most exclusive club. He alone decided who would be allowed to become a member and who would be excluded. Courtesy of the Florida Historical Society.

Addison Mizner bought swamp property from “Alligator Joe” Campbell and quickly converted this marginal land into Worth Avenue and Via Mizner, where he maintained living quarters until his death in 1933. Courtesy of the Florida Historical Society.

With the financial backing of Paris Singer, Addison Mizner began to branch out. He purchased an alligator farm—opened in 1891 as a tourist attraction for visitors to Palm Beach—from Joseph “Alligator Joe” Campbell. He quickly converted the low swampy area into a small shopping district, which housed his offices and his showroom of antiques and reproductions. Worth Avenue became home to expensive, seasonally operated stores, while Via Mizner and Via Parigi provided space for small apartments and galleries. Even today, the Worth Avenue district is regarded as one of the most expensive shopping venues in the world.

Although Addison Mizner made a considerable fortune designing homes for the Palm Beach elite, he envied the glamour and public attention garnered by developers like Carl Fisher, George Merrick and D.P. Davis. Always desirous of being the center of attention, he cringed at the thought that these lesser lights—these builders—were capitalizing on his ideas and designs and being hailed as geniuses. No longer satisfied with amusing and abusing patrons in the limited arena of Palm Beach, where his architectural ambitions were always checked by the willingness of the wealthy to pay for new projects, he decided to cash in on the land boom and create his own town. His brother, Wilson, joined him in the scheme.

Wilson Mizner was a charismatic con man whose career carried him from the highest rungs of New York society to the depths of the nation’s underworld. Quick witted and immoral, he viewed society—particularly the wealthiest elements—as a playground to carry out his elaborate schemes. Like Addison, his personality and family connections offered the opportunity to move seamlessly into the fabric of high society. His inclination, however, was to mix with the lower rungs, an inclination that made him even more appealing to his wealthy friends. Talented in many ways, Wilson was a playwright, a musician/composer and a raconteur par excellent. He served as the model for several Damon Runyan characters, was a favorite party companion of the international set and always provided a quotable quip to fit any situation. Drug addict, shyster, con man, gambler and womanizer—all terms that aptly described him—he merely used these foibles to make himself more interesting. He joined Addison in Palm Beach and oversaw the sales force in his galleries, always operating with the motto, “Take the money; never turn it down!” He fit perfectly into the frenetic environment of the Florida land boom.

Determined to create an entire town built to his specifications, Addison Mizner envisioned a community that would be so magnificent and

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