Old Spanish Village

Executive Architect
Coral Gables, FL
Ponce Place (townhouses)
38 Townhouses
Total FAR Area=143,319 sf
Total Parking = 82 Spaces
7.7 Acres

Located in the heart of Coral Gables, Old Spanish Village was an ambitious yet tasteful residential community. Later known as “Mediterranean Village,” it was developed with late superstar developer Ralph Sanchez of NASCAR, Indycar, FormulaOne, and Homestead-Miami Speedway fame.

 

This was a passionately crafted project intended from its inception to respect and keep firmly in line with the City of Coral Gables zoning code, as well as city founder George Merrick’s pioneering vision. As such, it was conceived as a 21st century expansion of Merrick’s “village” initiatives of the 1920s that saw the development of the French Villages, the Italian Village, Pioneer Village, and others. To further ensure the project’s unparalleled commitment to reviving this vision, the Old Spanish Village team also included the late beloved Coral Gables historian Arva Moore Parks as a key consultant.

 

The village was designed in the Gables’ iconic Mediterranean Revival style with an urban planning perspective to best suit the site’s history and context. As a result, despite spanning over 140,000 square feet across nearly 8 acres, Old Spanish Village utilized a distinctive human scale in its approach. This was central to the village concept by fostering walkable connectivity to the community while also maintaining privacy for residents and avoiding over-congestion in the surrounding area. To execute Sanchez’s renewal of Merrick’s unfinished “Castles in Spain”, the luxury townhouses were constructed three floors high and comfortably spaced with impeccable tree-lined landscaping, walkways, arched grand entry gateways, fountains, and swimming pools. These were further enhanced with decorative Mediterranean wrought iron balcony railings, stucco wall detailing above local oolitic limestone masonry, and Doric columns supporting Spanish terracotta gabled terraces.

 

By seamlessly updating and upholding the integrity of Merrick’s vision for a European community integrated into the setting of a tropical paradise, Old Spanish Village embodies the character and spirit of Coral Gables as one of the leading planned cities in the United States.