Palm Beach Developer May Turn Mizner Mansion Into a Mobile Home

Besides those in South Florida, there aren't many homes designed by architectural legend Addison Mizner, and one of those few is in danger of demolition: La Ronda in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.But the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the 1929-built home has attracted a hero from South Florida in Benjamin Wohl, a...

By Thomas Francis

August 17, 2009

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Besides those in South Florida, there aren't many homes designed by architectural legend Addison Mizner, and one of those few is in danger of demolition: La Ronda in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

But the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the 1929-built home has attracted a hero from South Florida in Benjamin Wohl, a developer who has a Mizner-crafted mansion of his own in Palm Beach.

Wohl is considering buying the mansion at Bryn Mawr, about 25 minutes northwest of Philadelphia, and then paying to have its 200-foot long frame moved to an adjacent lot.

It would seem an unlikely mission of mercy for the man whose Green Star Co. played a hand in the loss of a local landmark: All Books and Records, the Fort Lauderdale store that was a destination for audiophiles but which closed after it couldn't pay its rent to Green Star.

In its Saturday edition, the Palm Beach Daily News reported that Wohl has made a "six-figure" offer. A video of the mansion and a report on its uncertain future is here.

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