Nina Surel, a Buenos Aires-born, Miami-based artist and founder of Collective 62, discusses the historic Villa Paula in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood. Originally built in the late 19th century for Cuban consul Domingo Milord and his wife Paula, the Neo-Classical villa features imported Cuban materials, Tuscan columns, and hand-painted ceramic tiles. After years of disrepair, a civic-minded landlord transformed it into a cultural venue now hosting the design gallery the Future Perfect, with works by artists including Autumn Casey and Faye Toogood during Miami Art Week. Surel highlights the building's layered history, ghost stories, and its significance as a misplaced architectural gem.
This matters because Villa Paula embodies Miami's cultural evolution, blending historical preservation with contemporary art. Surel's perspective as a local artist underscores how such landmarks foster community identity and creative production in underserved neighborhoods like Little Haiti. The villa's survival against development pressures and its role as a site for exhibitions and design vignettes illustrates the growing importance of adaptive reuse in Miami's art scene, offering a model for integrating heritage with modern artistic practice.