Kyphoplasty in Gables by the Sea, FL

Coral Gables was formally incorporated as a city on April 29, 1925. It was and remains a planned community based on the popular early twentieth century City Beautiful Movement and is known for its strict zoning regulations. The city was developed by George Merrick, a real estate developer from Pennsylvania, during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. The city’s architecture is almost entirely Mediterranean Revival style, mandated in the original plan, with an emphasis on Spanish influence in particular, such as the Coral Gables Congregational Church, donated by Merrick. The domed Catholic Church of the Little Flower was built somewhat later, in a similar Spanish Renaissance style.

Early in the city’s planning and development, Merrick shared his vision for Coral Gables as “a most extraordinary opportunity for the building of ‘Castles in Spain’,” as explored in Coral Gables historian Arva Moore Parks’ 2006 book George Merrick’s Coral Gables: Where Your ‘Castles in Spain’ are Made Real. Merrick’s success in executing this vision for the city would catch the attention of Spain’s King, Alfonso XIII, who awarded Merrick the Order of Isabella the Catholic for his support of Spanish culture in Coral Gables.

By 1926, the city covered 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) and had netted $150 million in sales, with over $100 million spent on development. That year also saw the opening of the Biltmore Hotel and Golf Course, a major landmark in city.