Historical Images of Porter County

The Florida Tropical Home, Century of Progress, 1933
Beverly Shores, Indiana

Date: 1933
Source Type: Photograph
Publisher, Printer, Photographer: Kuhne, James S., and Percival Goodman. 1933. The Florida Tropical Home at A Century of Progress 1933. New York, New York: Kuhne Galleries. 38 p.
Postmark: Not applicable
Collection: Steven R. Shook
Remark: The Florida Tropical Home is along the shores of Lake Michigan in the Porter County, Indiana, community of Beverly Shores and is owned by the federal government under the National Park Service. The home was constructed in 1933 as part of the Homes of Tomorrow Exhibition during the 1933 World's Fair (Century of Progress) that took place in Chicago. Today, it is part of the Century of Progress Architectural District, a historic district. The Florida Tropical Home was built to meet the requirements of people with larger means than average. It was designed for climates approximating that of Florida. The home consisted of a two story living room overlooked by a balcony, the dining room being separate from the living room. Two bedrooms and a large bathroom were located on the ground floor. A tile paved loggia was laid on the water side of the living room, connecting with the dining room. The roof of the house included a sun deck, living deck, and recreation deck, except for the space taken by the upper half of the high room. Robert Law Weed of Miami, Florida, was the architect. Paist & Steward were associate architects. The supervising architect was Mackey W. White. The builder was Deigaard & Preston. The cost of the home, exclusive of equipment, was approximately $15,000. The original interiors (1933) were designed by James S. Kuhne and Percival H. Goodman, Chicago and New York. The home was moved to its current location in Beverly Shores by real estate developer Robert Bartlett. Bartlett, who wanted to establish a resort community in the area complete with a golf course, hotel, and botanical garden, was responsible for moving six of the exhibition's homes to the area, brought to Beverly Shores by barge in 1935. The Florida Tropical Home, along with four other exhibition homes from 1933, were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, collectively known as the "World's Fair Houses." The other five homes are scattered around Beverly Shores; four of them are close neighbors of the Florida Tropical Home.

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Image and related text prepared by Steven R. Shook