Vintage Postcard – Carl’s El Padre Motel

Carl’s El Padre Motel
on U.S. 1
5950 Biscayne Blvd.        Miami 37, Fla.
Modern Hotel Rooms and Efficiencies
All with Private Tile Bath tubs and showers. T.V. in all Rooms. Air Conditioned and Heated. Close to good restaurants, Downtown and beaches.
Mr. & Mrs. Carl Talazko, Owners – Mgrs.
Tel. PLaza 1-8620

Made by Dexter West Nyack N.Y.
Pub. by T.N. Gilbert & Associates, P.O. Box 861, No. Miami, Fla.
14525-B

Handwritten on the back is: April 25, 1960 Gordon Mar Smith

Holy cow, Carl’s is still standing!

It doesn’t seem to have its own website, but Trip Advisor rates it. The two reviews are so-so, both from foreign guests (click the Google translation link to read the second one).

Booking.com notes there are ten rooms. Their website notes guests of Carl’s El Padre Motel can enjoy a 24-hour front desk and free Wi-Fi, and that ll accommodations at Carl’s El Padre Motel feature a flat-screen cable TV and small refrigerator. A microwave is also included for added convenience. It also has room service, which surprises me a little.

Carl’s is located in the MiMo/Biscayne Boulevard Historic District, also known as the Upper East Side. If you are interested in the district (and really, it is excellent reading), please check out the Historic District Designation Report. The document notes that Carl’s El Padre was built in 1951.

The Designation Report also discusses in detail MiMo or Miami Modern architecture: “MiMo or Miami Modern is the name coined by Randall Robinson and Teri D’Amico to describe the architecture that flourished in South Florida from 1945 until the late 1960s. Miami Modern is further classified into two distinct strains, Resort MiMo and Subtropical Modernism. Local architects adapted elements of the International, Streamline Moderne and Art Deco styles in their versions of contemporary buildings. Resort MiMo of the 1950s is a product of these experimentations, best represented by the vivid scenographic expressions of Miami Beach architects. Resort MiMo is associated with the 1950s and 1960s and the influences of Hollywood set design, automobile styling, military jets and the space race. The American fascination with Futurism was a pervasive influence in the designs of Resort MiMo. It was realized in architectural form by acute angles, boomerangs and trapezoid forms. Subtropical Modernism was a strain of the modern movement that recognized the needs of a year-round population rather than solely the demands of the winter-resort guests. As a result, designers addressed the humidity and heat of summer by making accommodations for breezy corridors, covered galleries and shady courtyards. Subtropical Modernism also employed elements associated with the International Style of architecture that included glass walls and low-slung lines, flat roofs and wide eaves and free-flowing interior spaces.”

If you’re in Miami, definitely take a trip down Biscayne Boulevard.