Cover: Al Capone’s Former Residence at 93 Palm Avenue
Length of Video: 27 minutes and 06 seconds (scroll down to play the video)
Constructed in the summer of 1922, and completed by November of that year, the residence at 93 Palm Avenue would become the center of plenty of controversy in its first decade of existence. It was built by Miami pioneer Clarence Busch, who, along with Locke T Highleyman, developed Palm and Hibiscus Islands in the early 1920s. This villa was constructed as a spec home by Busch and was exchanged in May of 1923 to George Callahan for a two-story commercial building at 1504 West Flagler Street.
Callahan sold the residence for $75,000 in July of 1924 to James Popham, who in turn sold it to Leslie Winik in October of 1925 for less money than he paid for it while agreeing to loan the majority of the sale price by offering a mortgage note to the Winik family. By August of 1927, Popham had to foreclose on the home due to non-payment of the note he provided Winik.
In the spring of 1928, Popham listed the property for sale and ultimately accepted an offer from J.N. Lummus Jr., the mayor of Miami Beach at the time, who was representing Parker Henderson Jr., the son of a former mayor of Miami, for $40,000. Although Popham believed that the buyer was Henderson, he and the rest of Palm Island soon learned that the actual buyer was Al Capone.
Al Capone lived at 93 Palm Avenue from 1928 until his death in January of 1947, but Mae Capone, Al’s widow, and Sonny, his son, lived the home until Mae sold it in February of 1952 for $54,000. While the residence has had many owners through the years, it is best known as the winter residence and place of death for one of the nation’s most infamous gangsters.
The residence stood on Palm Island from 1922 until 2023, slightly more than a 100-years on the islet. The property sold for $15.5 million in October of 2021 to Albert Claramonte, founder of Surfaces Southeast, Inc., but he chose to raze the villa and all other structures on the property to make room for a new residence that will span over the former Capone property as well as the lot he owns to the west. This video provides an overview of 93 Palm Avenue through the years including a video tour of the inside and outside of each structure on the property.
Click Here to Subscribe
Related Content:
- Article: Villa 93 on Palm Island
- Article: Al Capone in Miami – Part 1 of 4
- Article: Al Capone in Miami – Part 2 of 4
- Article: Al Capone in Miami – Part 3 of 4
- Article: Al Capone in Miami – Part 4 of 4
Photos:
Photos seen in video are courtesy of HistoryMiami Museum, Miami-Dade Public Library – Romer Collection, MB America, Miami Herald, and Casey M. Piket.
Video Clips:
All video clips are courtesy of Casey M. Piket shot on March 7, 2020, at 93 Palm Avenue.
Music:
- Music track: Drifting Away by shandr. (Source: https://freetouse.com/music)
- Music track: Hawaii by Waesto (Source: https://freetouse.com/music)
- Music track: Too Late by walen (Source: https://freetouse.com/music)