Coral Gables Historical Archive
The Times
Saturday, November 20, 1976, page 11 (of 24)
The page
The text of this pageRead by computer from the scan, so some words may be wrong. The page picture is the original.
Times Guide / South Dade Living / People Places Participation
The Coral Gables Times / Guide South Dade Living • People • Places • Participation
Their home is little bit of New England in South Dade
the times/guide visits ... paul and lois neidhart By DOROTHY STEIN Staff Writer A quiet country road entirely shaded by tall pines leads to the yellow wood-framed home of Paul and Lois Neidhart, east of U.S. 1 in South Dade. Set back far from the road on two well-tended acres, the house looks perfect in this bucolic setting. Lois thinks her home was formerly a farmhouse, and a penciled inscription in a closet under the staircase, dated July 4, 1921, tells them that it was previously owned by the Kuhn family, for whom the street was originally named. (Lois discovered the inscription on July 4, 1969, which she likes to regard as a favorable omen.) A striking feature about the Neidhart house is the continuous band of windows completely encircling both stories, which look out in all directions onto Paul's lush landscaping. A former electrician, Paul decided he preferred to be self-employed, and now the Neidhart's own and operate Curbside Gardens Florist, on U.S. 1 near Perrine. Entering through a covered front porch, one has the feeling that the setting is rural New England rather than suburban Miami. Beautiful hardwood floors enhance every room, and unusual embossed tin ceilings reflect the craftsmanship of an earlier era. The downstairs consists of three main sections: two wings running along either side of the house, and a central core. A small upper floor sits atop the center portion. Walking along the left side of the house, one enters a comfortable parlor, which leads onto a pool-room, and then into a stunning kitchen. There is nothing "quaint" or "old-fashioned" about this sleek and methodically laid-out kitchen, but the ample use of natural woods and butcher block keeps the countrified look intact. Paul's handiwork, which is evident throughout the house, is seen at its best here. He completely remodeled the original narrow galley-style kitchen, built all the cabinetry and the wooden-slated luminous ceiling, installed the floor, and designed a breakfast nook at the back of the room. The right side of the house contains the bedrooms of their 16-year-old daughter, and 15-year-old son. Paul is in the process of building a waterbed for their son's room, and finishing up the walls, which are rough cedar planks set at different angles. Also on this side is a See ANTIQUES, Page 13/16 Photos by DOROTHY STEIN Kitchen was methodically planned . . . and has natural woods and butcher blocks Early American theme is evident in dining room . . . as well as throughout the entire house
Got decor woes? 'Ask the Decorator'
If you long to dazzle your friends with your decor, but you don't know a sideboard from a headboard, and your knowledge of color is limited to "red plus yellow equals orange," help is on the way. Beginning next week in the Times/Guide, a new feature column entitled "Ask the Decorator" will appear regularly to answer your most intimate questions about interior decoration. Al Evans, a local professional designer who is adamantly opposed to the notion that decorating is just for the rich, welcomes any questions you may have regarding your home, whether you're starting from scratch or merely trying to enliven what's already there. In previous columns Evans has given witty but no-nonsense advice to single girls in want of a romantic setting for their one-room apartments; husbands whose wives were driving them with "offbeat" decorating schemes; crazy wives whose husbands were driving them crazy with their lack of understanding of "offbeat" decorating schemes; transplanted northerners homesick for their old abodes; people in the dark about how to select a decorator; and all sorts of people with all size decorating dilemmas. "I was born with upholstery tacks in my mouth," he says, referring to a lifelong exposure to the field through his family's furniture business in New York. He attended Cooper Union Art Institute, where he specialized in Fine Arts, and the New York School of Interior Design. Now a member of the Designers and Decorators Guild, Evans is also co-director of "Decorator For a Day," a totally new approach to the concept of interior decorating. This unique service was created by Evans and his associate, Angela Hazzis, as a means of providing the less-than-affluent with professional assistance in putting together an attractive home. The service was conceived to take the "elite" aspect out of good home furnishing. About a week after a member of the staff has spent a full day with the client, determining lifestyles and tastes See HE'LL, page 13/16 Al Evans
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