Key Biscayne’s Mashta Point!

Key Biscayne’s Mashta Point!

Key Biscayne's Mashta Point!

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Today, Key Biscayne is a wonderful vacation spot or full-time residence with large parks, beautiful beachfront resorts, elegant condominiums, a village, elegant homes and unique restaurants. The entrance to the Key is off of Miami’s Brickell Avenue, less than a mile to downtown, South Beach, Coconut Grove and Coral Gables, all with fabulous shops, restaurants, clubs, entertainment, beaching, boating and fishing.

Key Biscayne has come a long way since it was originally inhabited by the Tequesta Native Americans, occupied by Spain and successfully getting through the Seminole Wars. Florida became a U.S. Territory in 1821 and Key Biscayne was purchased by Mary and William Davis of St. Augustine for $100, thinking that the government would build a lighthouse on the southern tip of the island. The Davises sold just the tip of the island to the government for the lighthouse for $225. Key Biscayne was also part of the Underground Railroad as the Seminoles and Black Seminoles would escape from slavery to the Bahamas in their ocean going canoes. The island went through several changes of hands through the years. It was a coconut, banana and pineapple plantation until the advent of World War II, but it wasn’t until 1951 when the first real development began. It was mostly tract homes about 1,000 square feet with a carport that sold for about $10,000. These same homes are now selling for over $1 million, demolished and replaced with mega mansions.

In the 1900s, access to the island was strictly by boat. Mashta House was built by John Matheson in 1917, part owner of the island, as a party house. His main home was in Coconut Grove on a ridge overlooking the bay with Key Biscayne in the distance. He held fabulous parties on the Key where the cream of society would arrive in their yachts and moor in his deepwater cove. It was said that during the Roaring Twenties, partying guests would include the Carnegies, Mellons and Vanderbilts. Being secluded from the rest of the island, it was also easy to off load boatloads of liquor during Prohibition. Though the glamorous Moorish-style mansion was finally torn down in the 1950s, it wasn’t until 1991 that another mansion was built on the site.

Now for sale, the "new" Mashta House sits on its private and gated 1.63-acre peninsula, with the enviable protected cove and 360-degree water views. The 11,588-square-foot house consists of six bedrooms, eight baths, five floors, an elevator, attached garage and swimming pool. For more information.

Possibly Key Biscayne’s most prized address and steeped in Old Florida history, priced at $60 million.

Source: www.jorgeuribe.com