The 88-year old home at 42 Star Island owned by “Real Housewives of Miami” star Lisa Hochstein and her plastic surgeon husband will come down, the Miami Herald reported. The Hochsteins got approval to demolish the mansion and rebuild a larger home complete with a five-car garage.
Miami Beach’s Design Review Board approved the couple’s plans yesterday, the Herald said.
“I’m ecstatic,” Lisa Hochstein told the Herald after the approval. “I’m hopeful it will be done before this summer.”
Preservationists, led by the Miami Design Preservation League, have said they will continue to mount an effort to preserve the home, which they claim is a significant contribution to local design. They also claim that the Hochsteins’ application for the demolition was done improperly. The board disagreed yesterday, however.
In fact, William Cary, the city’s historic preservation director, said causing further delay would be “ethically inappropriate.”
“This is the most God-awful position that our staff can be placed in,” to be asked to intervene further, Cary said. [Miami Herald] –Guelda Voien