Lisa Hochstein of the "Real Housewives of Miami" and her plastic surgeon husband Leonard have finally won the bid to demolish 42 Star Island Drive, the Walter DeGarmo-designed home in Miami, after the city denied granting the home a historic designation.
The Hochsteins first announced plans of renovating the mansion sometime in December 2012. Leonard purchased the property in a foreclosure sale and the couple had planned to replace the historic landmark with a modern two-story building designed by Kobi Karp.
However, preservationists strongly opposed the couple's plan to raze the 1925 mansion. The Miami Design Preservation League (MDPL) locked horns with the Hochstein couple, claiming they were tearing down one of the most important landmarks of Miami.
After numerous lawsuits and countersuits, the city denied MDPL's last appeal to grant the mansion a historic designation and the league's last effort to save the home was vanquished, reports Ocean Drive.
The Hochsteins celebrated their victory, tweeting about it and posting pictures on Instagram, captioning them:
"Celebrating a victory with @realadrianademoura @fredericmarq @drhochstein at @catchmiami #victory #demolition #demolitionday #rhom #lisahochstein #drhochstein This was not a victory against preservation it was a victory agains a family trying to build our home! #whogonnastopus?? #winning #neverdefeatedever"
They started demolition on the building soon after, with Lisa taking on the wrecking ball in high heels.
"Taking our star island house down ! I cannot tell you how good it felt and how fun it was! #rhom #demoday #demolition," she posted.
Only @lisahochstein could pull up in a #ferrari in #redbottoms and take an #excavator and knock down a mansion #RHOM #Bossofherdomain #werk
— Purveyors of Pop (@PurveyorsofPop) March 19, 2014
"The residence is almost demolished. Here is how it looked a week ago: Look what happened to our beautiful home! Im so sad. Not #halfwaythere #demolition #timber," read the caption to an Instagram photo.
The victory came amid a great deal of anger from the community and people who opposed the demolition:
Got this message on my Facebook account today, so sweet pic.twitter.com/MQgCt4BX9r — Lisa Hochstein (@lisahochstein) March 20, 2014
According to renderings of the new residence provided by Curbed, the new home will feature an identical floor plan but larger terraces, more detailed facades, added staircases and more involved landscaping.
