An Art Moderne architectural style Palm Beach apartment building, the first co-operative apartment building in Florida, was unanimously recommended by the Landmarks Preservation Commission to the Town Council for landmark protection. This style was also called Streamline Moderne. Modern construction techniques and materials were used.
It created a clear-cut distinction between old and new Palm Beach.
The four-story Lake Drive Apartments building was designed by midcentury architect Howard Chilton, a native Floridian, and is said to be his best and most effective building, and was completed in 1949. He built 15+ buildings and 700 single family houses in Palm Beach County.
The style is a late type of Art Deco architecture sometimes emphasizing curving forms, long horizontal lines, low-relief stylized graphics, and nautical elements. Nautical elements are featured in the balcony railings, porthole windows and sundeck design of this apartment building. The building’s west façade directly overlooks the Lake Worth Lagoon and Town Docks. It is located at the corner of Lake Drive and Australian Avenue.
Constructed of concrete block surfaced with smooth stucco, it was built with two dozen apartments on three upper floors and a lobby, storage space and parking on the ground floor.
This style flourished in the 1930’s and 1940’s and was highlighted at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago. Technology that arose after World War I was influential in this style developing. Simple geometric forms and decorative details created a “less is more” standard. A zoning law change in 1947 allowed hotels and apartments to be built in the Royal Park and Floral Park subdivisions. Previously only single family homes had been allowed.
One Commissioner said, “It just has a sort of rightness of place and time that I think is very appealing… a great deal of architectural integrity. Another said, “To me, it’s perfection.”
One Royal Palm Way Condominiums was also built by Chilton and is pictured below. His 300 South Ocean Boulevard apartment building is landmarked. He participated in building the Palm Beach County Courthouse.
