Jul 17, 2009 11:09 pm US/Eastern
Fire Engulfs Famed Miami Beach Castle House
House Was Built In 1925
It Was Abandoned At The Time Of The Fire
It's Medieval Style, Including Moats, Gargoyles And A Drawbridge
MIAMI BEACH (CBS4) ―
Firefighters are keeping watch over a Miami Beach mansion known as the Bay Road Castle overnight to stop any flare-ups, as the remnants of a massive fire continue to smolder.
Arson investigators will go out to the mansion Saturday morning. The medieval style castle has survived hurricanes for more than eight decades, but even this mansion made of wood and stone could not beat the flames.
Corinne Feldman is grateful firefighters managed to keep the flames to this one property. She lives right across the street.
"We actually saw some pieces of debris just shooting out with flames on them, so we didn't know how close it might get," Feldman said.
Though Feldman never hoped for a fire, she is not sad to see the Castle gutted.
Teens and vagrants made a habit of breaking into it recently, and several people were arrested inside in the past two months.
Feldman said, "We were actually kind of hoping it will come down now, and we won't have to deal with that."
Public records show the current owner of the castle is a man named Antonio Rodriguez. He bought it in 2007, and currently has it listed on the market for a million dollars less than he paid for it.
CBS 4 Reporter Natalia Zea spoke the owner's current realtor. He says Rodriguez is shocked about the fire. He also says that he was negotiating a potential sale of the property, but the buyer only wanted the land, not the castle.
So far, investigators don't know what sparked this massive fire. Neighbors here have their theories.
"I think someone burned the house down on purpose, because it was a very big house and it was very difficult to tear it down," said neighbor Christian Berdouare.
Off-camera, two city officials called the fire suspicious.
Miami Beach firefighters battled the blaze at the famous North Bay Road castle Friday morning. The waterfront mansion, famous for its unique design, was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters first arrived shortly after 8:00 a.m. Firefighters on the ground were assisted by fire boats in the water due to the close proximity to the bay.
Fire Rescue Chief Javier Otero says the fire spread quickly throughout the sprawling home and was too dangerous to enter.
"The building has a wood frame and is mostly plywood veneers and fiber glass." He continued, "It has a lot of places where a fire can hide."
The castle house, built in 1925, has ten bedrooms, 7 and ½ bathrooms and more than 11-thousand square feet of living area, according to a real estate listing. It also has a billiard room, home theater, gym, and a lagoon-style swimming pool which extends into the house.
The house looks just like a real medieval castle with iron gates, turrets, towers and even a drawbridge. The inside is said to extremely Gothic as well. The home, however, had been abandoned.
It was once owned by Capt. Michael Burke, the owner of Windjammer Barefoot Cruises.
According to the Miami-Dade Property Appraisers Office, Captain Burke sold the castle in March of 2007 for $7.6 million.
Firefighters have previously walked through the property as part of a fire prevention program for abandoned homes. Otero says those inspectors never found anyone squatting in the house.
Neighbors heard the sirens and later saw the impressive flames and smoke.
"I saw big shooting flames and a lot of smoke," said neighbor Christian Berdouare.
Other neighbors were concerned for their own homes.
"We were concerned. I was more interested in seeing what I could do to keep my home safe," said neighbor Larry Gonzalez.
CBS4 Reporter Sharrie Williams & Lisa Cilli contributed to this report.
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