Outdoor kitchens in Morningside, Miami

Morningside goes back to a 1924 plan by James H. Nunnally, president of the Bay Shore Investment Company, for a residential neighborhood overlooking Biscayne Bay. The Morningside Historic District lies generally between Biscayne Boulevard and Biscayne Bay, from NE 55th Street to NE 60th Street.

Morningside, a City of Miami historic district since 1984, is lined with Mediterranean Revival, Art Deco and vernacular houses. The district was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1992, where it appears as the Bay Shore Historic District.

The district includes buildings designed by more than 40 local architects, and its landscape of mature tropical trees and plants is part of its historic significance. The National Register record names the architects Kiehnel & Elliott and Marion Manley among those who built here. Biscayne Boulevard forms the district's western edge. Along Biscayne Boulevard, the MiMo Historic District protects buildings in the Miami Modern style.

A new outdoor kitchen should not compete with that. We choose the color of the cabinets and the stone of the counter with the facade in mind, from natural stone worktops in Nero Assoluto, Anthracite Black, Taj Mahal and Calacatta Brazil. See the color library and the countertops.

In the City of Miami, work on a historically designated property requires a certificate of appropriateness. City staff can review repairs and minor alterations, while new construction, major additions and alterations usually need a special certificate of appropriateness reviewed by the Historic and Environmental Preservation Board. For new features such as pools, paving, decks, fences, walls or landscaping on a historic property, the City asks for a site plan, and for a tree survey when trees are removed. A certificate of appropriateness does not replace the building permit.

The City's historic preservation design guidelines include supplemental guidelines for the Morningside district. We prepare the site plan, the materials and the colors for this review together with the design, and we coordinate the building permits with licensed partners. Our guide to outdoor kitchen permits in Miami-Dade explains how the steps fit together.

The district's mature trees are part of its significance. In the City of Miami, removing or relocating a tree requires a tree removal permit under the City Code. We plan the kitchen around them. It needs a firm, weather-resistant, non-combustible base; gravel is not suitable. We place it clear of large roots and keep the fire away from low branches.

Morningside Park, a City of Miami waterfront park at 750 NE 55th Terrace, has a boat ramp, tennis courts and a recreation center. The City's waterfront project for Morningside Park includes a new seawall and a raised baywalk designed against sea-level rise and king tides.

Salt air reaches every garden in the neighborhood. FREILUFT kitchens have storm hooks in the plinth that secure the doors; before a storm, secure everything loose. On a bayfront lot, check the flood zone early: Miami-Dade County explains how to check whether a property lies in a Special Flood Hazard Area, and in flood zones, structures must be built high enough and designed to resist flood damage. Work in, on or over tidal waters, such as docks and seawalls, needs a Miami-Dade County Class I permit, also inside cities such as Miami.