Phipps family estate’s eroding pavillion awaits landmark designation

After a recent move to grant landmark status to Palm Beach’s eroding Casa Bendita Pavilion, Landmarks Preservation Commissioner Bob Eigelberger said saving some of the past is always worth the effort. The structure, which is currently awaiting a decision on its historic designation, was part of the nearby estate of the John S. Phipps family. The town has commissioned an engineering report that will estimate the cost of restoring the pavillion. A fountain wall at 120 Casa Bendita, also part of the estate, is already a landmark. “A little bit of something is better than a whole lot of nothing,” said Eigelberger. The Landmarks Commission has designated dozens of partial landmarks, usually street-facing facades, fountains and landscapes. The commission made one of its first designations in 1979 with the Bradley Pavilion, a remaining fragment of Col. E.R. Bradley’s Beach Club and residence that once extended from Bradley Place to the Lake Trail along Royal Poinciana Way. [Palm Beach Daily News]