Agent of new Miami lives with Old World artifacts

Alicia Cervera
Alicia Cervera

Legendary real estate agent Alicia Cervera, a leading figure in South Florida’s luxury high-rise market, lives with her husband surrounded by remnants of the Old World, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Her traditional Mediterranean-style home in Coral Gables, far from the glittering towers of downtown Miami, is decorated with colonial-era silver from her native Peru and a French chandelier, a knight’s suit of armor from medieval Spain and an original table centerpiece salvaged from the Sheraton Key Biscayne Hotel before it was torn down.

The 5,500-square-foot home has doubled in size since Cervera and her husband, Javier, bought it in 1978. With $2 million spent on renovations, the house now also boasts an expansive patio and a swimming pool surrounded by roses and fruit trees, according to the Journal.

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Cervera Real Estate, which Cervera, 83, founded in 1971 after she and her family fled Cuba following the Bay of Pigs invasion, generated more than $1 billion in sales last year, the Journal said.

“The city has grown tremendously and I don’t think any of the past homes or hotels were a better use,” she was quoted as saying. “I love the way Miami has grown from a town to a city—and that I was a part of the city’s growth.” [WSJ]Emily Schmall