Villa Paula

Built in 1926 by the Cuban government as a consulate and residence for Consul Domingo Milord and his wife Paula. The Havana architect designed the building to showcase Cuba's cosmopolitan civilization to Miami.

Villa Paula was built in 1926 by the Cuban government as a consulate and residence for Consul Domingo Milord and his wife Paula, a Cuban-born opera singer who wanted a haven for artistic expression. Designed by Havana architect Cayetano Freira with all materials and workers imported from Cuba, the neoclassical mansion featured 18-foot ceilings, hand-painted floor tiles, and Tuscan columns. Paula died in August 1932 from complications after a leg amputation at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Beginning in the 1980s, residents reported hearing piano music, smelling Cuban coffee, and seeing a dark-haired, one-legged lady floating in the chandeliered hallway. Owner Clif Ensor experienced loud thuds like footsteps, unmoored piano music, and the falling of a chandelier. A psychic medium reported Paula's spirit loved to play piano and explained the death of Ensor's three cats by claiming Paula hated cats. Dishes and silverware were thrown around the kitchen. By 1989, The Miami Herald named Villa Paula the most haunted house in Miami. However, some skeptics note Ensor appeared to manufacture mystique for attention—Dr. Lord Lee-Benner, who lived there in the 1940s-50s, says he never saw a ghost. The city designated the structure historic in 1983, and it now houses a museum and art gallery.