Via Parigi, Palm Beach, Florida
We've looked at houses built over stores before. We've looked at villas in Italy and Spain, and visited secret neighborhoods before. Via Parigi takes the best elements from all of those and makes them even better.
It's the towering centerpiece of the high-end shopping district along Palm Beach's Worth Avenue -- the "Rodeo Drive of the East Coast."
Let's wander through this tucked-away Mediterranean village...
until we get to our colorful destination...
and then look up....
The property includes all of the building's separate units. There's the retail space occupied by Island Cashmere, and a two car garage on ground level.
Quick gripe-- the listing has relatively few interior photos, but they made sure to include the garage.
The second floor has a one bedroom apartment. Above it, the third and fourth levels form their own four bedroom apartment, and the fifth and sixth floors create the penthouse unit.
Because the fifth and sixth penthouse floors were occupied by the building's owner, socialite Mimi Galloway Duncan (1922-2025), they comprise the listing photos.
The building has 8,596 square feet.
The penthouse also enjoys views of the Intracoastal Waterway. The unit has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, and two balconies.
It also has a lot of fun and vibrant Palm Beach color.
Compared to the dining room, though, the living room below seems a little stodgy.
If it were mine, I would give it a little more zing and pull a cushy couch right up to those views.
And that's it for the interior photos. To make up for it, let's go ahead and imagine that the master suite and balcony look like this:
Let's also imagine that the guest room looks like this:
It would be very easy for designer Leta Austin Foster to lend a hand in this house, because her shop is right around the corner in a similar building.
She has an office above her shop, and her residence is on the upper floors. A tour of it is here. It's on Via Mizner, as in architect Addison Mizner (1872-1933). Including Via Mizner and Via Parigi, there are eight of these charming streets in this historic neighborhood.
Speaking of shops, the Google street view for Via Parigi drops you nicely right into the store on the ground level:
This is from 2013 when it was an antiques shop. I had fun virtually browsing and thought you might, too.
By the way, Via Parigi is named for Paris Singer, of the Singer Sewing Machine family. Friends with architect Mizner, Singer wanted to create the Everglades Club as a convalescent hospital for WWI veterans. Mizner took that idea and ran with it.
That brings us back to Via Parigi's owner, Mimi Galloway Duncan, a longtime member of the club.
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Although she lived in Palm Beach for over fifty years, her heart also remained in her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. She wrote for her grandfather's newspaper, The Commercial Appeal. Her column Penelope's Peeps described society gatherings and what the women wore.
She came by her creativity naturally. Her mother Miriam Mooney Galloway (1897-1977) was an international opera singer. She wore the most perfect hat of straw in a lavender shade (and the American flag).
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It's also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Grandfather Colonel Robert Galloway definitely led a colorful life. In addition to somewhat theatrically avenging his father's murder, told here, he founded the Memphis Zoo.
It's no wonder Mimi Galloway Duncan was drawn to a distinctive residence like Via Parigi. If it appeals to the Palm Beach European shopkeeper in you, the listing is here.
