Moon Over Modernism
The restored Biggs House, Delray Beach
A Benefit for USModernist · October 23–24

Sunset & Steel

The Most Controversial House in Florida is in Delray Beach

Join architecture fans from around the country on Friday for Sunset & Steel, the latest edition of USModernist’s Moon Over Modernism — wildly popular nonprofit benefit parties and tours in celebrated Modernist houses.

Sunset and Steel features curated cocktails, delicious seasonal appetizers, and live jazz at golden hour — inside the beautiful restoration of Paul Rudolph’s 1956 Biggs House. It’s quite a story. Learn more about it in the Wall Street Journal.

Consider the question the whole design world is debating: what does it really mean to restore a building? And what do you say about origins when it’s finished?

Come stand in the beauty of an amazing renovation at sunset, drink in hand, under the steel Rudolph drew, and decide for yourself.

Learn More about USModernist
Sponsored by:
Anima Domus Casa de Marco Design Delray Garden Center Hausscape Royal Green Appliance Companies

USModernist is the world’s largest open digital archive of 20th-century residential architecture — over 30,000 houses, 300 architects, and 5.2 million pages of architecture and design magazines, all free to access at usmodernist.org. Proceeds from Sunset & Steel support the archive’s mission to document, preserve, and promote America’s Modernist houses.

The Invitation

A lovely fall evening inside the house
everyone is talking about

In 1955, art collector Sewell C. Biggs asked a young Paul Rudolph to design him a vacation house by the ocean. Rudolph answered with a 1,600-square-foot glass pavilion floating on exposed steel columns, built by Delray contractor James Sinks — jalousie windows pulling the sea breeze through rooms built before air conditioning, one of the only Rudolph houses ever constructed on Florida’s Atlantic coast.

Seventy years, two teardown scares, one red velvet satchel of lost Rudolph drawings, a demolition heard around the preservation world, and a $7 million rebuild later — the house that made the front of the Wall Street Journal’s Mansion section this February is opening its doors for one night. For us.

Owners Mike and Nina Marco welcome you for sunset curated cocktails, delicious appetizers, live jazz, and the opportunity to explore and discuss the house with the couple who bravely brought it back.

The Biggs House in the late 1950s, a period color slide showing the elevated pavilion behind Australian pines
“…simplicity, elegance, discipline and good proportions.”
— Jury, 1959 Homes for Better Living Awards, on the Biggs House
“Two Local Architects Win National Awards”
— Headline, Sarasota News, June 28, 1959
Even in 1959, this house sparked debate: some awards jurors faulted the tight stair and the ground-floor transition — but the jury agreed a stilt house was a livable answer to Florida.
— As reported in House & Home, June 1959 · Award photographs by Ernest Graham
The covered terrace at dusk, set for diningVenjhamin Reyes
The living room beneath exposed steel beamsVenjhamin Reyes
The kitchen with terrazzo floors and warm wood cabinetryVenjhamin Reyes
The Biggs House glowing at twilightVenjhamin Reyes
The great room under the steel frameVenjhamin Reyes
Interior detail of the restored Biggs HouseVenjhamin Reyes

Is it Still a Paul Rudolph House?

The Marcos bought the house in 2018 and, the day they closed, found Rudolph’s original plans and photographs left in a bedroom closet. What followed was six years of approvals, discoveries, corroded steel, a stop-work order, a magistrate hearing, an after-the-fact permit, and a meticulous rebuild from Rudolph’s own drawings — finished in 2024.

Delray Beach architect Jeffrey Silberstein guided the Biggs House back to life. Raised in Curaçao and educated in New York and Boston, he founded Silberstein Architecture in 1989, earning multiple AIA Honor Awards for residential work and recognition from Ocean Home Magazine as one of America’s top 50 coastal architects. From the first Historic Preservation Board hearing in 2018, Silberstein shaped the plan to remove the non-contributing additions and restore Rudolph’s original pavilion — then designed the sympathetic new addition behind it, joined by a glass connector, keeping Rudolph’s 1956 vision the star. Fittingly, he lives in Delray in an AIA award-winning home of his own design.

The Paul Rudolph Institute for Modern Architecture, the nonprofit that stewards Rudolph’s archive and legacy, holds a principled position: once the original fabric came down, the house ceased to be an authentic Rudolph, and it considers the Biggs Residence demolished. Other preservationists, the city, other Rudolph organizations, and the owners see it differently, but they don’t all agree either.

“…a classic struggle between property rights and preservation ideals.”
— USModernist Radio, from the episode featuring Mike & Nina Marco
“We will bring back this home the way that Mr Rudolph intended.”
— Nina Marco, announcing the project in Dwell
“It’s a labor of love. That’s how it makes sense to me.”
— Mike Marco, on the rebuild (The Coastal Star)
“…properly executed rehabilitation and partial reconstruction can continue to be listed” as historic.
— Richard Heisenbottle, preservation architect retained by the City of Delray Beach, in his official report
“Paul Rudolph didn’t have hurricane glass in the 1950s.”

“The original residence will remain ‘demolished’ in our project list.”

“No reconstruction of a building can authentically match the original.”
— Kelvin Dickinson & the Paul Rudolph Institute, in the Wall Street Journal, the Foundation’s 2021 statement, and The Architect’s Newspaper
The city’s Historic Preservation Board chairman asked the city’s expert to make the case to the Rudolph Foundation that the rebuilt house remains an authentic Rudolph design.
— Ben Baffer, HPB Chairman, as reported in The Coastal Star
The entry facade of the Biggs House at dusk, bougainvillea in bloomSilberstein Architecture

Reserve Your Place

Exclusive Tickets

Gold
$195
Friday, October 23 · 6pm to 9pm
  • Experience the brilliance of the house during the day, sunset, and at night
  • Benefit reception, 6–9 PM
  • Signature cocktails, wine & hors d’oeuvres, deliciously crafted by NOSH Catering
  • Tickets are tax-deductible as a charitable contribution to USModernist, a 501C3 nonprofit
VIP
$295
Friday, October 23 · 6pm to 9pm · limited to 20
  • Everything in Gold
  • 5:30 PM early entry — a private champagne walk & talk with Mike and Nina Marco before the crowd arrives
  • USModernist Mod Squad membership (1 year, $150 value)
  • VIP USModernist Tote bag with goodies
  • Includes a free ticket to the Saturday tour (non transferable)
Tour Only
$75
Saturday, October 24 · 11am to 3pm
  • Explore the restored Biggs House, the day after the amazing Sunset and Steel party. Entry every 45 minutes. Your entry time will be assigned about three weeks ahead.

Purchase Tickets

Options

Tell your spouse.  Mark your calendar.  Get your tickets!

Details

Know Before You Go

Getting There

212 Seabreeze Avenue, Delray Beach — one block from the ocean, five minutes from Atlantic Avenue. Parking is limited, we encourage rideshares. Recommended accommodations: Opal Grand and Seagate.

Attire

Palm Beach mod. Linen, color, vintage encouraged. Flat or low shoes recommended — the terrazzo and lawn are kinder to them.

Weather

October evenings in Delray average 79°. Event proceeds rain or shine; the ground-floor pavilion is covered.

CE Credit

Self-reported AIA CEU credit available if arranged in advance. This house is a live case study in reconstruction standards — bring your questions and chat with the owners.

The Fine Print

  • Adults 21+ only. This is a private residence; please respect the neighbors on arrival and departure.
  • Tickets are not mailed; your name will be on the list at check-in.
  • Payments are non-refundable except if the event is cancelled.
  • Personal photography welcome; commercial or drone photography prohibited.
  • By attending, you give USModernist permission to use event photos including your likeness for promotion.
  • Admission is a revocable license; disorderly behavior forfeits entry without refund.
  • You assume all risks of attendance; USModernist and the homeowners are not liable for injury or loss.
  • No smoking, vaping, or outside food and drink.
  • Please stay home if experiencing COVID symptoms.
  • Questions: devra@usmodernist.org

Images from the Paul Rudolph Archive at the Library of Congress · Casa de Marco Design · Venjhamin Reyes