Paul Rudolph’s Legendary Milam Residence Hits the Market For $4.45 Million

Paul Rudolph's 6,800-square-foot, beachfront Milam Residence has been held by the family of original owner Arthur W. Milam ever since it was built in 1961. Situated on the Atlantic coast in Ponte Vedra, just south of Jacksonville, Florida, the home was designed with its location in mind.

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"This house is ‘art with a purpose’—the light on the house at different times of day changes its look," Realtor Clare Berry told The Florida Times Union in 2017, when the house was first listed. "The cantilever shape of the windows and the brise-soleil protect the glass from the sun. And Rudolph designed all the seven different levels of the home to reflect different uses and different moods."

The home's large, inoperable windows bring in ocean views while keeping the air conditioning tightly inside. Deep overhangs from the 8' x 8' concrete blocks shield the interiors from the fierce Florida sun—and they also provide protection from the ocean's wrath come hurricane season.

"The building is a highly individual stylistic statement, a one-of a- kind design created to suit the needs and tastes of a client for a comfortable and visually distinctive residence," the National Register of Historic places stated when the building was listed in 2016.

In The Architecture of Paul Rudolph, Rudolph writes that the Milam Residence is a composition of considerable spatial variety with vertical and horizontal interpenetration of spaces clearly defined inside and out. "Gone are the earlier notions of organization through regular structure with subdivisions of space freely spaced. Spatial organization has taken the place of purely structural organization. Floors and walls are extended in elaborated forms toward the views, thereby making of the facade a reflection of the interior space."

A video of the home in its current state is on the listing agent's website, and interested buyers can connect with the current owner, Milam's stepson Robert Champion, by phone at (904) 755 4785 or via email at robertchampion@bellsouth.net.

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Historical images by Joseph Molitor, courtesy of the Joseph W. Molitor architectural photograph collection, Columbia University, Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library and the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation.