Florida Tropical House at Indiana Dunes National Park

Florida Tropical House, front elevation, from "A Century of Progress" homes and furnishings as exhibited at the World's Fair, Chicago, 1934, Dorothy Raley, Editor, M.A. Ring Company Publishers, Chicago.

The Florida Tropical House overlooks Lake Michigan on Lake Front Drive in the town of Beverly Shores. Miami architect Robert Law Weed, inspired by the tropical climate of Southern Florida, designed the house. Weed sought to blend the indoor and outdoor environments, bringing together a spacious two-story living room, with overhanging balcony, and large open terraces on the roof. The original specifications called for poured concrete walls, however, to save money, the house was framed in wood, and finished with a lightweight concrete stucco. The bright pink house became a well-known landmark for mariners.