article by Russell Glace

We were honored to be invited to the Rubino Residence for our South Florida Jaguar Club Holiday Party. The date was set and the route agreed upon. We all met at the designated points from West Palm Beach to South Miami. Our first gathering location was Old School Square in downtown Delray Beach, the location of several of our concours. These destination points were determined by Mr. Brad Cline. We kept to our schedule, arriving and departing, on time.

At out third stop, there was a mix up and we stopped at the Monastery of St. Benard. Since most of the cars were already at our third gathering point, our leader, Brad, sought to go to the correct stopping point and gather our other members and lead them to the gathering point, the Monastery.

While there, many of the members took advantage of touring this historical eight hundred (800) year old landmark. This Twelfth and Fifteenth century Monastery is a mix of Roman / Gothic Architecture. The cloister was foundered in 1141. This Monastery has survived centuries of strife; after a fire in 1684, it was rebuilt in 1770. It 1809 it was closed and reopened in 1820. In 1835, all monasteries were seized by the Spanish government and sold to private families and used as farms. The cloisters and monastic quarters were used as barn stalls.

In 1925, Mr. William Randolf Hearst bought the building and planned to bring it to America as a piece of art. Hearst’s plan was to send the building in boxes to St Simeon, California, where he was building his castle. He planned to use the cloisters as corridors in this mansion. He thought it was the foremost Romanesque building in the world. He bought the building for $40,000.00 U.S. dollars, with an additional $10,000.00 cost for shipping. Today, $1,500,000.00 would be the estimate. The Spanish natives stoned the crew that were dismantling the Monastery. The building’s stones were labeled and shipped in 11,000 boxes. They arrived in 1926 in New York. All pieces were packed in hay. At that time, hoof and mouth disease was in effect in Spain. The U.S. government ordered all the hay to be burnt. All the boxes were repacked and remained in the warehouse for a quarter century.

In 1951, the Monastery was sold for $7,000.00 to developers who planned to rebuild it in North Miami Beach, on a twenty-two acre parcel they owned. They planned to rebuild it as a tourist attraction. The 10,751 boxes of stones were received at Port Everglades at the cost of $60,000.00. They thought the project would take six to ten months to reassemble.

All of the boxes were now gigantic jigsaw puzzle. When the stones were repacked, the boxes were mixed, with East and West marked the same.

The project took one and a half years to rebuild and bankrupted the developers. The building was sold to the Diocese, St. John Devine, of Southeast Florida. Then, Col. Packland purchased and donated it to the Episcopal Church. The Monastery now is an active church that holds weekly services and special events such as weddings, anniversaries, etc.

We then caravanned to Coral Gables and assembled at Viscaya. It was difficult to keep all the cars together in the caravan with all the Miami traffic, but we all managed to arrive safely at the Rubino Residence.

Ann and Frank Rubino had recently completed their Coral Gables residence. The modern day residence is an exact replication of a compilation of French Manor houses thought out Paris, France. The Rubino’s researched Parisian estates to gather the design for their grand house. The end result was the best of the best of what Paris has to offer. Ann, a former professional interior designer, with Frank’s assistance, found each and every fixture, designed the millwork, and selected the finishes. Their contractor provided the shell and the Rubino’s did everything else. The project took several years to compile all the ingredients to build, Ann completed the house while Frank’s was having fun designing and building his dream garage.

The attention to detail is apparent with period correct scale, proper proportions, and appropriate finishes. Their home showcases opulent furniture and fixtures, and their garage acts as a museum for Frank’s collection of European vintage cars. Frank has the unique knack of buying the best, and making them better. Several of these cars have achieved top honors, in class at Meadow brook and Amelia Island Concours.

Frank’s newest find is a 1950 Aston Martin DBII. Frank follows the advice of professionals and buys the best that he can find and makes them part of his eclectic collection encompasses different eras and styles, part of his collection is an XK120 OTS, a Series III “E” type, a Morris Woodie, a Morgan 3 Wheeler, a Healey and a DB II Aston Martin.

He also travels in style to automotive events with his new motor coach. This coach securely houses his vehicle of choice in the rear. It is a full service vehicle with a kitchen, dining, and sleeping berth. The driver relaxes in an overstuffed leather seat with pneumatic suspension. All the comforts of home while in transit with his favorite car.

I think I speak for all S.F.J.C. members in that this years Holiday Party will be hard to beat, thanks to our hosts, Ann, Frank, Frankie & Oliver.

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