You Can Buy This Haunted House in Little Haiti for $3.5 Million

The historic Villa Paula and its esteemed original occupants have beguiled Miamians for generations.

It could be said the one-story 2,200-square-foot estate, with its 18-foot ceilings, and Cuban-inspired neoclassical styling has it all: a rich backstory, a desirable location and, as Miami lore tells us, a ghost.

And it can be yours for $3.5 million. (No extra charge for the ghost.) The property, located on N. Miami Avenue between NE 58th and 59th streets in Little Haiti, has been on the market since November.

Martin Elortegui, director of commercial development for Sotheby's Realty, tells New Times that at least 100 prospective buyers have toured the home, which the City of Miami designated as a historic site in 1983.

"It's a beautiful property," Elortegui says. "It's been getting attention from [potential] buyers all over the U.S. and Europe."

Elortegui says the home has primarily drawn interest from commercial clients in the creative and hospitality industries, including gallery managers, art collectors, and restaurateurs.

"They realize it's a unique piece of art and history in Miami," he says.

County property records show that the sprawling six-bedroom, three-bathroom home last sold for $500,000 in 2016, and, before that, for $275,000 in 2003. The current owner is 5811 Investment Group, which is based in Boca Raton.

The property was built in 1926 for Domingo Milord, the first Cuban consul to Miami. He named it Villa Paula, after his wife. The couple, in their 50s at the time, moved into 5811 N. Miami Ave. in 1927.

All the construction materials were imported from Cuba. In fact, it's the only building known to have been associated with the Cuban government that's still standing in Miami. It has a balustraded roof, ornate tiles, and a supernatural mystique. 

Paul George, resident historian of HistoryMiami Museum, says everyone is enamored with the tales of Paula's ghost. Over the years, he's heard or read at least a handful of stories of how the house supposedly came to be haunted.

Previous owners have reported shelves unexpectedly shaking and sightings of a one-legged apparition floating in midair. News reports claimed residents also reported the inexplicable aroma of coffee and piano music — two things that Paula is said to have adored while alive.

A man named Cliff Ensor — who property records indicate purchased Villa Paula for $33,000 in 1974 — relayed accounts of experiences he couldn't explain, including the sound of heels clacking on the tile floors and, another time, a chandelier that fell from the ceiling. Ensor died, but he told the Biscayne Times in 2008 that he stood by his stories.

In the fenced-in backyard at Villa Paula, there's a small mausoleum of sorts that resembles a shrine. For decades, legend had it that Paula was entombed inside. It's a fascinating story, and perhaps a little macabre, but it appears that's all it is: a story.

Paula died of complications stemming from a surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital in which one of her legs was amputated in August 1932, two years after she and the consul moved to another residence in Miami.

New Times previously reported on obituaries published in the New York Times and the Key West Citizen that stated Paula Milord was buried in an unmarked grave at Miami's Woodlawn Cemetery.

"It’s a really crazy thing," George says of the Villa Paula lore. "I think people like to believe in that."

But buying into demonstrably false versions of the home’s backstory, he cautions, "puts an erroneous spin" on a piece of bonafide Miami history.