He is working things out with code enforcement officials for the long haul. He expects some sort of agreement akin to that for the more orderly Kampong, an 1870s effort to copy an Indonesian village. Kampong, on the residential fringe of Coconut Grove, later belonged to botanist David Fairchild, founder of Fairchild Gardens. Now it is a low-key research facility, another of those odd assets that belie Miami's sinful image. These days, Chasser's own sustainable environment qualifies for approval as some artful civic pride.
Nobody thinks it is particularly wacko.
Rather, everybody who knows him loves him. On the redemptive side, he is sooo Miami. Freelance writer Herb Hiller lived in Miami for 35 years before relocating to Georgetown, in northern Florida. St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.