Villa Paula in Miami: The House Clif Ensor Called Haunted

Reviewed by Josh N · Updated September 2, 2026 · How we verify

Villa Paula in Miami sits behind a low wall on North Miami Avenue in Little Haiti, a neoclassical house that was never meant to look like anything else in Florida. The Cuban government built it in 1926 as a consulate and a residence, and it has spent the better part of fifty years being described in local media as the most haunted house in the city. Those two facts are connected by one man, and the connection is worth understanding before you decide what to make of the stories.

Villa Paula at a Glance

• Built: 1926, by the Cuban government
• Architect: Cayetano Freira, of Havana
• Original purpose: Cuban consulate and residence for consul Domingo Milord and his wife Paula Milord
• Named for: Paula Milord, whose name still appears in plaster above the entrance
• Neighborhood: Little Haiti, Miami
• Historic designation: designated historic by the city of Miami in 1983, amended in 1987 to include the interior and an adjacent lot
• Now: a private art gallery since August 2015

A House Shipped In From Havana

The design came from Havana architect Cayetano Freira, and the intent behind it was political as much as domestic. The style was conceived by the Cuban government to send a message, in the words of the record, “about the cosmopolitan civilization enjoyed by Cuba in contrast to the relatively provincial tastes of Miami” at the time. To make the point stick, all of the building materials and all of the workers were imported from Cuba. This was a piece of Havana set down in a young American city, and it read as one.

Paula Milord’s name was worked into plaster above the front entrance, where it remains. The consul was Domingo Milord, and the house carried his wife’s name rather than his own.

One correction is worth making, because it circulates constantly. Villa Paula is often called Miami’s first Cuban consulate. It was the second. The first opened on April 10, 1909, in the now-demolished Watson Building at 13th Street and Avenue D, the street later renamed Miami Avenue, and the Miami News reported it at the time.

The Consulate That Closed in 1930

The building’s official life was short. By 1930, political upheaval in Cuba and the economic depression that followed forced the consulate to close. Domingo and Paula Milord moved out that year, and the house stopped serving the Cuban government in any capacity. Paula died two years later, at the age of 61.

What happened next was ordinary. Helen Reardon, a wealthy widow from Wisconsin, bought the house and lived in it until her death in 1970. After that it changed hands several times and briefly operated as a senior citizens’ residence. By the middle of the 1970s the surrounding neighborhood had grown blighted, and Villa Paula stood vacant and deteriorating.

Paula Was Not Buried in the Garden

The most durable single claim about Villa Paula is that Paula Milord was buried somewhere in the grounds, which would make the house both a residence and a grave. It has been repeated widely for decades. A 2019 Miami New Times investigation debunked it. Whatever else is said about the house, this part is settled, and it is a good example of how a story can outrun the record for the better part of a century.

Clif Ensor and the Making of Miami’s Haunted House

Later in the 1970s the derelict villa was bought by Clif Ensor, who restored it to its original condition. He also began telling Miami media outlets that the house was haunted. His claims of paranormal experiences there produced widespread coverage, and that coverage has never really stopped. It is a straightforward chain of cause and effect: the reputation of Villa Paula as a haunted place begins with its restorer talking to reporters, not with anything documented from the Milord years.

The city of Miami designated the structure historic in 1983, and in 1987 amended the designation to cover the interior and an adjacent lot. That same year Ensor sold the house to Haitian pediatrician Lucien Albert, who sold it to its current owners in 2003. Villa Paula came to stand for the depth of the Cuban community’s roots in South Florida, but it more often made headlines because of Ensor’s paranormal claims and those of the residents who came after him.

What People Say They Experience at Villa Paula

Everything in this section is reported experience rather than verified event. No part of it is established fact, and the earliest accounts trace back to one owner speaking to the press.

The figure at the center of the stories is Paula Milord. Visitors have described the smell of Cuban coffee and of roses drifting through rooms with no source for either. Footsteps on floors that should be empty and low whispers are the other recurring reports. Groups who have investigated the house say they have captured EVP recordings and seen apparitions, though such results depend entirely on the methods and the interpretation of the people gathering them.

Set against that is what the record actually shows: a consulate that operated for four years, a widow from Wisconsin who lived quietly here for forty, a short stint as a senior citizens’ residence, a spell of neglect, and a restoration. The house is genuinely unusual. Whether it is more than that is a matter of belief.

Visiting Villa Paula in Little Haiti

Villa Paula is not a museum or a ghost tour stop. It has served as a private art gallery since August 2015, and the property has been in private ownership continuously since the Cuban government gave it up in 1930. Anyone hoping to see the interior should treat it as a gallery and check whether it is holding a public exhibition or event rather than turning up expecting access.

From the sidewalk you can still see what the Cuban government paid to have shipped across the Florida Straits, including Paula’s name in plaster over the door. That, and the historic designation the city attached to the interior in 1987, are the parts of Villa Paula that need no belief at all.

Sources

• Miami: A Cultural History
• The True Story Behind Miami's "Haunted" Former Cuban Consulate
• The spooky history of Miami's 'most haunted home'
• Villa Paula
• Important Notice
• Wikipedia: Villa Paula (Miami)

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