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Georgette\u2019s Tea Room House in Brownsville holds many memories for members of Miami\u2019s Black community.<\/p>\n
CBS News Miami | Feb. 2026<\/p>\n
A historically designated social-meeting spot from the 1950s is being restored in Miami\u2019s Brownsville neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Georgette\u2019s Tea Room House holds many memories for members of Miami\u2019s Black community.<\/p>\n
The classic, 1950s boarding house, meeting place and tea room is built like a brick with lath and plaster walls, CBS construction and mid-20th century architecture.<\/p>\n
Over the years, the building has been under major restoration. Bill Dozier heads the renovation\/restoration project: \u201cTrue craftsmanship. We don\u2019t build them like this anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kim Johnson, the driving force behind the project, told CBS News Miami, \u201cWe are not just restoring the building, we are restoring the history, legacy of what was built.\u201d<\/p>\n
Georgette Scott Campbell designed, built and operated Georgette\u2019s Tea Room House.<\/p>\n
A Georgia native, she lived in New York, moved to Miami and brought with her the vision for an elegant venue, which included classic table settings, excellent food, a place to see and be seen, not only for locals but for big names who came to town and stayed at Georgette\u2019s Tea Room House.<\/p>\n
Georgette Scott Campbell designed, built and operated Georgette\u2019s Tea Room House. Courtesy of Kim Johnson <\/p>\n
She ticks off the names of the famous, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Louis Armstrong, The Ink Spots, Nat King Cole and jazz singer Billie Holiday, who was a frequent guest.<\/p>\n
In the 1940s and 1950s, well into the 1960s, in Jim Crow Miami, Black entertainers could not stay in segregated Miami Beach hotels, where they performed but had to depart when the shows were over.<\/p>\n
Johnson said Georgette\u2019s was important for locals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was the place you had your social events, weddings, receptions, holiday celebrations and community-strategy meetings,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Historic pictures lined up in a front room reveal what was unique about the venue. There are a lot of white folks in those pictures.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeorgette Scott Campbell had a vision far beyond a classy meeting venue. She had Blacks and whites sitting together at the table in the room where you are sitting. Do you understand the importance of the restoration of this house? What we are preserving is a legacy, a legacy that has to be seen. The next generation has to know what we went through and how a woman saw the vision, took hold of it and made it a reality,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
Georgette\u2019s Tea Room House is owned by the Bethany Seventh-day Adventist Church. The restoration is funded by state and local grants.<\/p>\n