If you’ve ever admired the Cape Florida Lighthouse on Key Biscayne, then you might want to say thanks to Miami-Dade Realtor Diane Curtis English. She is one of the principals responsible for its magnificent restoration.

Diane Curtis English

"I love lighthouses and that was just my real love," she said of her work with the Dade Heritage Trust from 1963 to 1967 on behalf of the Cape Florida beacon.

"It has a wonderful history and it means so much to so many people here. But, to me it is just a Grande Dame. We really don’t have another and for as much water as we have, that’s really our only lighthouse. Now, it’s back to its original state."

English, who says age is something a lady does not have to divulge, came to Miami from Connecticut about 45 years ago when her ex-husband was hired by Pan American Airlines.

"Just say that I came for the weather," she said with a laugh.

Over the years, she watched Miami grow and raised three children, all of whom are now married and with families of their own. Two still live in Miami and the other is in South Carolina.

English was involved early on in education which she claims is the reason for her success in real estate.

"I was in involved with private school education," she said. "I had my own pre-school in Coral Gables, the Tiny Tot Finishing School."

English ran the school for about five years, before selling it and joining the Gulliver Academy in the mid-1960s as director of Gulliver’s pre-school program.

"That’s a very big part of my life because a lot of my success in real estate has been with people I dealt with who had their children at Gulliver," she explained. "A good part of my job was working with incoming students and faculty, and selling our programs. And, that was a very good launching pad for going into residential real estate."

English is one of the top producing agents in the Coral Gables office of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Inc. She’s a member of the company’s prestigious Chairman’s Club and ranks among the top 2 percent of the nation’s Realtors in annual sales.

"It was a very good choice," English said of her 25-year real estate career. "It’s been very good to me."

English began with Stadler Associates and was there for 16 years, until the company’s untimely closing in 1991. She worked briefly for Prudential, then joined EWM and has been with the company ever since.

"There are top professional people here and it’s been a wonderful environment. The support is just great," she said of the company.

"What I love about real estate is that I’m able to be so much a part of people’s new roots," she said. "It’s a very personal kind of business because a home is about as sacred as anything can get."

English said all of South Florida is a very strong, stable market and that people seem to have a high level of confidence in the economy. She said security, schools and quality of life are the most prominent items people think about when buying a house these days.

"The economy is excellent and the climate in Miami is so positive," she said. "That just re-confirms people’s desire to be here and to possibly better themselves and move up to a bigger home, or possibly move out of a large home and stabilize in something a little easier to take care of."

She added that being a Realtor has been a very rewarding profession.