Vizcaya Museum and Gardens

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vizcaya Museum and Gardens (10 acres) is a remarkable villa and botanical garden owned by Miami-Dade County, and located at 3251 South Miami Avenue in Coconut Grove, Miami, Florida. It is a National Historic Landmark open to the public daily except for Christmas Day; an admission fee is charged.

The estate was built by James Deering, a major figure in Miami's early history and a Vice President of the International Harvester Company. It is a replica of a Venetian villa built facing Biscayne Bay, complete with sculpted gardens, which he used as a winter home from 1916 to the time of his death in 1925. In 1952, Miami-Dade County purchased the estate's buildings, then in decline, for $1 million in revenue bonds and Deering's heirs donated the estate's furnishings and art to the County.

The museum consists of Villa Vizcaya, its grounds, and the museum's collections.

• Villa Vizcaya is an Italian Renaissance-style estate designed by the internationally-known architect F. Burrall Hoffman. It contains 34 rooms decorated with 16th through 19th century furnishings and European decorative art.

• The estate grounds cover within 10 acres (40,000 m²) of land on the Biscayne Bay. They were designed by Colombian landscape architect Diégo-Suarez, and influenced by Renaissance Italian and French design. The gardens include a hedge maze, and a good collection of orchids in the David A. Klein Orchidarium.

• Collections include much of the home's original furniture and artwork, which remain in pristine condition.

The property is sometimes called the "Hearst Castle of the East", and is has been accredited by the American Association of Museums.

[edit] External links

• Vizcaya Museum and Gardens
• Aerial close-up of Vizcaya property

[edit] See also

• List of botanical gardens in the United States