Casa Casuarina, also known as the Versace Mansion, is an American property built in 1930, renowned for being owned by and the place of the murder of the Italian fashion designer

Gianni Versace Giovanni Maria "Gianni" Versace (; 2 December 1946 – 15 July 1997) was an Italian fashion designer, socialite and businessman. He was the founder of Versace, an international luxury-fashion house that produces accessories, fragrances, make-u ...

; he lived there from 1992 until his death in 1997. It is located at 1116 Ocean Drive in the South Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach, Florida, in the

Miami Beach Architectural District The Miami Beach Architectural District (also known as Old Miami Beach Historic District and the more popular term Miami Art Deco District) is a U.S. historic district (designated as such on May 14, 1979) located in the South Beach neighborhood o ...

. Since 2015, it has been adapted into and operates as a luxury boutique hotel known as The Villa Casa Casuarina.

History

Alden Freeman

Casa Casuarina was built in 1930 by Ronin Wolf in the

Mediterranean Revival Mediterranean Revival is an architectural style introduced in the United States, Canada, and certain other countries in the 19th century. It incorporated references from Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, Italian Renaissance, French Colonia ...

style for Alden Freeman (1862–1937), a philanthropist homosexual bachelor who was heir to a Standard Oil fortune. It is rumored that during construction, a

time capsule A time capsule is a historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy relics dates ...

was hidden in one of the walls. Freeman said the structure was modeled on the

Alcázar de Colón The Alcázar de Colón, or Columbus Alcazar is the first fortified European palace built in the Americas. It is located in the Dominican Republic's colonial area of Santo Domingo city, and forms part of the Ciudad Colonial UNESCO's World Heritage ...

, with its

Coralline rock Coralline rock is a type of rock formed by the death of layers of coralline algae. It is visually quite bright like the algae, and is often desired as aquarium decoration. Since it is formed from the dead algae, it contains some nutrients and ...

blocks. A block from the Alcázar de Colón structure is located on the right side of the main entrance.

Addison Mizner Addison Cairns Mizner (December 12, 1872 – February 5, 1933) was an American architect whose Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival style interpretations left an indelible stamp on South Florida, where it continues to inspire archi ...

designed the interior, including the use of key lime

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

flooring. The name translates to "house of the Australian pine". Commentators suggest that it was named after a

W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

novel, ''Under the

Casuarina ''Casuarina'' is a genus of 17 tree species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australia, the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, islands of the western Pacific Ocean, and eastern Africa. It was once treated as the sole genus in the fa ...

Tree'', or maybe refers to a tree on the lot that survived the 1926 Miami hurricane. Major architecture features included an observatory and a small replica of the Homage Tower from the

Fortaleza Ozama The Ozama Fortress ( es, Fortaleza Ozama), also formerly known as the city wall's Homage tower. It is one of the surviving sections of the Walls of Santo domingo, which is recognized by UNESCO as being the oldest military construction of European ...

in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

. About 100 medallions of notable political figures, including

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

, and

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

, are installed on the walls. Freeman was the son of Joel Francis Freeman (1836–1910), who served as treasurer of Standard Oil. The younger Freeman lived in the house with his adopted son Charles Boulton and Boulton's family. He died at the house on December 29, 1937.

Amsterdam Palace

Jacques Amsterdam acquired the house for $100,000 and converted it into a 24-unit

apartment building An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

, naming it ''The Amsterdam Palace''. It changed hands several times and was renamed as the Christopher Columbus Apartments, in commemoration of its architectural features referring to Mediterranean style.

Gianni Versace

Gianni Versace bought the house for $2.95 million in 1992. He restored the original name and returned it to private use, creating 8 bedrooms, 2 kitchens, 3 sitting rooms, 10 bathrooms, a bar, a library, and 4 living rooms. He installed modern systems, including central air conditioning. In 1993, Versace bought the adjoining Revere Hotel to the south for $3.7 million, which he tore down to make a pool and garden area for his house. Versace commissioned

Sir Roy Strong Sir Roy Colin Strong, (born 23 August 1935) is an English art historian, museum curator, writer, broadcaster and landscape designer. He has served as director of both the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. ...

, an English art historian and landscape designer, to work on creating the garden. He also had created gardens at Versace's Villa Fontanelle on Lake Como in Italy. On July 15, 1997, Versace was shot dead in front of the house by Andrew Cunanan.

Post-Versace

In 2000, the mansion was purchased by Peter Loftin for $19 million. He renovated the property for use as a boutique hotel, restaurant, and luxury event space. The restaurant was Il Sole at The Villa Casa Casuarina. The mansion was bought by VM South Beach LLC (owned by the Nakash family) for $41.5 million in 2013. Since 2015, The Villa Casa Casuarina has been a

luxury hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

with ten unique suites. The renowned gourmet restaurant Gianni's is housed there.

Gallery

File:Versace mansion - entrance steps.jpg, Entrance steps where Gianni Versace was shot by Andrew Cunanan File:Versace mansion - casa casuarina balcony 01.jpg, Casa Casuarina - View of balcony File:Versace mansion - golden planters.jpg, Orange and gold planters outside Versace Mansion File:Versace mansion - perimeter outside street metal detail.jpg, Perimeter street metal railing File:Versace mansion - perimeter wall fruit bowl detail 02.jpg, Wall fruit bowl detail File:Versace mansion - perimeter wall fruit bowl detail.jpg, Another wall fruit bowl File:Versace mansion - perimeter wall pine cone detail.jpg, Wall pine cone detail File:Versace mansion - perimeter wall wrought iron detail 02.jpg, Wall wrought iron round medallion File:Versace mansion - perimiter wall wrought iron detail.jpg, Head of Medusa and pine cones File:Versace mansion - round tower.jpg, Round tower and iron fence File:Versace mansion - south east corner.jpg, South east corner File:Versace mansion - perimeter wall.jpg, Perimeter wall details - south side File:Versace mansion - alleyway handicap entrance.jpg, Alleyway handicap entrance for Versace Mansion File:Versace mansion - alleyway window small.jpg, Small window in alleyway File:Versace mansion - alleyway window.jpg, Large window in alleyway File:Versace mansion - perimeter wall pine cone.jpg, Perimeter wall masonry pine cone File:Versace mansion - alleyway north.jpg, Alleyway looking north File:Versace mansion - alleyway south.jpg, Alleyway behind building looking south File:Versace mansion - alleyway view north.jpg, Rear of mansion - alleyway view north File:Versace mansion - alleyway view south.jpg, Rear of mansion - alleyway view south

References

External links

* {{Coord, 25, 46, 55.2, N, 80, 7, 50.2, W, type:landmark_region:US-FL, display=title 1930 establishments in Florida Gardens by Roy Strong Hotels in Miami Beach, Florida Houses completed in 1930 Houses in Miami Mediterranean Revival architecture Versace