By Iris Alon
about.com
about.com
In the 1920s and 1930s, Miami went through a building frenzy.
Millionaires from the Northeast and Midwest were attracted to the city’s
warmer climate and seclusion. They built mansions all along Miami and Miami Beach.
They also began developing the areas surrounding their properties,
remnants of which we still see today. When you visit Miami, stop by one
of these historic mansions that are open to the public and relive the
opulent lifestyles of the
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He traveled to Italy and handpicked many of the original furnishing and materials used.
The
original Vizcaya was a 180-acre property that was built to be
self-sufficient due to the limited services and commodities available to
the residents of Miami at that time. During its construction, it served
as a major employer, providing employment to as many as 1,000 people at
its peak. When the project was completed in 1922, it was the grandest
estate in the region, encompassing the main mansion, several formal
gardens and barns, a farm for grazing livestock and growing produce, as
well as workshops, and quarters for the domestic staff.
After
Deering died in 1925, the family continued to utilize the estate but the
Great Depression and damages from a powerful hurricane in 1926 made the
estate an expensive liability. The family decided to open parts of the
estate as a public museum in 1934. This continued for decades and by the
1950s, the family decided to transfer more than 50 acres of the grounds
and conveyed the main house and the village to Dade County to use as a
permanent art museum. Today, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens is a National Historic Landmark, with more than 200,000 visitors annually.
Biltmore Hotel
The Biltmore Hotel
is arguably Miami’s grandest hotel, designed to look like a Venetian
palazzo and a Moorish castle. The project was a collaboration between
land developer George Merrick
and hotel magnate John MacEntee Bowman. They wanted to build a hotel
that was both fashionable and sporty. The construction took just over a
year and in January of 1926, the hotel opened with a lavish party that
was then coined as the event of the year.
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Bowman and Merrick’s
resort quickly became the resort to stay at while in Miami. For years,
it welcomed prominent individuals from American presidents to well-known gangsters
on a regular basis. It also became the hub for socialite events in
Miami. The hotel hosted the “Miami Biltmore Specials” which often
included elegant galas, world-class golf tournaments, and exclusive live
performances by leading jazz and big bands.
During WW II, it was
converted into a huge hospital called the Army Air Forces Regional
Hospital and remained so until 1968. It remained unoccupied for almost
two decades before it again as a hotel in 1987. Unfortunately, the
economic downturn of the late 1980s forced it to close in just three
years. The turnaround came when in 1992, a multi-national consortium
called Seaway Hotels signed a 90-year lease and committed to spending
$40 million over 10 years to renovate the estate. Halfway through the
restoration in 1996, the Biltmore Hotel was designated a National
Historic Landmark. The Biltmore Hotel reopened, showcasing its old
glory, in 2002.
Vanderbilt Mansion in Fisher Island
The
Vanderbilt Mansion on Fisher Island is nowhere near the scale of Vizcaya
or the Biltmore Hotel. It was designed more like a getaway bungalow
rather than a winter estate and resided on only seven acres of land. The
house was a result of a swap between Cornelius “Willie K” Vanderbilt
and real estate developer Carl Fisher, who then owned Fisher Island. The arrangement was seven miles of land for Vanderbilt’s yacht.
As
soon as Fisher agreed, Vanderbilt commissioned renowned architect
Maurice Fatio to come up with the design. It took him five years to
complete the project. The result was a Mediterranean Revival exterior
and an interior covered with antique mahogany and oak. Highlights of the
house include the mansion’s octagonal entryway, the formal dining room
on the second floor, Vanderbilt’s study which features antique panels
imported from Europe, and an exquisite marble fireplace.
Nowadays, the historic Vanderbilt Mansion is part of the exclusive Fisher Island Resort and Club.
It recently underwent a $60 million restoration that was completed in
2013. Fisher Island is accessible only by ferry and the house is only
available to members of the club and guests staying at the resort.
Gilded Age families.
Vizcaya Museum and Gardens
Vizcaya
was one of the most beautiful mansions ever built in Miami. It was the
home of businessman James Deering, the namesake in Deering-McCormick
International Harvester. Vizcaya’s design was inspired by Venetian and
Tuscan Renaissance styles. Deering had very specific ideas in mind for
the house and the estate and as a result, the plan took over a decade to
complete. He commissioned three unknown architects, Paul Chaflin,
Francis Burrall Hoffman, Jr, and Diego Suarez, to work on the project
and was himself very involved in the process.
