Vizcaya Museum & Gardens

Miami, FL, USA
Architect: F. Burrall Hoffman. Design: Paul Chalfin, 1916-1922
Landscape design: Diego Suarez
Our host on site is Kristin Stone, owner of The Pasadena Tour Company.

Join us for another Inside Iconic Houses tour! Vizcaya was the winter home of industrialist James Deering and is now a National Historic Landmark. Completed beteen 1916 and 1922, Vizcaya was conceived as a modern and subtropical interpretation of eighteenth-century Italian villas found at country estates of the Veneto region of northern Italy. Its designers adapted traditional Mediterranean architectural elements to the subtropical climate with a remarkable sensibility for environmental issues. Artistic Director Paul Chalfin advised Deering on the home's design, while architect Francis Burrall Hoffman executed their vision.

Vizcaya's modernity lies not in its appearance as a neo-baroque Venetian palazzo in Miami Bay but in its amenaties, which were highly innovative for the time. Meet the experts of Vizcaya today: Director Joel Hoffman, Curators Helena Gómez de Córdoba and Kelly Ciociola and Ian Simpkins, Senior Director of Horticulture & Sustainability. They give us a behind-the-scenes insights into what it's like to manage this museum, conserve the building, furnishings and gardens, tell the story of its original owner, and maintain and protect the estate from natural threats such as the hurricanes hitting the coast of Miami. Vizcaya’s ten-acres of European-inspired gardens, designed by landscape architect Diego Suarez, are among the most elaborate in the US.