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The estate
James Deering began Vizcaya in 1912 and arrived by yacht on Christmas Day 1916
James Deering, of the International Harvester fortune, began construction of Vizcaya in 1912. He officially began occupancy on Christmas Day 1916, arriving aboard his yacht Nepenthe. The villa was built primarily between 1914 and 1922.
The design
A villa drawn from Italian models was built of Cuban limestone and Florida coral
F. Burrall Hoffman was the architect and Paul Chalfin the design director. The villa's primary influence is the Villa Rezzonico, designed by Baldassarre Longhena in the Veneto. Cuban limestone and Floridian coral trim adapted the European tradition to South Florida.
The gardens
Diego Suarez built a garden mound and a run of room like gardens
The Colombian landscape designer Diego Suarez gave the garden an exaggerated perspective and a garden mound as its focal point. Beyond it came room like sections: the Secret Garden, the Theater Garden, the Maze Garden and the Fountain Garden. He left the project in 1917.
The telephone
Vizcaya's telephone system was the first in Miami-Dade County
The museum also features Gilded Age technology: old doorbells, a dumbwaiter and a rotary-dial telephone. Vizcaya's telephone system was the first in Miami-Dade County.
A museum
The county bought the villa in 1952 and opened it as an art museum in 1953
Over the decades Deering's heirs sold the surrounding land. In 1952 Miami-Dade County acquired the villa and formal gardens, which needed significant restoration. Vizcaya began operation in 1953 as the Dade County Art Museum and became a National Historic Landmark in 1994.
Day 3, afternoon
It comes after Rickenbacker Causeway. Then Bayfront Park.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.