's letter to
Paul Chalfin, discussing purchase of tapestries on the Vizcaya property The estate property originally consisted of of shoreline
mangrove wetlands and dense inland native tropical forests. Being a
conservationist, Deering sited the development of the estate portion along the shore to conserve the forests. This portion was to include the villa, formal gardens, recreational amenities, expansive
lagoon gardens with new islets,
potager and grazing fields, and a village services compound. Deering began construction of Vizcaya in 1912, officially beginning occupancy on
Christmas Day 1916, when he arrived aboard his yacht
Nepenthe. The villa was built primarily between 1914 and 1922, at a cost of $15 million, Deering to
Paul Chalfin, a former art curator, painter, and interior designer, who became the project's director. to design the structure and facade of the villa, garden pavilions, and estate outbuildings. In 1914, during a visit to
Villa La Pietra in
Florence, Deering and Chalfin met Colombian landscape designer
Diego Suarez. Suarez, the designer of the landscape master plan and individual gardens, trained with Sir
Harold Acton at the gardens of Villa La Pietra. Suarez originally planned to model the garden after a 16th-century Italian Villa Garden in Viterbo. However, he realized the plans were not conducive to the landscape and opted for an Italian renaissance style. Suarez collaborated with Chalfin for the decorative elements of the garden. To achieve the aged look Deering desired, they incorporated, mature trees, vines, draping plants, coral stone sculptures, and antiques. Suarez wanted to give the garden an exaggerated perspective and made the garden mound, an artificial hill, the focal point. Beyond the mound, he created several room like sections: the central space, Secret Garden, The Theater Garden, Maze Garden, and Fountain Garden. Each section is uniquely decorated and features carefully chosen greenery. The garden is filled with exotic plants like peach palms, giant elephant ears, Borneo giants, Regina's disco lounges, and Cuban Royal Palms. Unfortunately, Chalfin and Suarez had too many clashing ideas for the finishing touches of the gardens and Suarez left the project in 1917. The villa facade's primary influence is the
Villa Rezzonico (it) designed by
Baldassarre Longhena at
Bassano del Grappa in the
Veneto region of northern Italy. Vizcaya is sometimes referred to as the "
Hearst Castle of the East". Vizcaya Museum also features
Gilded Age technology. There are old doorbells, a dumbwaiter, and a rotary-dial telephone. Vizcaya's telephone system was the first in Miami-Dade County. Deering died in September 1925, on board the
steamship SS City of Paris en route back to the United States. After his death Vizcaya was inherited by his two nieces, Marion Deering McCormick, wife of Chauncey McCormick, and Barbara Deering Danielson, wife of Richard Ely Danielson. Over the decades, after hurricanes and increasing maintenance costs, they began selling the estate's surrounding land parcels and outer gardens. In 1945, they sold significant portions of the Vizcaya property to the Catholic
Diocese of
St. Augustine, Florida, to build Miami's
Mercy Hospital. comprising the main house, the formal gardens, and the village were retained. Vizcaya began operation in 1953 as the Dade County
Art Museum. The village and remaining property were acquired by the county during the mid-1950s. In 1994, the Vizcaya estate was designated a
National Historic Landmark. The trio of reputed jewel thieves was arrested on March 25, 1971. Sergeant Tom Connolly from the
New York City Police Department raided the
Manhattan apartment of
Vojislav Stanimirović and his wife, Branka, and arrested them. The couple's accomplice, Alexander Karalanović, was also arrested, and all three were charged with suspicion of stolen property and possession of a dangerous weapon. From the Stanimirovićs' apartment, approximately $250,000 of the stolen goods was recovered. Sergeant Connolly stated that included in the theft was a virtually priceless silver bowl that once belonged to
Napoleon Bonaparte. According to Sergeant Connolly, the three perpetrators had been under surveillance for four months for unrelated jewel burglaries that they had carried out in the
Manhattan Diamond District. NYPD Captain Thomas Kissane said that the vast majority of the precious items stolen from the Vizcaya were never recovered. == Vizcaya Museum and Gardens ==