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In 2014, they laid down $90 million for the 40-story Setai hotel, which they’ve turned into a jewel of the island, earning awards and accolades that include a spot on Travel + Leisure’s “World’s Best” list in 2018. Versace built 11 custom bedrooms in the mansion, originally designed for his famous friends and guests which included Cher, Madonna, Elton John, Princess Diana and Versace’s sister, Donatella. The pool is made from more than one million mosaic tiles and lined with thousands of 24-karat gold pieces. Versace’s pool drew inspiration from a scarf in his “Marine Vanuras” collection.
HISTORICAL ITEMS
These mosaics were crafted in Versace’s home town of Reggio Calabria in Italy, and then taken apart and shipped to Miami Beach in pieces where they were reassembled. The Miami estate was a luxurious home that showcased his creative vision — and also the same place where he was shot to death. On July 15, 1997, Versace was shot dead in front of the house by Andrew Cunanan.
The Villa Casa Casuarina
Since 2015, it has been adapted into and operates as a luxury boutique hotel known as The Villa Casa Casuarina. The workspaces in the house were distinctly more modern and designed by architect Gianfranco Cavaglia. It was here the designer hoped to construe a more museum-like quality, and the large, clean offices were decked out in contemporary art.
Rates for a Superior Suite, like this one, start at $749 a night.
Versace designated specific rooms for visiting family members, with space intended for his brother Santo, sister Donatella and niece Allegra. He also welcomed friends like Cher, who preferred the Wedgwood Suite, and Elton John, who liked the Safari Suite. Several of Versace's famous acquaintances followed his example and ended up purchasing their own Miami homes.
The Mansion is also availablefor corporate events and weddings.
It’s hard to see the resemblance now between the Alcázar’s simple rectangle of unfinished bricks and arches and Casa Casuarina’s Mediterranean Revival–style façade. It’s likely the home’s most photographed spot because few are allowed to continue past the threshold of the high gated entry. The property’s current owner is the Nakash family of Jordache Enterprises who purchased it at auction for $41.5 million in 2013. The most impressive sight is the elaborate Mediterranean-style Mosaic Garden courtyard with an enormous Medusa medallion inlaid on the floor that leads to the 54-foot long Thousand Mosaic swimming pool. World-famous Ocean Drive is one of the most photographed stretches of Miami Beach.
Much like his designs, Gianni Versace’s former mansion in Miami is every bit the spectacle of pure decadence that you’d expect from the fashion giant. Join us as we take an inside look at Gianni Versace’s life, his career, and his lavished mansion. Upon his return to Miami, Freeman built Casa Casuarina as an homage to the Alcazar De Colon.
Men Found Dead at Former Versace Mansion Was ‘Double Suicide': Miami Beach Police
Versace not only enjoyed life in his mansion, but he also drew energy from its surroundings. It was one of the only private residences on Ocean Drive, so he could quickly walk to a favorite cafe. Unfortunately, this was where he was returning from on July 15, 1997, when he was shot and killed on the steps of his beloved home.
The Versace Mansion: Before, During, and After Gianni (and American Crime Story) - Vogue
The Versace Mansion: Before, During, and After Gianni (and American Crime Story).
Posted: Wed, 17 Jan 2018 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Though the mansion used to provide guided tours in the mid-2000s, it appears that this is no longer an option as of 2019. If you want to explore the interior of Casa Versace Miami, there are two ways to do so – either you can reserve a table at Gianni’s or book a night at the hotel. But when you consider that you’ll be staying in a place that has played host to both Hollywood royalty as well as actual royalty, the price of a room at the villa makes sense. In one interview, Versace shared his appreciation for Miami, noting, "I wake up and I work. I’m very serene here." Miami influences, such as pastels and palm tree prints, showed up in his collections.
The blue-and-cream-colored Azure Suite includes a king bed and two full-sized beds/sitting alcoves.
Freeman was the son of Joel Francis Freeman (1836–1910), who served as treasurer of Standard Oil.[7] The younger Freeman lived in the house with his adopted son Charles Boulton and Boulton's family. But fans of Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story series would never have been able to tell, as the Versace house briefly returned to its past glory to serve as filming location for the thrilling FX show. As the story goes, Versace was passing through town on his way to Cuba when he asked a cab driver to show him something “fancy and fun” about Miami. When Freeman died in 1937, the property was purchased by a man called Jacques Amsterdam. But the story of the Versace mansion goes back almost a century, long before its illustrious owner took residence here. The bodies of Adam Rashap, 31, of Randolph, New Jersey, and Alexander Gross, 30, of York, Pennsylvania, were found by housekeepers on the eve of the 24th anniversary of Versace's death.
In 2001 Donatella told The New York Times, "Each room is a different dream, a different one of Gianni's dreams." Versace's fashion line had given him a reputation for luxury, even decadence. By the time he was finished with renovations, his Miami home did the same thing. The pool's mosaics were constructed from more than a million tiles and 24-karat gold pieces; these mosaics were made in Italy, disassembled, shipped to Miami, and finally put in place. The mansion was bought by VM South Beach LLC (owned by the Nakash family)[1] for $41.5 million in 2013.[10] Since 2015, The Villa Casa Casuarina has been a luxury hotel with ten unique suites. In 1992, Versace purchased the original house for $2.95 million and the Revere Hotel next door for $3.7 million.
After a while, the building gradually felt into disrepair, but miraculously, most of the original fittings and artworks survived. The Hubbell & Hubbell Company was the contractor responsible for the construction of Casa Casuarina. If you look down, you will see that the ground is original key lime coral, which was part of the original house designed by noted 1920s interior designer Addison Mizner who virtually created West Palm Beach. After Freeman died in the home in 1937, it would eventually become, like most of the squat structures that surrounded it, a low-rent building of 24 apartments, named, almost ironically, the Amsterdam Palace. It sat there for decades, like a tarnished silver tea set in a secondhand store.
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