If you want to see something that is 'very Miami', this is it – lush, big and over the top, a patchwork of all that a rich US businessman might want to show off to his friends. Which is essentially what industrialist James Deering did in 1916, starting a Miami tradition of making a ton of money and building ridiculously grandiose digs. He employed 1000 people (then 10% of the local population) and stuffed his home with Renaissance furniture, tapestries, paintings and decorative arts.
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Modeled after grand 18th-century Venetian villas, Vizcaya was built between 1914 and 1922 as the private waterfront estate of millionaire industrialist James Deering. Today you can tour these formal gardens and be transported to Versailles, or visit the main house where Vizcaya's exquisitely styled rooms will take you to Italy — Milan in the Music Room, Palermo at reception and Venice throughout the bedrooms.
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