Monday, October 8, 2012

'Vizcaya'

 'Vizcaya', the James Deering estate designed by F. Burrall Hoffman Jr. between 1914 and 1923 in Miami, Florida with landscaping by Diego Suarez.  Click HERE, HERE and HERE for more on 'Vizcaya'.






Photos from Architecture & Building, 1917.

4 comments:

The Down East Dilettante said...

I know it's persnickety to complain, but what a shame it is that the heirs didn't let the county have a little more land, and the hospital a lot less---one of the great places of America, and it should have survived intact. (And current management has a really spotty record---that canopy over the courtyard is vandalism, and the grounds need better trained maintenance---

Pity the boathouse is gone---what a dream that roof terrace is.

The Down East Dilettante said...

---Don't misunderstand me---Vizcaya, even at current conditions, is one of the great houses of American, I'm merely reflecting, ruefully, that it deserves far better than it is getting. The current condition of plantings is a scandal

ArchitectDesign™ said...

DED, agreed! When I visited it took my breath away but when I see photos such as these -you realize just how much has been lost and what little was saved.

brug66 said...

Still cited as the grandest formal garden in the western hemisphere, what a shame it could not have survived intact without the unfortunate loss of gardens and buildings to the hospital. I first visited the gardens in 1969 and was dismayed in 2005 to see how much the garden plantings and maintenance had deteriorated. Poor stewardship indeed for such a treasure!