A winter home
James Deering (1859–1925) built Vizcaya between 1914 and 1922 as a home for the winter months, on the shore of Biscayne Bay. His first winter residency began on Christmas Day 1916.
Three makers
F. Burrall Hoffman was the architect and Paul Chalfin the design director, while Diego Suarez laid out the formal gardens around an artificial hill, the garden mound. The estate’s name refers to the Spanish province of Biscay.
After Deering
Deering died in September 1925. Miami-Dade County acquired the villa and formal gardens in 1952, and Vizcaya opened the following year as the Dade County Art Museum. In 1987 it was where President Ronald Reagan received Pope John Paul II on his first visit to Miami.



