versace mansion tours miami beach

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The villa casa casuarina.

The former Miami Beach home of fashion designer Gianni Versace

The wrought iron gates of the Versace Mansion, lined with the designer’s signature Greek key pattern and Medusa logo in gold bas relief, have been a fixture of fascination for passersby on Ocean Drive ever since Gianni Versace’s untimely murder on its steps in 1997 at age 50.

With a velvet rope and stern security guard ever present at the entrance, curiosity about the lavish world that exists beyond those gilded gates lends the home its mystique. It’s not open to the public for tours or a look inside.

Ultra Luxury, Versace-style

The digs beyond the gate are certainly lavish. The most impressive sight is the famed Mosaic Garden courtyard with an enormous pebbled Medusa inlaid in the deck leading to the 54-foot-long Thousand Mosaic swimming pool , which is lined in 24-karat gold and designed by Versace, himself.

With custom bedrooms originally designed for Versace’s friends and frequent guests, including Madonna, Elton John, Princess Diana and Versace’s sister, Donatella, the original artwork and flourishes are a feast for the eyes.

Palm fronds are painted on ceilings with twinkling chandeliers hanging from the center. Elaborate gilded wooden headboards adorn double-king-sized beds, and tapestries are layered on top of marble floors in an array of detailed Baroque patterns.

The effect is excessively luxurious, bordering on gaudy (Donatella’s room is covered in animal print on every surface imaginable). But with so many opulent details, including a storm drain adorned by a tiny Medusa head, you’re never at a loss for a new discovery.

The designer’s former 1,174 square-foot Villa Suite bedroom is even available to guests for a truly intimate peek into the man’s life.

Ways to Explore Inside

So how does one get beyond the gates to see the inside of this iconic home and sumptuous world created by Versace? Access can be gained one of three ways:

• Reserve a room
• Book a table for dinner at Gianni's for an evening in the courtyard by the pool or in the dining room feasting on lobster served on Versace-designed Rosenthal china.
• The mansion is also available for buyouts, often catering to corporate events and weddings.

Versace Mansion History

The historic mansion was built in 1930 by Alden Freeman, who modeled the Mediterranean Revival marvel after the Alcazar de Colon in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It was purchased by the fashion designer in 1992.

Versace’s presence on Ocean Drive and the flashy celebrity parties at his mansion were a hallmark of South Beach’s glittery resurgence in that era.

While the property has changed hands a few times since Versace’s death, its most recent acquisition was by the Nakash family of Jordache Enterprises for $41.5 million in October 2013. The family also purchased the Hotel Victor South Beach next door.

August 15, 2022 | Shayne Benowitz

Michelin Guide's Point of View

MICHELIN Selected: a high quality stay

The old Versace mansion is back, this time as a luxury boutique hotel, under a new name: The Villa. This patchwork Italian-style palace is still every inch a monument to excess; the difference being that these days it’s open to the public — or at least ten suites' worth of the public.

General Amenities

All-Suite Hotel

One of our Miami Boutique Hotels... An exceptional Miami Beach experience awaits at The Villa, inside the former Versace Mansion, where unparalleled service and elegant style are sure to please the most discriminating travelers. Luxuriate in one of the Villa's 10 custom guest suites featuring king sized beds or custom double king beds, custom Italian marble oversized bathrooms with two shower heads, expansive closet space, separate living rooms or sitting areas and balconies or patios. Amenities at The Villa include Frette linens and WiFi throughout the property. Guests can find respite inside the walls of the 19,000-square-foot Villa or venture steps from the property to enjoy fine dining, shopping and entertainment. The Villa is an oasis in South Beach.

Meeting and Event Space

Meeting Space: 450.00

Meeting Rooms: 1

Sleeping Rooms: 10

Located at Venue

Gianni’s At The Villa

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See Inside Gianni Versace's Mansion, Now a Luxury Hotel in Miami Beach

Rates start at $749 per night.

But not only can tourists (and fans of FX's upcoming American Crime Story miniseries, which focuses on the murder ) photograph the house, they can stay there overnight. Scroll down for a look inside the boutique luxury hotel known as the Villa Casa Casuarina.

The three-story building was originally built as an apartment complex by Mayflower descendant and Standard Oil heir Alden Freeman in 1930.

In 1992, Versace purchased the original house for $2.95 million and the Revere Hotel next door for $3.7 million. He spent an astonishing $32 million on renovations that included demolishing the Revere to make way for a pool, garden, and new south wing of the home.

Versace turned the 24 apartments into 10 large suites in the original house.

The designer built an additional two suites in the south wing.

He lined the pool with 24-karat gold tiles.

The Victor Hotels group paid $41.5 million for the property at a 2013 auction. (Donald Trump reportedly put in a bid, too.)

In addition to the guestrooms, it operates the restaurant Gianni's, which " offers a delicious blend of Italian and Mediterranean food and wine selections ." Decadent dishes include gnocchi di granchio, with New Orleans blue crab, vermouth wine, shallots, parmigiano-reggiano, truffles, and filetto di manzo rossini, with eight-ounce Wagyu filet mignon, pomme confit, grilled asparagus, pan-seared foie gras, and Bordelaise jus.

Reservations are required for dinner, but guests can walk into the bar for drinks.

American Crime Story was filmed over the course of about a month at the hotel.

Producer Ryan Murphy told the New York Post he couldn’t believe that he received permission to shoot the series there . "I don’t think I could have made the show if I couldn’t have gotten that house,” he said. “There was no way you could build [a set] of it. Two of the rooms were made out of seashells. [Gianni Versace’s sister] Donatella [Versace] took all the furniture and the art when she sold the house, but through pictures we were able to recreate them."

A resident artist maintains the artwork that Versace commissioned for the property.

"We actually have preserved what Versace created here and just augmented it with some modern touches for the convenience of our hotel guests and restaurant patrons," Chauncey Copeland, the hotel’s general manager, told the Associated Press .

They include this mosaic of Versace's signature Medusa head.

The Villa Suite is the designer's former room.

The Venus Suite was where his sister Donatella Versace stayed.

Rates for one-bedroom suites start at $1,199 per night .

The hotel is on Ocean Drive, a few steps away from the Atlantic Ocean.

The blue-and-cream-colored Azure Suite includes a king bed and two full-sized beds/sitting alcoves.

Rates for a Superior Suite, like this one, start at $749 a night.

What are you waiting for?

Sam Dangremond is a Contributing Digital Editor at Town & Country, where he covers men's style, cocktails, travel, and the social scene.

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The Versace Mansion

Anyone who ever passes through Ocean Drive will have a glimpse of the majestic and renowned Versace Mansion of South Beach, Miami. Perhaps, you might have seen it, but you were not sure that it was – after all – the famed Versace mansion. It is easily spotted among cafes, restaurants, and hotels as a huge mansion that has an observatory on its roof on Ocean Drive.

If you are still not sure  which is it, it is the only huge mansion on Ocean Drive with plenty of people at its gate snapping photos – because it is the third most photographed house in all of America, right behind the White House and Graceland. Before we bite right into the juice, let’s take a moment to take some history lessons on the Versace mansion. Well, before you get upset because you don’t like learning history – this is different – because it is interesting. Read on!

Brief Bio of Gianni Versace

Gianni Versace was born on the 2nd of December 1946, and as you might already know – he is a world-class Italian fashion designer, and the person responsible for the establishment of the Gianni Versace international fashion house. Gianni’s partner, Antonio D’Amico were both openly admitted gays, and they were all over the international party scene. He was very well known, and among his friends were the likes of  Elton John, Madonna, Lady Diana , and plenty of people who are icons today.

Gianni Versace’s tragic death story

Gianni Versace always took a morning walk down the  News Café on Ocean Drive to have his breakfast, it was considered to be his morning ritual. It was in 1997, and Gianni was 50 years old – still at the top of the fashion world. Unfortunately, when Gianni returned home, he was greeted by a bullet shot by Andrew Cunanan , a psychotic serial killer who had stalked Gianni for over a year. Cunanan ran and hideout at a nearby boat near the docks. Police surrounded him, and it was a dark day in Miami. As a final resort to escape, Cunanan pulled the trigger on himself, committing suicide.

A Short History of the Versace Mansion

The  Versace Mansion , also known affectionately as  Casa Casuarina  was built and designed by renowned philanthropist and architect, Alden Freeman in 1930. It was inspired by another home in Santa Domingo, which is the oldest existing house called the Alcazar de Colon in the western hemisphere. The Alcazar de Colon was the house of the son of world explorer Christopher Columbus, and it was built in 1510. The Casa Casuarina contains a piece of Alcazar de Colon, as one of its cornerstones uses an original brick from the Alcazar de Colon itself.

How did Casa Casuarina become the Versace Mansion?

During a trip to Miami in 1993, Gianni Versace saw the Casa Casuarina for the very first time. Although it looked diminished, Versace fell in love with it, and he purchased the unmaintained mansion for the price tag of 3 million dollars.

Gianni put in another 33 million to refurbish and renovate the broken-down home.

That is a total of 36 million Gianni Versace invested into the house. Every single one of its features was restored, embellished, and expanded. There are also certain parts of the Casa Casuarina he demolished to make space to build the pool, garden, and South wing area. Finally, it was done, and the world laid eyes as one of the greatest-looking mansions in Miami, with its triumphant Italian touch. He exquisitely restored, expanded, and embellished all its features.

What happened to the house after Versace’s Death

Gianni Versace  had a huge fortune to be divided after his unfortunate death. It took quite a long time for it to be settled.  Allegra Versace , his niece, was left with half a billion dollars, and she was only 11 years old back then. The house fell into Gianni’s sister, Donatella Versace, who continues to run the fashion brand. In the year 2000 however, Peter Loftin, an Executive from a telecom company bought the house for 20 million dollars. It was, however, unfurnished. Donatella sold the furniture separately, and it all came to be worth 90 million.

Loftin had always dreamed of owning the Casa Casuarina when he first saw Gianni restore it. Being a huge fan of it, Loftin did not make any structural changes, but instead, he made restorations to preserve the history and architecture of the house – as well as bring new vibrant life to the house and furnished it inspired by Versace’s style.

What has become of Casa Casuarina now?

Casa Casuarina is now simply a luxury hotel –  losing Versace’s glamour epochal – however, some bedrooms are restricted access from guests. Certain areas are off-limits as well. It is certainly a beautiful sight to see even if, the new management, is a little scorbutic.

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Gianni's at the Former Versace Mansion

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Additional information

• Dining style Fine Dining
• Price $31 to $50
• Cuisines Italian, Mediterranean
• Hours of operation Lunch Daily 11:00 am–3:30 pm Dinner Mon–Thu 5:30 pm–10:30 pm Fri–Sun 5:30 pm–11:00 pm
• Phone number (786) 485-2200
• Website https://vmmiamibeach.com/giannis/
• Payment options AMEX, Diners Club, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
• Dress code Business Casual
• Executive chef Chef Valter Mancini
• Catering Catered Events can be organized to suit any occasion in the historic atmosphere of The Villa Casa Casuarina, the former Versace Mansion, for up to 300 persons.
• Private party facilities With private dining options for groups from 18 to 40, the former Versace Mansion provides Miami's most elegant surroundings for private dining, whether a corporate gathering, a celebration or a romantic dinner for two. Menu starts at. $79++
• Private party contact Diana Mahrouk: (786) 485-2200
• Location 1116 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139
• Neighborhood South Beach
• Cross street Between 11th and 12th Streets on Ocean Drive
• Parking details Valet parking. There is also street parking and garages in the immediate area.
• Public transit Several bus stops one block west on Collins Avenue.
• Entertainment Live entertainment on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings during Dinner service.
• Additional Banquet, Bar/Lounge, Beer, Cocktails, Entertainment, Full Bar, Gluten-free Options, Non-Smoking, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Private Room, Wheelchair Access, Wine

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100 miami / southeast florida restaurants to love this valentine's day, the 12 most beautiful miami restaurants to visit right now, popular dishes, truffle gnocchi.

Home-Made Potato Gnocchi White Truffle Sauce Pecorino Romano with Freshly Shaved Truffle

Caesar Salad

Baby Gem Lettuce Croutons Parmesan Cheese

We proudly serve top quality, additive free products

Kobe Beef Carpaccio* $28.00

Thinly Sliced Raw Kobe Beef, Mushroom, Arugula, Shaved Pecorino Romano, Carpiccio Sauce

Gianni's Salmon Carpaccio* $24.00

White & Yellow Chopped Egg, Black Caviar, Red Onion, Parsley and Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Capers

Kusshi Oyster*

Served on Half-Shell over ice with Traditional Mignonette

• Half Dozen $21.00
• Dozen $39.00

Tuna Carpaccio* $29.00

Yellowfin tuna thinly sliced, frisee salad

Fried Shrimp, Calamari and Zucchini $28.00

Served with Pomodoro Sauce

Octopus Carpaccio $26.00

Thinly Sliced Octopus, Cherry Tomatoes, Red Onion, Potatoes, Lemon Vinaigrette

Tuna Crudo $26.00

Sashimi Grade Tuna Spicy Jalapeno

Shrimp Puttanesca $18.00

Shrimp, Cherry Tomato, Red Sauce, Capers

Burrata $24.00

Tomato, Basil and Olive Oil

Mansion Board $29.00

Chef's Selection of Cured Meats and Cheeses Served with Traditional Accoutrement

Eggplant Tortino $19.00

Crispy Eggplant Layers with Tomato Sauce, Basil and Parmesan Cheese

Artichoke a la Romana $17.00

Artichoke, Sauteed Garlic, Mint, Parseley, White Wine

Soup & Salad

Lentil soup $16.00.

Slow Cooked Lentil and Potatoes Soup

Artichoke Salad $18.00

Baby Arugula, Shaved Parmesan, Lemon Dressing

Caesar Salad $18.00

Baby Gem Lettuce, Croutons, Parmesan Cheese

Gianni's Salad $18.00

Baby Arugula, Cherry Tomato, Avocado, Onions, Cucumber, Lemon Dressing, and Shaved Parmesan Cheese

Greek Salad $18.00

Fresh Tomatoes, Bell Pepper, Onions, Cucumber, Kalamata Olives and Feta cheese

Featured Items

Osetra caviar $250.00.

Creme Fraiche, Blinis and Traditional Accoutrement

Champagne by the Bottle $180.00

Veuve Cliquot Brut "Yellow Label", Reims, NV

From the Sea

Whole branzino $42.00.

Grilled Mediterranean Whole Branzino served with Baby Vegetables

Faroe Island Wild Salmon $36.00

Pan Seared Wild Salmon served with Baby Vegetables

Pan Seared Sea Scallops $34.00

served with Black Truffle Sauce

Dover Sole $68.00

Lemon, Parsley, Brown Butter, Baby Vegetables

Chilean Sea Bass $46.00

Pan Seared Chilean Sea Bass served with Sautéed Spinach

Grilled Jumbo Tiger Prawn $54.00

served with organic "Misticanza" Salad

Signature Quality Meats

All our steaks are served with roasted garlic

Prime Filet Mignon

• 6 oz $45.00
• 8 oz $59.00

New York Steak

• 12 oz $65.00

Prime Bone-In Ribeye

• 20 oz $72.00

T-Bone Porterhouse

Served with Roasted Potatoes and Seasonal Vegetables; Serves Two

• 32 oz $120.00

Australian Lamb Chops $48.00

Served with Broccoli Mashed Potatoes

Chicken a la Rotisserie $35.00

Oven Roasted Chicken, Demi Glaze and Roasted Potatoes

Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli $32.00

Home-Made Pasta, Ricotta, Spinach, Sage, Brown Butter

Truffle Gnocchi $39.00

Home-Made Potato Gnocchi, White Truffle Sauce, Pecorino Romano with Freshly Shaved Truffle

Home Made Rigatoni $32.00

Lamb, Wild Mushroom and Crispy Onion

Lobster Spaghetti $52.00

Home-Made Pasta, Whole Lobster, Cherry Tomato and Basil

Gianni's Spaghetti Pomodoro $24.00

Home-Made Pasta, San Marzano, Tomato, Basil, Olive Oil

Cacio e Pepe $32.00

Spaghetti Served in a Pecorino Cheese Wheel

Mushroom Risotto $35.00

With Shaved Parmesan

Seasoned Asparagus $12.00

Sautéed broccolini & baby carrots $12.00, roasted potatoes $10.00, truffle potato purée $12.00, sautéed spinach $10.00, what 14,751 people are saying, overall ratings and reviews.

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

• 4.5 Service
• 4.7 Ambience

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How is Gianni's at the Former Versace Mansion restaurant rated?

Gianni's at the Former Versace Mansion is rated 4.5 stars by 14751 OpenTable diners.

Is Gianni's at the Former Versace Mansion currently accepting reservations?

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

1116 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, FL 33139

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I stayed in the Versace Mansion's $800/night suite that has access to a rooftop deck and a pool with 24-karat gold tiles. Take a look inside.

• I booked one night at the former Versace Mansion-turned-hotel in Miami's South Beach neighborhood.
• For $864, I stayed in the Villa Casa Casuarina's Aurora Suite , the cheapest option when I booked.
• My stay included a lavish room with the best shower I've ever been in and access to a gilded pool.

I recently booked the cheapest room available at the Villa Casa Casuarina, a luxury boutique hotel known as the Versace Mansion, for $864. (For full disclosure, Insider paid for the suite, in accordance with our reporting standards.)

Fashion designer Gianni Versace transformed the 1930s mansion in 1992, creating 12 lavish suites to accommodate his family and friends, which included Princess Diana and Elton John, Vanity Fair reports.

Source:  Vanity Fair

Several years after Versace's death, the mansion was transformed into a luxury hotel, and the Villa Casa Casuarina hotel now caters to celebrities like the Kardashians, according to People magazine.

Source:  People

I stayed in the Aurora Suite on the third floor, one of just 10 you can book and one of the cheapest, with rates starting at $750, according to the hotel website.

When I checked in, I was given a golden key with a tiny replica of the hotel's mission bell attached to a keychain rather than a key card.

As soon as I walked inside, I was in awe of the size and decor of my room.

A four-poster king-size bed topped with swans was the centerpiece. The bed was soft, but firm — the perfect combination, in my opinion.

There was a mounted TV and coffee machine in front of the bed.

On the other side was a large mirror tall enough to see your whole outfit including your shoes. It seemed fitting for a former fashion designer's home.

The main source of lighting came from lamps on the nightstands ...

... and from the natural light pouring through stained glass windows.

The suite had window seating with a view overlooking the pool and a glass table in front of it. It was a great spot to do work or order room service.

To the right of the sitting area was a closet with two thick, cozy robes, and a door leading to the spacious bathroom.

The weight of the robe made me feel like I was being cuddled as I walked around my suite.

The shower was my favorite part of the whole suite. With decorative tiling, shower heads on either side, and an additional handheld shower head, it was the best shower I've ever stepped into.

There were also luxury Italian soaps and lotions that left my skin feeling clean and soft.

Staying in the hotel also gave me access to all the mansion's floors and amenities.

I got to swim in the Thousand Mosaic Pool, which, according to the hotel's website, is made up of thousands of 24-karat gold tiles.

Source: The Villa Casa Casuarina

It was the most beautiful pool I had ever seen, and I had it all to myself.

Upstairs, I had access to the rooftop deck, which was also empty during my stay.

The deck had views of the pool, beach, and the street below.

Above the deck, stairs led to an observatory, which I found peaceful and calming. It felt worlds apart from the famous South Beach party scene below.

That night I slept like a baby and woke up to a breakfast of bacon, buttery pastries, and orange juice, which was included in my stay.

I felt as regal as the A-listers who often stay at the hotel during my visit. Because the staff was so attentive and the communal areas were empty, I felt like I was the only person staying there.

To me, that feeling made it worth the price tag.

Read more: I stayed at the $800-a-night Versace Mansion, and I can see why it's the Kardashians' go-to hotel in Miami

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Home » Gianni’s

The Villa Casa Casuarina

Gianni's restaurant.

Gianni’s Restaurant at The Villa , with it’s pebbled mosaic walls and storied history offers a refined blend of Italian Mediterranean food and wine selections.

EXPLORE GIANNI'S RESTAURANT

AN EXQUISITE DINING EXPERIENCE​

World Class Dinning in the Former Versace Mansion. Immerse yourself in our unique restaurant setting steeped in history by our Mosaic Pool or Indoor Dining space the backdrop to your dining experience.

HOURS OF OPERATION:

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• Reservations: +1-786-485-2200
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THE GIANNI'S GALLERY

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How to Visit the Versace Mansion in Miami Beach, Florida

You don't have to be a millionaire.

Miami Beach: Art Deco, beautiful people, golden sand – and Versace.

If you're an American Crime story nerd you've probably watched the excellent Netflix show (featuring Darren Criss) that was filmed inside this lavish personal palace. Luckily, the Versace mansion folks learned that not everyone can afford a $1,000 a night (minimum) hotel stay. So they've opened up a magnificent restaurant on the mansion's patio: Gianni's At The Former Versace Mansion .

$29 Lunch Special

If you're going for dinner, plan to spend at least $200. However, the mansion offers a $29 dollar lunch special that includes a three-course meal. This was my ticket in!

Book in Advance, and Book Early.

My travel partner and I booked our reservation right when they open their doors at 12:00 PM. We arrived about 15 minutes early and were the second ones there. Because we were early, we were seated on the iconic patio. Folks who arrived on time for their reservation ended up being seated inside of the mansion. Just because you make a reservation does not guarantee you will be seated on the patio – and that's why we all go.

3-Course Meal

I'll be honest with you – the food is overrated and overpriced. My $29 lunch plus one glass of wine and tip quickly became $60. The menu rotates, but you have your choice of salads, meat lovers and vegetarian-friendly entrees, and desserts. The food is not worth it. But the patio seating is. The outdoor pool is so beautiful that the one hour I spent for lunch at the Versace Mansion was sincerely my favorite moment of my entire Miami and Miami Beach trip .

There is something completely stunning about the beauty of the mansion that transports you to a different world. Did I mention that Versace had this pool deconstructed and brought over from his home in Italy? I'd say this was a “bit extra” if it wasn't for his 24-karat-gold-encrusted mosaic windows. Plan to overspend on your lunch, but the ambiance is worth a stop on your Miami Beach getaway.

Quick Stats:

• Service: 4/5
• Location: 5/5
• Dress code: Business Casual
• Overall Experience: 4/5

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See the sights of Scottsdale on a Segway i2 Personal Transporter with the “Old Town Exploration Tour.” Roll with us into the historic Old Town Scottsdale District and glide your way through Scottsdale’s most renowned Downtown area. Experience everything from the preserved rustic traditions to the unique art scene and outdoor sculptures.

Chilling Charleston Macabre Walking Ghost Tour

Tales of ghosts, legends, and murderers, Gas lit streets, Peak at graveyards , Haunted History Tales...

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The True Story of the Versace Mansion

By Katey Rich

Even before its owner, Gianni Versace, was shot on its front steps, Casa Casuarina was a tourist attraction in Miami Beach. One of very few privately owned homes on glitzy Ocean Drive, it was an attention-grabber even for those who did not know who lived there: black iron gates trimmed in gold framed the Mediterranean-style mansion outfitted with elaborate balconies, and just enough visible glitz to promise even more inside.

But for all the historic importance implied by the name and the classic style, 1116 Ocean Drive was famous because of Versace—and may become even more so, now that the FX series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, which filmed in part in the actual Casa Casuarina, is premiering Wednesday. Notorious for its over-the-top style and the horrifying death that happened at its gates, Casa Casuarina has a fascinating backstory all its own—one that begins with a possibly closeted oil heir, comes dangerously close to Donald Trump, and ends with the opportunity for you, yes you, to sleep in Gianni Versace’s old bedroom.

For more discussion of American Crime Story and its real-life inspiration, subscribe to Vanity Fair ’s new podcast Still Watching: Versace.

The mansion was originally commissioned by Standard Oil heir Alden Freeman in 1930, and was named for the only tree on the property, as Maureen Orth writes in her book about Andrew Cunanan, Vulgar Favors —or possibly, as the Miami Herald speculated last year , for the W. Somerset Maugham collection of stories The Casuarina Tree. Freeman, who had retired at 27 to travel the world, designed the house as a copy of the Dominican Republic home built for Christopher Columbus’s son Diego in the early 16th century. Freeman only lived in the mansion for a short time, in the company of his adopted son, Charles Boulton; according to Miami Beach historian Carolyn Klepser, interviewed by the Miami Herald, Boulton may have in fact been Freeman’s lover.

After Freeman’s death in 1937, Boulton sold the mansion for $100,000 to Jacques Amsterdam. He turned it into the Amsterdam Palace, a 24-room apartment building that, by the 80s, mostly rented by the month to artists and anyone else willing to live in what was, by then, a rundown South Beach. The Art Deco buildings that had defined the resort town’s heyday in the 30s and 40s were crumbling; preservationists struggled to convince city officials they were worth protecting at all. “Until recently, the city had the idea that nothing was worth saving in the Art Deco District,” Miami Beach redevelopment director Stuart Rogel told the Herald in 1987. “It looked old, it looked bad and we wanted to get rid of it. Now we realize we are sitting on top of a resource of immense value.”

A fountain in the courtyard of Casa Casuarina as seen in the early 2000s; The swimming pool today.

The legend of Versace’s arrival in South Beach leans heavily on chance. Versace told the Herald in 1993 that, passing through town on his way to Cuba, he asked a cab driver to show him something “fancy and fun” about South Beach. Then he fell in love. Speaking to The New York Times , Donatella Versace remembered walking though South Beach with her brother and stopping in front of the rundown Amsterdam Hotel. “Gianni just stopped in front of the building and said, ‘I want this house.’ Just like that, ‘I want this house.’ But it wasn’t a house; it was literally an apartment building, and people were living in it! I said, ‘Gianni, how are you going do that?’ It was 10 o’clock in the evening. He said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll get the lawyers,’ and he did it, I don’t know how. Like many things in his life.”

The mansion had been given historic designation in 1979, and as The New York Times wrote in 1993, South Beach preservationists cheered Versace as the building’s savior. He ran into trouble, though, when he announced plans to tear down the adjacent Revere Hotel to make room for a pool and a garage. Built more than 20 years after Casa Casuarina, the hotel didn’t have historic designation, and plenty of Miami officials didn’t think it deserved it. “The Revere is not a very impressive building at all, and there is no one who can tell me it is,” Miami Beach mayor Seymour Gelber told the Times. “Personally, I don’t feel it is a great loss.”

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Versace got his way—the pool is featured prominently in American Crime Story —and the bad blood seemed to dissipate quickly. In 1995, he accepted an award from the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation for Meritorious Achievement in Residential Rehabilitation.

Ricky Martin as Antonio D'Amico and Edgar Ramirez as Gianni Versace in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.

The mansion became a landmark, not just as an emblem of the new celebrity status of South Beach, but for the lavish parties Versace threw, and its famous houseguests— Madonna, Princess Diana, and Elton John are all frequently cited as some of the biggest names who spent the night at Casa Casuarina. “All of a sudden, what was going on in L.A. moved here when Gianni came here,” Donatella Versace told The New York Times in 2001. “All the fashion shoots were happening here. Music people, fashion people, actors—he attracted everyone here. He had that power. In the courtyard, right here, you’d see Italian architects, writers, Richard Avedon, Madonna, a mix of people.”

In 1997, Vanity Fair ’s Cathy Horyn spent time with Donatella in her brother’s mansion; the issue containing that story, with Princess Diana on the cover, was on newsstands when Gianni was shot on July 15. (The opening moments of American Crime Story show him buying a copy at a newsstand down the street.) Horyn describes Versace as having “the most outrageous taste anybody has ever seen, but the underlying message is absolute freedom.” The dining room, she writes, has “marble and shell reliefs and scrolling mosaics running on for 30 feet.”

Bruce Weber’s photographs from the December 1994 issue of Vogue capture even more elaborate detail: the dining room turned into a pebbled grotto, Donatella Versace’s bedroom with a canvas painted in Milan on the ceiling, and the central courtyard featuring four busts, preserved from Freeman’s original designs, each representing a different continent.

Versace’s highly public death made his mansion a grim tourist attraction for several years, but Casa Casuarina’s strange story was far from over. By February 2001, Sotheby’s was preparing to auction many of Versace’s belongings; as Donatella told the Times , she had even made an effort to remove the Versace Medusa logos embedded within the house—at least, as many as she could. The property was sold to Peter Loftin, a telecom entrepreneur who, according to the Herald, began using the house to host parties for $10,000 a night, and later turned it into an invitation-only club with yearly dues of $3,600. (Loftin was already a member at Mar-a-Lago, owned by Donald Trump, who will show up again in this story soon). By 2005, the club had opened up to high-roller guests willing to spend up to $4,000 a night to stay in one of Versace’s former bedrooms .

The trouble for Loftin began in 2009, when Scott Rothstein, a Fort Lauderdale-based lawyer who had joined as a minority investor in the club’s restaurant, was arrested for running a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme. Later, the Casa reopened as a hotel, under the leadership of Barton G. Weiss, though Loftin remained the majority owner . That only lasted until 2013, when Loftin filed for bankruptcy and put the mansion on the market, with an initial, staggering asking price of $125 million.

By the time the building went to auction in September 2013, the asking price had been reduced to $75 million—but the spectacle was in full bloom. None other than Donald Trump was making a bid , sending Eric Trump to the auction because the future president, as he told the Herald, was busy touring a golf project with Jack Nicklaus. The auction earned the liveblog treatment from Curbed Miami , and the eventual winner was VM South Beach LLC, a company whose principal owners are the Nakash family—owners of Jordache. The final selling price? $41.5 million.

Under the Nakash family’s ownership, Casa Casuarina remains a hotel, one still hot enough to host Art Basel parties and charge over $1,000 a night for a room in one of its 10 suites. For all its opulence, though, the building’s value may be mostly in its infamy; according to the Herald , the Casa had an estimated 2017 market value of $23.4 million.

The Versace: American Crime Story Cast and Their Real-Life Counterparts

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By Julie Miller

By Vanity Fair

By Dan Adler