versace mansion tours miami beach

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Versace Mansion: An In-Depth Tour of Gianni Versace House in Miami

Gianni 's house photos.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock your entire life, you’ve at some point heard the name of fashion designer Gianni Versace or Versace Mansion, or seen a star or two strolling down the red carpet flashing one of his brand’s exceptionally crafted Versace dresses that probably cost more than your car. Yeah, we’re talking about THAT Versace, as in one of the biggest fashion empires in the world with a massive collection that includes everything from apparel and accessories to fragrances, cosmetics, and even home furnishings.

It’s incredible to think this guy went from working as an apprentice at his mother’s sewing business to founding one of the largest and most famous fashion houses in the globe. Even after his death in 1997, Gianni Versace’s name, as well as his brand, continue to live on. 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.

Gianni Versace Mansion Miami

Gianni Versace’s mansion in the sunshine state stands out as a prime example of what a fashion designer’s home should be. Built in 1930 as an apartment complex by Standard Oil heir Alden Freeman, the Spanish Colonial-style structure originally featured 24 apartments that Alden used to facilitate friends and other visitors. In 1937, following Freeman’s death from illness, the property was purchased for $100,000 by Jacques Amsterdam and renamed Amsterdam Apartments.

It would continue to change hands and exist as apartments until 1992, when Gianni, enamored with Miami at the time, noticed the bronze statue of Greek goddess Aphrodite that decorated the front entrance of the property (a statue that was commissioned by Freeman and had resided on the property since he had ownership) and decided he had to purchase it. Versace nabbed the complex for a meager $2.95 million along with the Revere Hotel next door for $3.7 million.

After throwing down a staggering $32 million on renovations and expansions which included actually knocking down the neighboring hotel to make way for a garden, pool, and south wing, Gianni Versace’s 23,000 square foot Miami palace was finally beginning to take shape. The 24 units in the building were converted into 10 spacious suites; additionally, the finished home featured a library, a bar, 10 bathrooms, 3 living rooms, 2 kitchens, and a swimming pool with 24-karat gold mosaic tiles.

Versace home also featured some of the most exotic, beautiful artwork and furnishings available at the time – all commissioned (and some even designed) by Gianni himself. The exterior of the property, protected by a black wrought-iron gate trimmed in gold, was home to a lush, tropical garden with a large medusa head mosaic built at the very center. On the third story of the home, Versace even installed a rooftop observatory painted navy blue with gold stars.

Some massively famous names once wined and dined with Versace at this home – including friends Princess Diana, Elton John, and Madonna. In fact, close friends of Gianni were assigned their own specific rooms when they decided to stay the night.

All suites were outfitted with only the finest décor, but it was Gianni’s master suite that really stole the show – which not only had a private balcony overlooking the front of the property but also a lavished drawing room attached to his bedroom – all of which was decorated with vibrantly colored fabrics and extravagant artwork.

For his family, Gianni designed special rooms for his closest relatives that suited their taste – the “Azure Suite” was designed in light powder blue for his nephew Daniel, the “Signature Suite” was designed for his brother Santo, the “Aviary Suite” was for his niece Allegra, and finally the “Venus Suite” was created especially for his beloved sister Donatella.

Donatella Versace’s room, in particular, was the grandest of all the family suites, boasting a whopping 1,500 square feet and featuring the only double balcony that overlooked the garden. The ceiling featured a mosaic of white roses, painted in Milan by artist Fontana Decorazioni and imported to Miami specifically for her suite.

The Versace mansion where Gianni lived and was tragically murdered is located at 1116 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139. The building is part of the Art Deco historic district in South Beach.

Who owns the Versace mansion?

After Gianni’s death in 1997, the Casa Casuarina was left to the Versace family, who would go on to sell the home in 2000 for $19 million to Peter Loftin, a wealthy entrepreneur. Loftin transformed the property into a luxury boutique hotel and restaurant. After some financial troubles, however, Loftin was forced to go bankrupt, and the Casa Casuarina was sold at auction in 2013 to VM South Beach, LLC, for $41.5 million, a number that many were disappointed with since the original asking price for the mansion was set at $125 million.

Donatella Versace House

Much like her brother, Donatella Versace has quite the eye for real estate – in August 2019 she purchased an incredible historic Italian lakefront villa for $5.6 million. The 50-room vacation home is located in Northern Italy and was previously owned by Italian publisher, Arnoldo Mondadori, who purchased the breathtaking property in the 1920s. Many famous figures have spent time at the villa, including Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Mann, Walt Disney, and George Simenon.

It’s believed one of the reasons that Donatella decided to purchase the home, in addition to it being gorgeous, was the fact that it is located not far from her late brother’s villa on Lake Como. Donatella’s estate features over 15,000 square feet of living space as well as a stunning view of Lake Maggiore. The home has four floors and boasts 20 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a study & library, and a massive fireplace that holds the signatures of all the estate’s guests, including Hemingway and Disney.

Donatella Versace Home Milan

Once the home of her brother Gianni, Donatella’s home in Milan is extraordinary. Little is known about the size and value, but she gave Vogue an exclusive tour during her episode of their hit series 73 Questions . Check it out below.

Versace Hotel Miami

In its present incarnation, what was once Gianni Versace’s dream mansion is now open for all to enjoy as a luxury hotel!

Villa Casa Casuarina

Like anything Versace, you’re gonna have to be prepared to dish out some serious cash to stay at this perfect slice of opulence – since it appears booking a room at Villa Casa Casuarina can cost you anywhere between $750 to $1100 a night (depending on the room you stay in). 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.

The hotel offers guests the chance to stay in any one of the luxury suites in the mansion, including Gianni’s suite. So, if you’ve always wanted to see how this fashion icon lived, you can book a stay at his former home and experience the extreme lavishness that is Villa Casa Casuarina for yourself.

Versace Mansion Dinner

Another popular hotspot at the Villa Casa Casuarina hotel is Gianni’s, a restaurant that offers a night of fine wining and even finer dining! This is an absolute must for anyone staying at the hotel – seriously they say the food there is amazing!

Casa Casuarina Restaurant

Gianni’s offers guests a delicious selection of Italian Mediterranean dishes and fine wines. Guests can choose to enjoy their meal in the decadent dining room or near Gianni Versace’s famous gold-tiled swimming pool. Whether you want to try the Tuna Tartar from the lunch menu, the prime filet mignon for dinner, or simply try out the truffle fries on the Bar Bites menu, you’re guaranteed a once-in-a-lifetime dining experience at Gianni’s (hungry after all this food talk? You’re not alone).

Versace Mansion Tour

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.

Gianni Versace Net Worth

Considering that Gianni was a 50% stakeholder in the company, which is now worth $1.7 billion, his net worth as of 2019 would have reached a staggering $800 million!

Some reports suggest he was worth $1.4 billion at the time of his death, but those predictions are unsubstantiated as far as we can tell. Who cares, though – he was rich by any measure!

100% of the Versace family shares were recently sold to the American fashion label, Michael Kors Limited, for $2 billion.

Gianni Versace Death

So, what happened to Versace? On July 15 th , 1997, at 50 years of age, Gianni Versace was shot twice on the steps of his Miami, FL home upon returning from his morning stroll down Ocean Drive. On most days, Gianni would have his assistant get his coffee and morning paper for him, but his decision to walk to the shop on his own that day would prove to be fatal.

The man who committed the murder was serial killer Andrew Cunanan, who was reportedly obsessed with Gianni Versace and frequently boasted that he was close friends with the fashion designer, although this was simply a delusion of grandeur, and he was known to claim he had met and befriended other celebrities in the past.

What is believed, according to the FBI, is that Cunanan and Versace had met in San Francisco in 1990, but details surrounding exactly what their relationship remained a mystery. A 2008 article published in Vanity Fair suggested that perhaps the two had met on several occasions during those times since both parties allegedly mingled in sex-for-hire circles throughout San Francisco and Miami, but the Versace family has always denied that Cunanan and Versace knew each other, or even met, for that matter.

Andrew Cunanan was unemployed and frequently worked his way into the lives of wealthy older men so that he could spend their money. He went on to murder 5 people within 3 months, Versace included, until finally shooting himself on a houseboat in Miami Beach. He committed suicide with the same .40-caliber gun he shot and killed Gianni with as well as his other victim, former boyfriend David Madson.

The days leading up to Versace’s murder are depicted in the second season of the FX series American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace .

Versace Death Photos

The photos of the crime scene where Gianni Versace was murdered are gruesome and tragic. In those old photos, dried blood can be seen along the steps leading up to the Versace Mansion, the scene grotesquely displayed in the morning sun and framed with police tape as homicide detectives analyzed the site of the murder.

On the days following Gianni’s assassination, numerous people visited the scene on Ocean Drive to leave flowers and pay their respects to the late fashion designer Gianni Versace.

What happened to Versace after his death?

Gianni Versace’s remains were cremated and returned to the Versace estate near Cernobbio, Italy. The ashes were buried in the family’s vault located at Moltrasio cemetery, not far from Lake Como. His funeral, which was held at Milan Cathedral, had over 2,000 attendees, including Sting, Giorgio Armani, Elton John, and Princess Diana.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianni_Versace

https://www.crfashionbook.com/fashion/a27274615/historical-look-versace-mansion/

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/travel-guide/g14749593/versace-mansion-hotel-miami-beach/

https://www.curbed.com/2012/10/9/10319802/real-estate-legacy-of-late-fashion-designer-gianni-versace

https://www.vogue.com/article/versace-mansion-american-crime-story-history?verso=true

https://www.businessinsider.com/gianni-versace-donatella-versace-family-life-story-2019-4

https://www.bustle.com/p/what-happened-to-gianni-versaces-mansion-after-his-death-the-american-crime-story-subjects-home-still-welcomes-a-list-guests-7912475

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/us/versace-mansion-a-south-beach-star-faces-auction.html

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g34439-d6731449-Reviews-The_Villa_Casa_Casuarina_At_The_Former_Versace_Mansion-Miami_Beach_Florida.html

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/real-estate/g28638178/donatella-versace-buys-italian-lake-house/

http://vmmiamibeach.com/

http://www.miamibeach411.com/news/versace-tours

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/style/fashion-trends/a14446251/versace-net-worth/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianni_Versace#Death_and_legacy

https://www.crimeonline.com/2018/02/20/gianni-versace-crime-scene-photos/

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Sarah has written and edited for numerous media outlets in a variety of different niches – though entertainment is her all-time favorite topic to cover. When she is not hard at work researching and writing about Hollywood’s top talents for Velvet Ropes, Sarah enjoys working on her fiction novels, developing her blog, and gaming. You can follow Sarah on Twitter at: Twitter.com/tuspock91

Tour Inside Gianni Versace's Mansion in South Beach

The former miami beach home of fashion designer gianni versace.

World-famous Ocean Drive is one of the most photographed stretches of Miami Beach. Here we find, nestled among low-rise Art Deco hotels, Villa Casa Casuarina – better known as the Versace Mansion. The Versace mansion is the third most photographed house in the United States behind Elvis’ Graceland and the White House.

The mansion is not open to the public for tours or a look inside lending to the home’s mystique about the lavish world that exists beyond those wrought iron gates.

Luxury Versace Style

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.

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.

His fashion label was reflected throughout Versace’s Miami home

Versace appreciated Greek and Roman mythology, as demonstrated in his label’s logo of a snaked-adorned Medusa head. He placed this logo throughout his property: in the poolside mosaic garden, on gates and railings, and on shower drains.

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.

Statues around the pool are from a French chateau. 

Eight-Person Turkish Hamman

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. 

Elaborate Gilded Wooden Headboards

No longer on show is Versace’s $10,000 marble toilet with 24-karat gold-plated seat – one of the items auctioned off by Donatella after her brother’s death.

Ways to Explore Inside

Book a table at the restaurant Gianni’s for lunch or dinner in the courtyard by the pool or in the dining room served on Versace-designed Rosenthal china.

Reserve a room. If a $1,000 plus a night hotel room is out of reach, the public can dine in the villa’s Baroque grandeur with a reservation at Gianni’s.

The Mansion is also available for corporate events  and weddings. 

Versace mansion history.

The historic mansion was built in 1930 by Alden Freeman, a philanthropist bachelor who was heir to The Standard Oil fortune, who modeled the Mediterranean Revival palace after the Alcazar de Colon in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Alcazar de Colon, a 16 th century palatial residence, had been built by Christopher Columbus’ son.

Many of the architectural details of the house, including an observatory, key lime coral flooring and about 100 medallions of notable figures installed on the walls - Cleopatra, Gandhi, Rockefeller, Mussolini and Lenin – date to Freeman’s time in the house.

It was purchased by Versace for $2.95 million in 1992. At that time, Ocean Drive was still an odd collection of small hotels, modeling agencies and senior citizen’s homes. In 1993, Versace bought the Hotel Revere, located next door, for almost $4 million which he tore down to make a pool, garden and south wing area for his house.

Versace then spent $32 million in renovations over three years to transform the historic property into a mansion fit for a king and a celebrity destination.

Secret PASSAGES

It is believed that the home’s original owner, Alden Freeman, put a time capsule in the house when it was built in 1930. The item was never uncovered during Versace’s renovations of the home but it is thought to be hidden in the building’s cornerstone, which was left untouched during the remodel.

It is also said that Versace maintained a pigeon coop beneath the rooftop observatory and would use the messenger pigeons to send notes to friends.

The best-known property on Ocean Drive

The opulence of Casa Casuarina made it a location for filming the TV series “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story”, which premiered in 2018 and tells the story of the designer’s life and death, and his most infamous home. 

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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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by Eric Barton | February 25, 2019

The house that versace built: inside the villa casa casuarina, the story behind miami’s most famous mansion, now a boutique hotel for those who want to spend a night among its opulence.

The staircase takes a sharp left. Moroccan inlays along the bottom of the wall lead the way. A low slung ceiling requires a near acrobatic contortion to fit. A hand-painted tile promises what’s to follow: “Observatory.”

At the top of the stairs awaits a fairytale, a daydream of an artist. In a tight space no bigger than a walk-in closet, a porthole window not far off the floor lets in morning sun reflected off the ocean. A curved bench seat holds cushions in neon blue velour and throw pillows the color of moonlight. From the bench, the walls of the domed room are finished first in brick. Above that begins an arched ceiling, azure blue, dotted with twinkling gold stars between vertical stripes bringing your gaze upward.

It’s here that Gianni Versace would spend his evenings. The founder of the Italian fashion house that bore his name would direct a telescope through the opening of his observatory and take in the moon and the stars. It’s not hard to picture him, maybe adorned in a housecoat and slippers of his own design, escaping into his imagination in the sky above his Miami Beach mansion, on Ocean Drive. The Villa Casa Casuarina, it’s now officially called. And for a steep price, you can be among the few to take in the heavens just like Versace.

A GRAND HOME AND A GUNSHOT

Perhaps it’s the coquina steps out front that you picture first when thinking about Versace’s home. It’s there, where he was slain in 1997, that has become the most famed section of what might be among the world’s most photographed residences.

That’s not just because of the macabre fascination of the murder; the manhunt for Versace’s killer Andrew Cunanan, who slayed five people in a spree that ended with Versace; or the pop culture references to it that just seem to continue, including last year’s appearance in FX’s American Crime Story , which recently won a Golden Globe for best television limited series. It’s likely the home’s most photographed spot because few are allowed to continue past the threshold of the high gated entry.

On the day of my visit, a woman in a dress with a slit tracing the line up one leg stood sentry, a hand on her hip, as if ready to be placed in a centerfold. It is her job, quite simply, to tell people no.

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The tourists passing by on always-crowded Ocean Drive ask her “all day, every day,” to point out the final resting spot of Gianni Versace. They ask if they can have their photograph taken where he fell. Or maybe they could come in for a look around. But the steps and what awaits inside the home are only for those dining at the restaurant or staying the night.

Before we walk inside, though, first understand the background of the grand home Versace once occupied. The house was built in 1930 by Alden Freeman, who retired at just 27 thanks to a vast inheritance of Standard Oil money from his father. They say the design took inspiration from the Alcázar De Colón, the Dominican Republic home of the son of Christopher Columbus. 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.

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. Around it cropped up a South Beach stew of all-night coke-powered discotheques, sleepy buildings for pensioners, and touristy shops hawking crass-slogan T-shirts.

The way Versace told it, he found the home by chance. He had arrived in Miami on the way to Cuba in 1992. He asked a cab driver to show him something “fancy and fun.” They drove past the Art Deco buildings along Ocean Drive, and then, when he saw the home, Versace demanded they stop. He decided right there he’d buy the place, even though it wasn’t for sale. He paid $2.95 million, more than twice what the owner had spent on it just three years prior.

Having apprenticed as a boy in his mother’s Italian dressmaking business, Versace opened his first store in Milan in 1978. Unlike many designers in the industry, Versace took control of every facet of the company, from the lines to store layouts. He defined himself through vibrant colors, animal prints and tropical patterns, challenging previously understated Italian style. Vogue editor Anna Wintour once famously explained, “Armani dresses the wife, Versace dresses the mistress.” In an era of neon t-shirts under pastel jackets, Versace embraced Miami Beach style, recalls Melissa Sardinia. She had a franchise agreement to run the Versace stores in South Florida back then and often hosted him when he came to town. She recalls being caught off guard when he declared his intention to buy his home. “I remember the day when Gianni said, ‘I’m buying that house on Ocean Drive,’ and I’m like, ‘What house?’”

The Versace store Sardinia operated in South Beach was a pioneer, adding high fashion to a neighborhood otherwise in hard times. Sardinia recalls showing up in the mornings to find the entrance littered with needles and homeless Marielitos, the hard-up refugees arriving from Cuba during the Mariel boatlift, sleeping in the doorway.

In addition to the mansion, Versace bought the building next door and leveled it. It allowed him to build a new wing onto the home and the grand “mosaic garden,” with more than a million tiles and stones and Versace’s Medusa logo in the center. Twenty-four-karat gold mosaics line the pool.

He didn’t restore the home as much as he remade it, in a rethinking of the place to match the designer’s extravagant style. In all, Versace spent $33 million on the work, ending up with a 23,000-square-foot home with 10 bedrooms and 11 baths.

He owned it just five years before Cunanan, who had rented a room nearby for $36 a night, gunned 50-year-old Versace down on the front steps at 9 a.m. on July 15, 1997.

At that moment, Italian expat Paolo Buonfante was in his Miami Beach office, on the phone with Versace’s sister and business partner Donatella. Buonfante is a modeling agent and was working out the details of an upcoming show, Piazza di Spagna in Rome. One of his models, Elsa Benítez, was scheduled to walk the runway wearing Versace. Buonfante had the radio on in the background and heard vaguely that Versace had been shot. He told Donatella that there had been an accident at the mansion. Not sure if he should deliver the news, he told her to hang up and call the authorities. “She asked me if I was serious, and I repeated that I heard that there was an accident. I didn’t know what to say.”

The murder didn’t just take out a fashion legend, but it also set back South Beach’s status in the industry. Speaking from his office at DAS Model Management on Miami Beach, Buonfante recalls how the international media’s coverage of the shooting painted Miami as a crime-ridden cesspool overrun by drug wars and vagrants. It’s undoubtedly true that the beach, and Miami overall, have always struggled with crime. Reporting there in the 1990s, Rick Bragg wrote that “crime in Miami, the city where a man once was arrested walking down the street carrying a human head, seems more spectacular, more threatening.” Still, today, Miami Beach crime rates are some of the highest in the state and the nation overall.

After Versace’s death, the attention brought to Miami Beach’s crime problems crippled the fashion industry, Buonfante says. Fashion shoots began moving elsewhere, and with them, the models, photographers and agents. Many of the tropical photo shoots that might have taken place in Miami moved to Capetown. While the industry has seen growth in recent years in South Beach, Buonfante says he imagines the long hit it took after the murder is something that would have troubled Versace. “He loved the vibe in Miami, like a lot of Italians, just like I did 30 years ago.”

Donatella took over the company after her brother’s death, but her reign would be marked by ups and downs; by 2004, sales had fallen in four of the past seven years, despite price cuts and a renewed effort on products that could sell. That year, Donatella’s daughter Allegra turned 18 and, under the terms of her uncle’s will, inherited half of the company. The company returned to profit in 2011 and three years later sold a 20 percent stake to private equity firm Blackstone to fund an expansion. This September, the Versace family sold the company to design conglomerate Michael Kors, which was renamed Capri Holdings, for $2.12 billion.

The recent sale signals a new era of expansion for the iconic brand, which Gianni made more sought after by Americans when he moved to Miami in the ’90s.

After the murder, the home sat empty for three years until the Versace family sold it to telecom millionaire Peter Loftin for $19 million in 2000; he used it as a space for special events and, later, a restaurant. He brought in interior designer Katia Bates to restore the property to how Versace first imagined it. But in 2013 Loftin filed for bankruptcy. The famed property landed on the auction block. It was then, though, that the grand mansion finally got a new life.

INSIDE THE MIND OF VERSACE

Chauncey Copeland waits inside the central courtyard of Casa Casuarina with his hands clasped in front of him, wearing a gray Lacoste cotton button-up, blue slacks and the sensible black shoes of a man on his feet all day. Despite being the general manager of the Versace mansion, he owns just one item of Versace clothing: a tie, which he just happened to wear to a party the night before.

Copeland has spent four decades in the hotel industry, and when he took over the property four years ago, it was his job to finally make a successful business out of the place.“Oh, it’s a money-making operation now,” Copeland says with unbridled pride.

“Once word had gotten out, profits increased 247 percent over the last two years.”

A native New Yorker, Copeland first moved to Miami—coincidentally—just months before Versace. Copeland had a friend who lived on the third floor of the apartments that occupied the home back then, and he can vaguely remember the simpler appearance of the place.

Copeland works for Victor Hotels, a South Beach-based company specializing in boutique properties. It’s a family company, which began its life when brothers Joe, Ralph and Avi Nakash started the Jordache jeans empire in New York in 1969. They’ve since branched out into shipping, an airline, and especially real estate. At auction in 2013, they scooped up Casa Casuarina for $41.5 million, outbidding suitors including Donald Trump. On South Beach, the Nakash family also owns the Hotel Victor, the Breakwater, Ocean Hotel and the Casa Victoria Orchid on Espanola Way. 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.

Here, though, the Versace mansion holds just 10 suites, starting at $474 during the offseason and running into the thousand-dollar-range per night November through April. There’s also a restaurant, Gianni’s, with tables dispersed along the front steps, the courtyard, a formal dining room and a patio overlooking the grotto. It boasts a continental menu, rooftop lounge and the promise of access to a portion of the property. The first-floor common areas also host yearly parties during Art Basel, including last year’s Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series Finale, hosted by actress Tessa Thompson, star of  Thor: Ragnarok .

To gain access to the swimming pool, the upstairs, the observatory and elsewhere, you must rent a room. Copeland explains that the guests are a mix of those for whom this is an extravagance and those who simply expect this level of opulence. “We get a lot of celebrities staying here. There’s that,” he explains. “It’s also people crossing off their bucket list.”

There’s also those fascinated by the ghoulish. They take selfies at the spot of the murder and want to sleep where Versace’s ghost may roam. But Copeland says those are rare. “Just this week I had someone ask me about it,” he says of the murder. “First time in a long time.”

Armando Carcani, the hotel’s food and beverage manager, say he gets asked about the killing far more often. “On a daily basis,” he says. Carcani is a native of Bologna and former manager of nearby Caffe Milano. The hotel hired him two years ago with the aim of raising the dining experience at Gianni’s “to the next level.” He’s sitting at a linen-covered table in the courtyard before lunch begins, his legs artfully crossed, smelling vaguely of cigarettes and cologne and wearing a robin’s egg shirt and a navy suit with exposed stitching and a pink handkerchief in the breast pocket. He considers the few Versace items he owns among his prized possessions. Yes, he says, his guests ask him about the murder. “But then every three days or so a man goes down on his knee and proposes right there at the pool.”

Looking up from the courtyard, Copeland points out some details. They are many, and, for first-timers like me, they are overwhelming. He explains that Versace didn’t want a home that simply matched one style. Just like his clothing line, which often blended designs rarely seen together, his home combines centuries and cultures. The banisters running along the open walkways above are Victorian, while arched cutouts in the plaster are Moorish. The exterior and terra cotta roof are decidedly Mediterranean Revival. The tiles and the little flourishes here and there are a mix of Italian, Moroccan, Spanish and probably a dozen other styles. The company maintains an artist on-site to preserve it all.

If the courtyard is heavy on design elements, the bedrooms are far more ornate. In the Venus Suite, a bed the size of your average kitchen sits below a ceiling painted like a floral trellis, with a bronze headboard adorned with an intricate leaf-painted stencil pattern. A giant marble diamond leads the way to the bathroom’s vestibule, with a circular crimson chaise offering a sitting area below a gold-and-black Greek-style statue, floral designs painted on the wall and a gold chandelier above. It’s conceivable to find the antique furniture, Victorian-style paintings and ornate frescoes on nearly every wall both gaudy and lovely at the same time. Still, the place is undoubtedly captivating, a journey into the mind of a designer who cared not for tradition and instead embraced abundance.

“The thing about the design,” Copeland points out, “is that the more you look, the more you see.”

The tour concludes in the circular observatory that lords over the mansion from the far end of the central courtyard. Sardinia, who used to franchise the local stores for Versace, recalls nights spent up there with him. There’s a common belief that Versace used the mansion to host parties and house guests—famously including the likes of Madonna, Princess Diana and Elton John. But mostly he saw this house as his tranquil respite, Sardinia says, and he escaped to the observatory most nights.

Now, Copeland says guests often use it for something special, and a few have proposed or been married in the center of the room, where a speaking voice echoes pleasantly.

It’s calming to linger for a moment, the stars on the domed ceiling twinkling. The porthole window requires one to bend down to peer out. But it’s impossible to take in the view of the mansion’s courtyard below or the sand beyond it, as the morning sun gleaming off the ocean hides everything in its glare. Taking a step back, the room is dark again, with only the twinkling stars catching the light. Maybe, like me, you’ll imagine Versace there, staring up into the stars. Like the mansion itself, the room is an intimate voyage into the mind of Gianni Versace.

SUSHI IN THE SUITE

An exclusive speakeasy-style dining experience awaits..

Boca Raton-raised chef David Bouhadana and his partners came up with a concept like no other when they began plopping tiny sushi restaurants in New York City hotel rooms. SUSHI BY BOU now has four locations in the city. Early this year, Sushi by Bou launched at Villa Casa Casuarina, the Miami Beach mansion once owned by the late Gianni Versace. For $125, diners get a key card to access Gianni’s 500-square-foot suite, which is converted into a speakeasy-style four-seat sushi bar. The hour-long omakase-style experience includes sea urchin and scallop topped with charcoal salt, cocktails and $30 sake in a self-service vending machine. sushibybou.com

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The Villa Casa Casuarina

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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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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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Staying at the Versace Mansion in Miami

By Ashley   |    Updated On: March 9, 2024   |   11 Comments

This post may be sponsored or contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link.

If you walk down Ocean Drive in Miami without knowing what’s there, you might just miss it. But tucked between hotels and restaurants is one of Miami’s most iconic former residences: the Versace Mansion. However, it’s now known as the Villa Casa Casuarina and the outside of the hotel is lined by a wall and shrubs. The only glimpse you might get of the opulence within is from behind the bars of the wrought iron gate. That is…unless you are dining or staying at the Versace Mansion.

About the Versace Mansion

The Versace Mansion is located in the heart of South Beach on Ocean Drive between 11th and 12th Street. It’s come a long way from where it was when Gianni first set eyes on the property.

Apparently, Gianni Versace was only in Miami to see his sister, Donatella, on a short stopover on his way to Cuba. He saw the building while walking down Ocean Drive on his layover and took a tour of the property. They were apartments at the time and Versace decided to buy it right then.

He bought it for $2.95 million and then proceeded to do a whopping $32 million in renovations. The apartment building became an eight bedroom home, complete with two kitchens, ten bathrooms, three sitting rooms and more.

In addition, Gianni bought the hotel next door for $3.7 million so that he could extend his property and put in a guesthouse, pool and garden.

The house has intricately painted rooms and (at the time) hidden passages to get from room to room. There were Picasso’s on the wall and Versace upholstery on the furniture.

The Famous Pool

One of the most famous parts of the house is the pool made of Italian mosaic tiles. The pool was reportedly made in Italy, then broken down into sections and shipped to Miami where it was then rebuilt at Versace’s house. The pool is filled with colorful tiles, including thousands of 24-karat gold tiles.

But can you swim in it? Well yes and no. Read on and find out 😉

The Death of Gianni Versace

One morning in July, in 1997, Versace left his mansion and walked down the street to a cafe. As he was walking up the marble steps to his home, he was shot, execution style, in the back of the head. The shooter was supposedly a wanted man (having committed other murders) and fled the scene. He was never arrested but was found 2 weeks later having committed suicide.

After his death, the house was bought by an owner in 2000 for $19 million who turned it into a members-only club. However, in 2013, the owner filed for bankruptcy and it sold at auction for $41.5 million in CASH. The buyers? A hotel group called VM South Beach. They turned it into The Villa Casa Casuarina, the boutique hotel it is today. The hotel did a great job keeping the hotel as similar to Versace’s vision as they could and even used old photos to guide them.

In 2018, American Crime Story did a special on Versace’s assassination that reignited interest into the fashion designer’s life and the house itself. The show was filmed at the mansion and gave an inside look into the house.

So how can you see it?

On a normal tour around Miami Beach, you’ll only be stopping out front to look through the gates and at the front door. There are no outside tours allowed at the Versace Mansion and you can’t walk in and pay for a tour. So how do you see it?

The most affordable way to get past the front gate is to make a lunch or dinner reservation at the hotel. The tables of the restaurant are either on the balcony outside overlooking the garden or right on the lawn itself. And for dinner, the tables are right next to the pool. You can take pictures of the pool at dinner but you won’t be able to see much more of the house.

You’ll be able to see the courtyard when you walk in, the tiled hallway leading to the pool area and then the pool area which doubles as the dining area.

To be able to see it all, you need to be staying at the Versace Mansion. Being a guest at the hotel allows you to see the hotel, take tours and yes, you are able to swim in the famous pool. So basically, to get the full experience, you’ll have to stay there .

Staying at the Versace Mansion

There are now ten rooms you can stay in at the Villa Casa Casuarina, I believe. I think Gianni created eight and possibly somewhere in the renovations, two were added. The hotel has largely maintained a lot of the original interior and the hotel group purchased a lot of the original furniture at auction.

Room prices vary depending on the season and depending on which room you choose. On the high end you can spend upwards of $2k and on a slower month, only $550. It may get pricey, but it’s definitely worth exploring the world of Versace. And it’s one of the more memorable things to do in South Florida .

CHECK FOR CURRENT PRICES HERE

The room my friend and I stayed in has pastel colors on the walls and an ornate bed frame and light fixtures. It was a large room with a seating area and little nooks in the wall that had cushions and pillows. They were nearly large enough to sleep in as well.

The main sink area in the bathroom was a circular dome with beautiful floor tiles and painted details on the wall. The entire place is covered in intricate details, like the tiled designs you’ll see in many places.

Staying here allows you to explore freely, sit at the pool while others are dining, and of course, take a dip in the famous 24-karat gold-tiled pool.

While it’s not large, the pool is so intricately designed that it is pretty special to use. And if you don’t feel like stripping down to your bikini in front of a group of lunch diners, opt for the time between meals.

Gianni’s: The Versace Mansion Restaurant

The restaurant at the Versace Mansion is called Gianni’s and you’ll need reservations ahead of time. The cuisine is an Italian + Mediterranean mixture. Breakfast is for guests only and then anyone can make reservations for lunch or dinner.

This was included with our room stay and was a fairly standard, but good breakfast. We had mimosas by the pool with a traditional American breakfast. It was quieter for breakfast since there aren’t many rooms and therefore, not that many people staying there.

I’ve had dinner here twice. The first time, I remember it being really good. Then when I stayed here, we had dinner reservations one night and it was unfortunately underwhelming. I ordered the branzino, which was recommended. I hate to say it, but it was bland. The dish my friend ordered (I can’t remember what) was also just ok. Miami has SO many good restaurants and this one just did not hold up this time around.

Bar food & drinks

There’s also a little saloon type room with a bar where you can order drinks and snacks. I assume you still have to have some sort of reservation to go here (whether at the restaurant or the hotel).

The truffle fries at the bar were delectable and the dragon fruit drink was amazing! I would drink it all day.

My friend and I had ordered a pomegranate drink by the pool earlier in the day and it was nearly undrinkable. Incredibly strong. One of those drinks knocked my friend out and she napped by the pool while the lunch crowd came in.

Update: Lunch

Before now, I’d only ever had dinner and breakfast here. But recently I went for lunch. I ordered the dragon fruit drink and the lunch preset menu. The preset menu includes an appetizer, entree and dessert for $29, which is amazing because dinner entrees alone are like $40-60. If you’re trying to be boujee on a budget, lunch is your friend.

I asked for recommendations and AGAIN was recommended the branzino (Why do people keep recommending that??) I instead ordered the burrata, spinach & ricotta ravioli (the other recommendation), and the brownie.

The burrata was a decent portion and I could hardly finish the entree (because I ate all the burrata 😅). BUT, and it pains me to say this again, it just wasn’t that great! All three things, I was just like, ‘meh’. I wanted to love it, I really did.

And on top of that, the dragon fruit drink was also incredibly strong and I don’t remember it being that strong the previous times. I am conflicted about this though. The drinks are nearly $25 a piece, so like, they better be strong . You do get your alcohol content for what you pay, and one drink can make you tipsy. But, it was almost to that too strong point of just not tasting that good. There’s a fine line between being strong and being undrinkable, and this was teetering on the line. But on the other hand, no one wants to buy a $25 drink and feel like they’ve ordered a lemonade.

They also gave everyone a free glass of champagne at lunch for some reason, so that was nice. The thing is, is that they don’t really need to have amazing food because people are still going to go. Would I go back? Yes. Because it’s the Versace Mansion.

What to Wear at the Versace Mansion

If you’re coming to the property for lunch or dinner, you’re probably wondering what to wear. The dress code for the Versace mansion is typically cocktail attire for dinner and business casual for brunch. No ripped jeans, flip flops or beachwear attire is allowed–this is the former residence of a fashion icon after all.

Dinner in Miami is always a chance to dress up. For men, a collared shirt, nice slacks and dress shoes are sufficient. Suit coats are not required. For women, party dresses, cocktail dresses and heels are what you’ll usually see.

Famous Clientele

A flock of celebrities have stayed at the Versace Mansion at some point. Elton John, Princess Diana and other close friends of Versace stayed there often. Madonna supposedly stayed in the tower suite for a month (you can glimpse the tower in the picture above) and Drake supposedly wrote songs in the observatory. Kelly Clarkson famously jumped into the pool after she won an MTV award.

Other famous people like The Kardashians, Justin Bieber and Jennifer Aniston have all stayed there as well.

Whether it’s the Versace name, the celebrity clientele or the Crime Story intrigue, the mansion on Ocean continues to draw people in. My favorite part? Is that I’ve actually walked by it myself without seeing it. But it’s there, in the middle of one of the most famous streets in Miami, Florida , lined with restaurants, shops and tourists.

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Reader Interactions

February 10, 2022 at 7:03 pm

Last year we stayed in the same room as you did. I think it’s the most booked room there. Next time ask to go to the sister hotel to use the pool. You’ll be amazed.

February 10, 2022 at 7:31 pm

Oh, I’m curious now! I’ll have to look that up.

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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.

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• Reservations: +1-786-485-2200
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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, popular dishes, truffle gnocchi.

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

Lobster Spaghetti

Home-Made Pasta Whole Lobster Cherry Tomato and Basil

130 reviews

Fried Shrimp

Tempura Fried Served with Spicy Mayo

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 14,529 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

Noise • Moderate

Most Booked

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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 14529 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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Versace mansion in Fla. now offering tours

For years, the iconic South Beach mansion best known as the place Gianni Versace lived and died was open only to the privileged few.

Before the designer's death more than a decade ago, his celebrity friends stayed so often, rooms were outfitted with them in mind. After Versace's murder and the house's sale, it become home to another mogul with A-list friends.

But, slowly, 1116 Ocean Drive has opened its doors, first as an invitation-only private club, then allowing non-members to stay in its ornate rooms, and now to the masses — or at least anyone willing to plunk down $65 for a tour.

"It was just kind of a domino effect," said Elisa Brinkworth, a spokeswoman for Casa Casuarina, as the 26,000-square-foot estate is called. "The more people you let in the more that wanted to come in."

Something truly special The possibility of touring the villa and enjoying a meal there afterward — or if you're lucky enough, to stay in one of its 10 suites — doesn't come cheap. But it offers visitors a glimpse of a truly special place long kept from the public.

Outside, tourists flock to the cast-iron gates, taking pictures all hours of the day. It is not until you enter, though, that you truly sense its magnificence.

Pass through the limestone arch, into the courtyard of Casa Casuarina, and the fuss all makes sense. The trickle of water from a fountain, the shift of clouds above, the tickle of Atlantic breezes — the simple beauty of each is enhanced by the home's lavishness.

Every inch of this place, every detail, is full of thought and history and detail. And yet it feels intimate and generally not over-the-top.

Slideshow    21 photos

Miami: sunshine statement.

Modeled after Alcazar de Colon, the Dominican Republic house built by Christopher Columbus' family in 1510, Casa Casuarina is a three-story, Mediterranean-style home surrounded by a high wall on a fashionable stretch of Ocean Drive.

It was built in 1930 by Standard Oil heir Alden Freeman, later became a hotel, spiraled into disrepair, and was at one point a hostel where rooms went for as little as $1 a night. Versace bought it in 1992, along with a hotel next door, and did massive renovations to make the estate what it is today.

The purchase of the neighboring hotel made room for Versace's pool, a centerpiece of the tour, made of more than a million Italian mosaic tiles and 24-karat gold pieces. Its design was inspired by a Versace scarf and was created in Italy, broken down, shipped in numbered sections and reassembled here.

The designer’s touch Versace's touches are everywhere, often in the form of his Medusa head logo, which is seen in gold, on gates and railings, in stone mosaics even on shower drains. And, of course, visitors will want to know where he spent his final moment that Tuesday in July 1997, which staff prefer not to speak about. He was shot by a serial killer who later committed suicide.

"We don't like to talk about it, but it happened by the steps," Brinkworth says. "We try to live out his legacy rather than his death and, obviously, when people come in the house you'll start to see the beauty he left behind. It kind of takes away from the tragedy that happened outside of the gates."

The home is no longer owned by the Versace family; it was sold in 2000 to telecommunications mogul Peter Loftin, who has slowly made the estate more public while maintaining all of the Versace touches.

The home is full of tapestries, sculptures and paintings. The smell of fresh flowers and sound of classical music fills the air. The roughly hour-long tour includes the central courtyard, dining room, lounges, the pool and a look at a marble toilet with a golden seat, billed as one of only three in the world.

While the downstairs of the home is exquisite, whether it's worth the price of the tour depends on your interest in art and architecture, your desire to gain access to an exclusive place, and your level of disposable income.

Upstairs is off-limits to tourists. To get a glimpse, you must be a club member or a paying guest. But it, too, is stunning and steeped in a history dotted with familiar names.

There's the bathtub — the only one in a house full of showers — put in for Madonna. There's the uppermost area of the house, the observatory, where Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes reportedly enjoyed a three-hour dinner before getting engaged. There's Versace's sprawling cedar closet, one filled more recently, the host says, by Paris Hilton.

The name-dropping here doesn't stop. The Wedgwood Suite was Cher's favorite; the Safari Suite was Elton John's. A photo of Bill and Hillary Clinton hangs in a cigar lounge; mentions of recent guests are made effortlessly.

Spendy stays Just stepping out on one of the balconies facing Ocean Drive and throngs of tourists makes you a celebrity, albeit briefly, too.

The bedrooms share many of the characteristics of downstairs — elegant chandeliers and moldings; thick, rich drapes and bedding; and artwork on the walls. But they also often offer stunning views — in the foreground, a fountain spouts water into the pool, and just off in the distance, behind the palms, soft ocean waters lap ashore.

The style of each suite is very different, though they may share the fact that they're all out of your budget.

Three of the 10 rooms go for $1,200 during the peak winter season, plus 13 percent tax and 22 percent service charge. The others climb in price, up to the owner's suite, which goes for $10,000 nightly. Prices are cheaper in summer, when the blistering heat chases many tourists away, and for members.

There is no way to sugarcoat the price, but it is worth noting that you could stay in one of the cheapest rooms and have room for several and that, given the exclusivity, a lower-end room could be considered a deal compared with other pricey South Beach hotel suites. In the Parrot Suite and the Wedgwood Suite, there are two full-sized daybeds in addition to a queen, meaning it could comfortably sleep four.

And, it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Those who take the tour may stay for breakfast or lunch, depending on the time of day. But it, too, will come at a price. My colleague and I had salads, pasta and a bottle of water. It was sumptuous, but the tab was about $120.

No one expects the Versace mansion to be cheap; they do expect it to be special. And it delivers. In here, everything seems different, and a Tuesday afternoon is transformed from mundane to magical.

If you go Casa Casuarina: Gianni Versace mansion 1116 Ocean Drive Miami Beach, Fla. Web site: http://www.casacasuarina.com/ Phone: 305-672-6604. Call for tour reservations.

Tours typically offered every other day during the peak tourist season, with times varying morning and afternoon. Cost: $65. Those who take the tour can enjoy breakfast or dinner at Loftin's 1116 Ocean, the in-house restaurant, at an additional cost.

• Little Havana Food and Cultural Tour
• South Beach, Miami, Food and Art Deco Tour
• Wynwood Food and Street Art Tour
• Miami Design District Walking Food Tour
• Corporate Groups
• Family & Friends
• Bachelorette Parties
• Birthday Parties

Gianni's at The Villa Casa Casuarina (Former Versace Mansion)

(Photo Courtesy of the Villa Casa Casuarina)

The Villa Casa Casuarina (aka the Versace Mansion) is now open to guests as one of the most sought-after luxury retreats in South Florida. Ideally located across from the water on Miami’s vibrant Ocean Drive, The Villa offers breathtaking ocean views as well as bespoke guest experiences just steps away from the beach. Acquired by Victor Hotels in September of 2013, the lavish three-story, tensuite, luxury boutique hotel offers unparalleled service and elegant style in an opulent yet sophisticated setting. The hotel also features an Italian restaurant, Gianni’s, named after the legendary Versace designer and former owner, with both indoor and outdoor seating. Built in 1930 by the architect, author and philanthropist Alden Freeman, heir to the Standard Oil fortune, the home was modeled after the oldest viceregal residence in America, the “Alcazar de Colon” located in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

In 1992, famous Italian designer Gianni Versace purchased The Villa Casa Casuarina and spent $33 million dollars renovating the property. Additions included a south wing, garage, gold-tiled swimming pool, and multiple gardens resulting in a 23,000 square-foot home with 10 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and an open-air courtyard. Now operating as a luxury boutique hotel, the posh villa stands as the third most photographed home in the country. Beyond the front gates, the mansion’s interior radiates a Mediterranean ambiance boasting rich jewel tones, gilded wood and magnificent mosaics. Ten extravagant guest suites – comprised of three Superior Suites, three Ocean View Suites, and four Exceptional Suites – come well-appointed with king size beds or custom double-king beds, oversized Italian marble bathrooms with goldplated fixtures and two shower heads, expansive closet space, separate living rooms/sitting areas and balconies/patios.

The on-property restaurant, Gianni’s, showcases nouveau Italian Mediterranean fare by Executive Chef Thomas Stewart. Signature dishes include Gnocchi di Granchio, featuring New Orleans Blue Crab, Vermouth Wine, Shallots, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Truffles and Filetto di Manzo Rossini, with 8 Oz. Wagyu Filet Mignon, Pomme Confit , Grilled Asparagus, Pan Seared Foie Gras , Bordelaise Jus. Upon arrival, guests are welcomed by an open-air courtyard leading to three unique dining areas- the Medusa Dining Room, the Moroccan Room, and the ever so popular Patio that overlooks the elegant Mosaic Garden. For those looking for cocktails in a more casual atmosphere, Gianni’s at The Villa offers the intimate Onyx Bar that is ideal for pre- or post-dinner drinks, and features the 24 Karat Golden Margarita and Berrisace Collins cocktial.

Guests can lounge at the crown jewel of the private oasis – a stunning 54-foot-long mosaic pool lined with 24-karat gold in the elegant Mosaic Garden. Built as part of the “New Wing” by Versace in 1992, the garden pool showcases the largest image of Versace’s iconic Medusa logo on the property. Constructed in Versace’s hometown of Calabria, Italy, the Medusa was shipped to Miami Beach in a number of segments and assembled onsite. The luxurious pool was inspired by Versace’s “Marine Vanitas” collection and is comprised of more than one million mosaic tiles, thousands of which are 24-karat gold.

Looking to see all this in person? Our tour covers the Versace Mansion and more on our South Beach Walking Food Tour.

The Villa Casa Casuarina

786-485-2200

1116 Ocean Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139.

www.vmmiamibeach.com

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14 Fabulous Things To See And Do In Miami

Posted: April 19, 2024 | Last updated: April 19, 2024

Welcome to Miami

In South Beach the sidewalks are red. This isn’t just a reminder that Miami does things bigger, better, and brighter – city planners chose the colour to make everyone feel as though they’re walking the red carpet. The result? In ‘The Magic City’, you'll always feel like a VIP.

From thrilling boat tours to sun-soaked beaches, click or scroll through this gallery to discover 14 of the best things to see and do in Miami... 

1. Watch the sunrise at the beach

Miami’s proximity to the Caribbean makes it the jewel of the Sunshine State. Famous for its permanent summer, Miami boasts around 3,000 hours of sunlight a year – and for unforgettable views, head to the beach at sunrise to watch the city wake up. It’s a great way to find a moment of peace amidst the partying; save for the early morning joggers, you’ll have the golden skies all to yourself. Want to welcome the day with open arms? Join a sunrise yoga class at the beach on 3rd Street, with classes available 365 days a year.

2. Visit the Frost Science Museum

At 250,000 square feet, the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science is a universe in miniature – comprising an impressive Gulf Stream aquarium, a 250-seat planetarium, and two wings of exhibits. From the depths of the ocean to the history of Black astronauts pushing the boundaries of space exploration, this interactive museum is the ultimate celebration of our world. Find it in Maurice A. Ferré Park, formerly Museum Park, in downtown Miami.

3. Walk the Wynwood Walls

A small neighborhood with a huge personality, the former industrial district of Wynwood is now a hub of culture, creativity and colour. Nowhere captures this better than the Wynwood Walls , an outdoor art museum showcasing world-class murals across six buildings. From graffiti to political pop art, the museum offers a curated collection from some of the most exciting muralists, street artists and sculptors working today. If you’re feeling inspired, be sure to check out Wynwood Walls’ spray can experience – included in your ticket price, this gives you the opportunity to leave your own mark on this innovative museum.

4. Swim in Miami Beach’s longest infinity-edge pool

An original Art Deco landmark dating from 1939, the National Hotel is the only beachfront adults-only hotel in Miami. And that isn’t its only claim to fame – it also boasts the longest infinity-edge pool in South Beach. Stretching for 205 feet beneath towering palm trees, the National’s pool area provides a tropical sanctuary just steps from some of the city’s social hubs. Cabana rooms with private balconies overlooking the pool start from $428 per night, inclusive of all taxes and resort fees. 

5. Feel the thrill with a Thriller speedboat tour

Want to pick up the pace after a relaxing morning by the pool? Few places balance easy living with adrenaline quite like Miami – and if you’re looking for an experience that’s a little more Miami Vice, the Thriller speedboat tour should go to the top of your itinerary. Departing from Bayside Marketplace, these 45-minute tours will take you to see celebrity super-homes on Star Island (watch out for Will Smith’s pad), the ever-changing skyline of downtown Miami and more. Unlike other boat tours, Thriller will take you right out into the Atlantic Ocean and covers three times the Miami area. Also unlike other boat tours, it reaches speeds of up to 40 miles per hour. Hold onto your hats...

6. Discover Miami’s Art Deco past

Miami has long been synonymous with glitz and glamour. Relive the Roaring Twenties (and beyond) with an Official Art Deco Walking Tour of Miami’s most iconic buildings, including hotels and restaurants that have been serving the city’s rich and famous for 100 years. Discover how South Beach has changed over time, how to tell the Mediterranean Revival architectural style from Miami Modern (MiMo), and how the Miami Design Preservation League has been fighting to save historic structures since the 1970s.

7. Explore downtown by night

It might be Miami’s financial district, but downtown is also a hub for diners, clubbers, and culture lovers. Here, you’ll discover Miami on a whole new scale: the skyscrapers of downtown dwarf the Art Deco buildings you probably associate with The Magic City, promising breathtaking views. Minutes from Biscayne Bay, YOTEL Miami – a high-tech hotel in the heart of downtown – is home to Vela Sky, a covered rooftop bar and pool area that offers a daily social hour from 5pm to 9pm. Watch day turn to night before heading back to the comfort of your room (rates start at $199 per night) or venturing into the city.

8. Stroll down Lincoln Road

Situated between 16th and 17th Street on Miami Beach, on Lincoln Road you’ll find outdoor cafes, art galleries and a weekly farmers’ market on Sundays. You won’t spot any of the supercars that form the backdrop to other South Beach streets – the promenade has been pedestrianised since 1962 – but you will see the world-famous parking garage, 1111 Lincoln Road. Designed by Swiss architects at a cost of $65 million, the unusual garage has become a tourist attraction in its own right and even boasts an events space for parties, yoga classes, fashion shows and weddings.

9. Eat your way around Little Havana

Little Havana, home to Miami’s Cuban community, is a vibrant neighbourhood that offers a taste of Caribbean life. There’s arguably no better way to explore a culture than through its food, and this is the philosophy behind the Little Havana Food & Cultural Tour . Learn about the history of the Cuban diaspora while sampling Cuban coffee and empanadas at a local ventanita (coffee window). Other treats include a real mojito, fresh-pressed sugarcane juice and churros. The standout, though, has to be the Cubano: a traditional Cuban sandwich with meat, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard.

10. Discover the history of America’s youngest major city

Around a century old, the modern city of Miami as we know it today has crammed a fascinating history into the last 120-or-so years. Did you know, for example, that Miami is the only major American city that was founded by a woman? Businesswoman Julia Tuttle succeeded in persuading industrialists to build a railroad to the area in 1896, transforming it into a blossoming city. Learn more about how a mangrove plantation became one of the richest cities in the US at the HistoryMiami Museum, or by checking out the Art Deco Museum and Welcome Center on Ocean Drive.

11. Taste the Aegean at Doya

A Bib Gourmand recipient for two years running, Doya is an Aegean meze restaurant and bar in the heart of Wynwood. Its laidback exterior hides an ultra-chic dining space where guests can sit facing the open kitchen, watching executive chef Erhan Kostepen and his team prepare food using wood-fire and flame grilling techniques. Forget a cocktail menu – here, the drinks are showcased in a book, while the dishes on offer – flavourful plates such as spiced lamb kebab, muhammara and baked feta – add to the idea that amazing food can tell a story. Since opening its doors in 2021, Doya has been visited by celebrity diners including Gloria Estefan, Max Verstappen and Elle McPherson, so you know it’s got star approval.

12. Embrace Messi mania

Ever since Lionel Messi was signed by Inter Miami, he’s become Miami’s biggest celebrity – and whether you’re a football fan or not, there are now plenty of ways to participate in Messi mania while you’re in the city. Wynwood is home to several murals of the soccer star, including one that was exclusively painted by fans from Vice City 1896, Inter Miami’s official group of supporters. Grab a drink-to-go from speciality small-batch coffee roasting company Panther Coffee and check out the artwork on foot.

13. Visit the Versace mansion

One of Miami’s more infamous tourist attractions, the Versace mansion on Ocean Drive – now known as Villa Casa Casuarina – is among the most photographed buildings in South Beach. This exclusive hotel was once the home of fashion designer Gianni Versace, and guests who have cash to splash can stay in what used to be Versace’s very own bedroom. But for most Miami tourists, the exterior of the building holds a much grimmer appeal: as dramatized in the TV series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story , the designer was tragically murdered on the steps outside his home in 1997. Millions of people now visit the site every year.

14. Travel in style with Brightline trains

Keen to see more of the Sunshine State without having to rent a car or catch another flight? Journey from Miami to Aventura, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach or even Orlando with Brightline trains. Its new high-speed Florida rail network was four years in the making and puts your daily commute to shame – think checked luggage (simply add large bags to your booking at a cost of $10 per item, then drop them off at the Guest Services desk before boarding your train), a dedicated app to organise your booking and even complimentary food and drink for premium travellers. The 235-mile trip from Miami to Orlando, Brightline’s first stop outside south Florida, takes three-and-a-half hours and it's greener, cheaper and much more relaxing than renting a car.

Planning a wider Florida trip? Keep reading to discover 29 fantastic facts you probably never knew about Florida, to impress your friends with on your return home...

The state has a flowery name

Named by Juan Ponce de León (a Spanish colonizer), Florida comes from the term 'La Florida,' which means 'Land of Flowers.' The state's pretty name paid homage to its verdant landscape – and the fact spring was in full bloom when León arrived in 1513. Florida's bouquet of floral aromas is varied and vast, but one flower reigns over them all: orange blossom. The state produces 70% of the total orange harvest in the US, so it seems only fitting that its sweet-scented blossom was named the official state flower in 1909.

There’s a piece of the Berlin Wall at Universal CityWalk

Spider-Man and Harry Potter are the big-ticket names at Universal Orlando Resort, but something equally prolific hides in plain sight. A section of the Berlin Wall is displayed behind the Colosseum-shaped Hard Rock Cafe at Universal CityWalk. Follow a walking path behind the building and you’ll come face to face with some of its original graffiti. The best part? You don’t even need to pay for a theme park admission ticket, as the Hard Rock Cafe is outside a ticketed area.

Florida has both crocodiles and alligators

Far rarer than the state's gators, the American crocodile is indigenous to the region, but is found only in coastal, brackish waters. South Florida is the only place in the country where visitors can see American crocodiles in the wild. If you spot one that looks a little larger than the average American croc, your eyes might not be deceiving you; there have been invasive Nile crocodile sightings in these waters, too.

It has snowed in Florida

Don’t be fooled by the nickname; the Sunshine State does indeed have other seasons besides summer. The city of Tallahassee received snow flurries most recently in January 2022, when snow came down less than 24 hours after temperatures sat above a balmy 70°F. There were also records of snow in Central Florida in 1977, when cities such as Orlando, Lakeland and Plant City received two inches of the white stuff.

Reptiles fall from the sky (sometimes)

There’s legitimately a 'falling iguana alert' weather warning in Florida. On the rare occasions when the thermometer dips below freezing, local iguanas experience a body shock that sends them into a coma-like state, causing them to suddenly fall from their place in the trees. Most thaw and remain unscathed despite looking deceased, but some kindly locals take in these chilly creatures until the weather warms.

There's an underwater statue of Jesus

Snorkelers and scuba divers are in for a treat when delving into the waters of the Key Largo: they'll encounter the striking Christ of the Deep. Also known as Christ of the Abyss, this artistic attraction is a heavy bronze statue submerged in John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Sculpted in 1962, it's actually the third cast of the original by Guido Galletti. You can find the other copies in the harbour of Grenada's capital St. George and the waters off the Italian Riviera.

Key Largo also has the only underwater hotel in the US

Christ of the Deep isn’t the only thing you’ll find beneath the surface of Key Largo. Amongst the fish and coral reefs is the nation’s only underwater hotel: Jules' Undersea Lodge. Up to four guests at a time can stay in this underwater abode, where free Wi-Fi allows you to surf the net and water, soda, and snacks come already stocked, so you don't have to swim up to the store. A pizza dinner is even delivered by scuba diver.

Sarasota has an Amish and Mennonite community

Sarasota's Pinecraft neighbourhood is home to small Amish and Mennonite communities, who desire a seasonal break from cold temperatures in the northern US. While some snowbirds only spend the winters here, others stay year-round to share their culture with locals. A hearty meal at Yoder’s Amish Village or Der Dutchman restaurants is a must.

Jacksonville has the largest urban park system in the US

Come to Florida for the beaches, but stay in Jacksonville for the immense green spaces. This city in northern Florida boasts more than 80,000 acres of greenery, creating the largest urban park system in the country. Ranging from 400 city parks, gardens and arboretums to seven state parks plus three national parks, there are miles upon miles of wetlands, woods, marshes and more to explore.

There’s a town called Christmas

The small town of Christmas (named after a nearby fort that began construction on Christmas Day, 1837) sits along State Road 50. Its post office draws in crowds for one reason: the coveted 'Christmas' postal stamp. They also have a special mailbox to send letters to Santa Claus, and those on the nice list might even get a reply – especially if you put a return address on your letter!

Miami has the first ATM developed for roller skaters

There's a 'Skunk Ape'

Florida is no stranger to invasive species, but the so-called 'Skunk Ape' is strange even by state standards. This Swamp Sasquatch is an elusive creature, spotted in land that's now part of the Big Cypress National Preserve, 50 years ago by a man named Dave Shealy. Shealy has been hunting for the beast ever since, opening up the official Skunk Ape Research Headquarters near Naples. Aside from teaching you all about Florida's bigfoot, Shealy runs swamp tours and hosts live animal exhibits, including a 24-foot python.

Mister Rogers once called Winter Park his neighbourhood

Before he invited generations of pre-schoolers to explore the 'Neighborhood of Make-Believe,' Mister Fred Rogers spent his college years in Central Florida. The Pennsylvania-born TV presenter attended Rollins College in Winter Park, where he majored in music composition. He met his wife Joanne there, and after graduation, revisited the area frequently. Visitors can spot the 'It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood' sign near his former home, reminding them of Mister Rogers' comforting motto.

St Augustine is the oldest city in the US

A whole half-century before the pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Harbor, Spanish colonists led by Don Pedro Menéndez de Avilés landed on Florida’s shores in 1565, and named their new settlement St. Augustine. Although French Huguenots (Protestants) had already established a fledgling presence in the area the year before, this Spanish fort and colony continued to grow. It’s now known as the oldest continuously occupied place of European (and African American) origin in the country.

There once was a Disney airstrip that 'sang'

Imagine flying into Florida for your family holiday and hearing music the minute your plane touches down. The 'Singing Runway' was built in the 1970s for the planned Walt Disney World Airport, which would have provided connecting flights to Florida's large international airports. The runway grooves were designed to mimic the When You Wish Upon A Star  song when travelled over at approximately 50 miles per hour. Unfortunately, extensions to the monorail blocked take-off and landing paths and ultimately shuttered the airport.

Florida has more golf courses than any other state

There’s a reason the World Golf Hall of Fame is situated in the Sunshine State – Florida has over 1,100 golf courses within its boundaries. The PGA Players Championship also calls Florida home, taking place annually at the 36-hole TPC Sawgrass course.

Lakeland has the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings

You can find the largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world on the grounds of Florida Southern College. The entire campus is a National Historic Landmark and features 13 buildings designed by the innovative architect over a 20-year period. Guided tours of the Usonian House plus self-guided walking tours of the campus are available daily for aspiring architects and those who admire Wright's 'organic architecture' style.

Central Florida has The Psychic Capital of the World

Tarpon Springs has sea sponges to dive for

Need a new shower sponge? Make a quick trip to the Sponge Docks in Tarpon Springs. Natural sea sponges beneath these waters have been harvested since the 1800s, originally by immigrants to Florida from the Greek islands. Divers still delve beneath the surface daily and boat tours offer a chance to see their flippers in action. Tarpon Springs sells sea sponges aplenty, making a souvenir out of this sustainable resource.

Eatonville is the oldest Black-incorporated municipality in the US

When the Civil War ended in 1865, newly freed slaves from Georgia, Alabama, and other slaveholding states arrived in Central Florida to start a new life. Those that settled in Maitland, just north of downtown Orlando, purchased land adjacent to the city to create the first self-governing, all-Black municipality in the country. The town was named Eatonville in 1887, and still celebrates its monumental Black history and culture today.

Cars appear to roll backwards at this hill

Despite so much haunted history throughout the state, one of the creepiest experiences in Florida is based on science, not superstition. Spook Hill, located in Lake Wales, is the only magnetic hill in the state. A beguiling optical illusion makes it seem as if cars sitting in neutral gear are rolling uphill. Want to visit? Visitors can park at the bottom of the hill anytime, leave their car in neutral, and prepare to be perplexed.

Key West once 'seceded' from the US

In 1982, as a response to international drug trafficking via the Florida Keys, the Federal Government set up a roadblock between the islands and the mainland. In protest, the Mayor of Key West sent an injunction to Federal Court; it was rejected. The Keys seceded, became the 'Conch Republic,' and declared a one-minute war by throwing stale bread at the US Coast Guard. The Mayor surrendered quickly, and failed in a request for federal financial aid – but he did get the roadblock immediately removed.

You'll find shark teeth on the beach in Venice

Sure, she sells seashells by the seashore, but you can grab your own shark teeth for free if you visit Venice’s beaches. Known as the 'Shark Tooth Capital of the World,' Venice was once submerged by the Gulf of Mexico’s waters, where sharks lived (and died) millennia ago. There are thought to be thousands of fossilized shark teeth beneath the sand. They’re free for the taking, but if you can't find one, shark teeth are also available to purchase from local gift shops.

Manatees call Florida their winter home

Each year when winter cools the temperature, thousands of manatees spend months swimming in Florida's natural springs. These calm bodies of water remain a warm temperature year-round, offering a snug space for these gentle creatures to relax. You can even swim with them legally in Crystal River. Remember, no high-fives or hugs allowed!

There are wild monkeys in Silver Springs State Park

If you thought only marine life made Florida marvellous, just wait until you see what’s swinging from the trees. Non-native rhesus macaques call Silver Springs State Park home. Why? Well, they were released onto an island on the Silver River in the 1930s, but swiftly escaped and started populating the surrounding area. Today, there are hundreds in the park and spreading across the state. Visitors shouldn’t take a selfie with them if spotted; these creatures carry herpes B.

There’s an Edward Scissorhands Museum near Tampa

Of Florida’s many famous residents, few know that Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands called a northern suburb of Tampa Bay home. The town of Lutz was the setting for the 1990 film and the titular character’s adopted family home is now a museum. Free admission into 'Scissorland' means movie buffs can take selfies with actual props, thanks to the generosity of die-hard fans.

There’s a national park you can’t access by road

Don’t expect to drive your way to Dry Tortugas National Park on your next Florida road trip. This seven-island park is surrounded by the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico and requires a seaplane or watercraft to access. However, you can easily get there departing from Key West, and it’s well worth the trip. The 19th-century Fort Jefferson, a shipwreck dating from 1907, and wildlife such as sea turtles and sooty terns all await your arrival.

The University of Florida invented Gatorade

Next time you refuel with an energy drink after a workout, send a sweat-soaked thank you note to the University of Florida. In the throes of 1965’s football season, scientists were hard at work in the university labs concocting a sports drink to quench thirst and boost energy. Named Gatorade to aid the home team, the Gators, Gatorade went from an awful elixir in its first batch to becoming a world-renowned beverage.

There’s an annual mullet toss across the Alabama state line

No, not the hair style. The Flora-Bama Interstate Mullet Toss & Greatest Beach Party brings crowds from both states to see who can toss a (deceased) mullet fish farthest over state lines. This competition has categories for men, women and children, as well as beach bars and turned-up tunes for those who’d rather taste a fish than toss one.

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Versace Mansion Begins Tours

December 15, 2008 / 10:45 AM EST / CBS/AP

For years, the iconic South Beach mansion best known as the place Gianni Versace lived and died was open only to the privileged few.

Before the designer's death more than a decade ago, his celebrity friends stayed so often, rooms were outfitted with them in mind. After Versace's murder and the house's sale, it become home to another mogul with A-list friends.

But, slowly, 1116 Ocean Drive has opened its doors, first as an invitation-only private club, then allowing non-members to stay in its ornate rooms, and now to the masses - or at least anyone willing to plunk down $65 for a tour.

"It was just kind of a domino effect," said Elisa Brinkworth, a spokeswoman for Casa Casuarina, as the 26,000-square-foot estate is called. "The more people you let in the more that wanted to come in."

The possibility of touring the villa and enjoying a meal there afterward - or if you're lucky enough, to stay in one of its 10 suites - doesn't come cheap. But it offers visitors a glimpse of a truly special place long kept from the public.

Outside, tourists flock to the cast-iron gates, taking pictures all hours of the day. It is not until you enter, though, that you truly sense its magnificence.

Pass through the limestone arch, into the courtyard of Casa Casuarina, and the fuss all makes sense. The trickle of water from a fountain, the shift of clouds above, the tickle of Atlantic breezes - the simple beauty of each is enhanced by the home's lavishness.

Every inch of this place, every detail, is full of thought and history and detail. And yet it feels intimate and generally not over-the-top.

Modeled after Alcazar de Colon, the Dominican Republic house built by Christopher Columbus' family in 1510, Casa Casuarina is a three-story, Mediterranean-style home surrounded by a high wall on a fashionable stretch of Ocean Drive.

It was built in 1930 by Standard Oil heir Alden Freeman, later became a hotel, spiraled into disrepair, and was at one point a hostel where rooms went for as little as $1 a night. Versace bought it in 1992, along with a hotel next door, and did massive renovations to make the estate what it is today.

The purchase of the neighboring hotel made room for Versace's pool, a centerpiece of the tour, made of more than a million Italian mosaic tiles and 24-karat gold pieces. Its design was inspired by a Versace scarf and was created in Italy, broken down, shipped in numbered sections and reassembled here.

Versace's touches are everywhere, often in the form of his Medusa head logo, which is seen in gold, on gates and railings, in stone mosaics even on shower drains. And, of course, visitors will want to know where he spent his final moment that Tuesday in July 1997, which staff prefer not to speak about. He was shot by a serial killer who later committed suicide.

"We don't like to talk about it, but it happened by the steps," Brinkworth says. "We try to live out his legacy rather than his death and, obviously, when people come in the house you'll start to see the beauty he left behind. It kind of takes away from the tragedy that happened outside of the gates."

The home is no longer owned by the Versace family; it was sold in 2000 to telecommunications mogul Peter Loftin, who has slowly made the estate more public while maintaining all of the Versace touches.

The home is full of tapestries, sculptures and paintings. The smell of fresh flowers and sound of classical music fills the air. The roughly hour-long tour includes the central courtyard, dining room, lounges, the pool and a look at a marble toilet with a golden seat, billed as one of only three in the world.

While the downstairs of the home is exquisite, whether it's worth the price of the tour depends on your interest in art and architecture, your desire to gain access to an exclusive place, and your level of disposable income.

Upstairs is off-limits to tourists. To get a glimpse, you must be a club member or a paying guest. But it, too, is stunning and steeped in a history dotted with familiar names.

There's the bathtub - the only one in a house full of showers - put in for Madonna. There's the uppermost area of the house, the observatory, where Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes reportedly enjoyed a three-hour dinner before getting engaged. There's Versace's sprawling cedar closet, one filled more recently, the host says, by Paris Hilton.

The name-dropping here doesn't stop. The Wedgwood Suite was Cher's favorite; the Safari Suite was Elton John's. A photo of Bill and Hillary Clinton hangs in a cigar lounge; mentions of recent guests are made effortlessly.

Just stepping out on one of the balconies facing Ocean Drive and throngs of tourists makes you a celebrity, albeit briefly, too.

The bedrooms share many of the characteristics of downstairs - elegant chandeliers and moldings; thick, rich drapes and bedding; and artwork on the walls. But they also often offer stunning views - in the foreground, a fountain spouts water into the pool, and just off in the distance, behind the palms, soft ocean waters lap ashore.

The style of each suite is very different, though they may share the fact that they're all out of your budget.

Three of the 10 rooms go for $1,200 during the peak winter season, plus 13 percent tax and 22 percent service charge. The others climb in price, up to the owner's suite, which goes for $10,000 nightly. Prices are cheaper in summer, when the blistering heat chases many tourists away, and for members.

There is no way to sugarcoat the price, but it is worth noting that you could stay in one of the cheapest rooms and have room for several and that, given the exclusivity, a lower-end room could be considered a deal compared with other pricey South Beach hotel suites. In the Parrot Suite and the Wedgwood Suite, there are two full-sized daybeds in addition to a queen, meaning it could comfortably sleep four.

And, it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Those who take the tour may stay for breakfast or lunch, depending on the time of day. But it, too, will come at a price. My colleague and I had salads, pasta and a bottle of water. It was sumptuous, but the tab was about $120.

No one expects the Versace mansion to be cheap; they do expect it to be special. And it delivers. In here, everything seems different, and a Tuesday afternoon is transformed from mundane to magical.

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Inside Fashion’s Booming Unofficial Schmoozefest

By Samuel Hine

This is an edition of the newsletter Show Notes, in which Samuel Hine reports from the front row of the global fashion week circuit. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

At Milan Fashion Week in February, I could barely go two steps in my Bally moccasins without being asked if I was coming back for Salone del Mobile in April. Salone, as it’s known, is the sprawling fair that anchors Milan Design Week, a festival of furniture and architecture that brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city every year. Salone is also the only week when flights and hotels are more expensive than during the runway shows, when taxis are somehow even more scarce, when the waiters at Torre di Pisa look at you with even more disdain when you walk in senza reservation. If you think it’s crazy now, everyone said, just wait for Salone . No thank you!

And then I relented and started planning a trip, for the same reason Salone was on everyone’s lips during the runway show circuit. This year, I realized, Milan’s design-palooza was effectively a supercharged extension of fashion week, the latest sign of an accelerating convergence between the worlds of luxury clothing, design, art, and architecture.

“Design Ancora” at Gucci's Milan flagship

“It’s all becoming one big world,” Thom Browne told me. The designer, who typically shows his collections between New York and Paris, parachuted into Salone to launch a line of bedding with heritage Italian linen brand Frette. In one of the week’s headlining moments, Browne took over the historic Palazzina Appiani for a presentation-slash-performance art piece (which I reviewed here ) featuring models dressed in the brand’s signature gray garb sleeping on a series of luxuriously appointed cots. Compared to Browne’s elaborately theatrical runway shows, it was, the designer acknowledged, a bit more “monotonous.” But it was a compelling twist on what the Salone crowd is used to: looking at furniture in a showroom. “There is a lot of crossover,” Browne said, “but it’s nice to do something for a different audience.”

Thom Browne was just one of many luxury brands that brought outsize buzz to Salone. At a cocktail party held by Loewe to celebrate an exhibition of 24 lamps the brand commissioned for the fair, Jonathan Anderson marveled at the turnout for the first day of the show, held in the modern bunker-like basement beneath the 18th-century Palazzo Citterio. “It was madness ,” he said. “We had one- thousand people registered to see the show today, and a 250 person queue down the street all day long!” Most of the eclectic price-upon-request light fixtures appeared to be sold.

The Thom Browne x Frette performance

I was in Milan for 48 hours, but I would have needed an entire week to hit all of the fashion events that took over the city. Besides Thom Browne and Loewe, Loro Piana, Gucci, Versace, Bottega Veneta, Prada, Hermès, Fendi, Saint Laurent, Zegna, Balenciaga, Rimowa, Moncler, Stone Island, JW Anderson, and Off-White all held exhibitions and installations and activations.

Only a few fashion houses were there to actually sell furniture of their own design and manufacture. As a furniture world executive told me at one of the thousand cocktail parties happening on Monday night, it is extraordinarily hard to break into the business due to the high costs of developing production and distribution. (Hermès, which took over a warehouse for an extremely popular immersive presentation of its artisanal leather-wrapped chairs and cashmere blankets, is a rare exception.)

What fashion brands have gotten the hang of is how to use Salone as a marketing tool to a wide swath of consumers. I’ve never seen a line outside a Gucci store anywhere like the one snaking around the brand’s via Montenapoleone flagship on Monday. The crowd was there not for a new collection drop but to see an an exhibition of five iconic pieces of Italian design—including the deeply-’80s Perola lamp designed by Gae Aulenti and Piero Castiglioni, and the modernist Storet drawers by Nanda Vigo—done in the brand’s new signature beet-red Rosso Ancora hue . And in a concrete shell off Palazzo San Fedele that will eventually be the new Bottega Veneta offices, the brand installed two piles of Le Corbusier stools—the same ones guests sat on at Matthieu Blazy’s February runway show.

Loewe's lamp installation

I’ll admit that Salone lacks the whiz-bang of fashion week. Bottega Veneta’s Fall-Winter 2024 show was full of Blazy’s compelling and challenging ideas about beauty, craft, shape, and the way we dress today. A$AP Rocky was there. Gazing at the object I sat on for that experience was more one-note. Cool stool!

But I quickly realized that Salone’s relatively low frequency was precisely why the fashion crowd loves it so much. Salone is not a celebrity magnet, and the press preview days are packed but low-stress. You can make your own schedule, and there are buckets of free champagne and negronis at every stop. There are no street style photographers, so everyone dresses with a sense of ease. Even publicists, usually frantic, were relaxed. “Oh my god, this week is so much better,” said an Italian fashion PR as he crushed a spritz outside new aperitivo hotspot Bene Bene. The publicist’s firm was handling over two dozen events in two days, but none would require wrangling movie stars or influencers. Unlike clouty fashion week fêtes, Salone cocktail parties are tier-one insider schmooze fests; the biggest of the week was T Magazine’s twentieth anniversary blowout at the iconic Villa Necchi, which broke up soon after a man stripped down to his underwear and jumped in the pool.

Loro Piana's tribute to Cini Boeri

And Salone still offers the general public a unique opportunity to engage with luxury fashion in a way exclusive fashion week events do not. This week, anyone who pre-registered could go to Loro Piana’s Brera headquarters to see an exhibition of couches and chairs by pioneering Italian architect Cini Boeri. Or to the Palazzo Versace on via Gesù to see the brand’s opulent “conversation sofas” in the mansion where Gianni used to keep an apartment, accompanied by an audio tour marking significant moments in Versace history. It’s no wonder the furniture crowd is starting to grumble about the fashion world’s Salone encroachment, as I heard a number of times on the aperitivo circuit. The fashion brands are simply putting up huge numbers. Last year, when Bottega Veneta unveiled a Gaetano Pesce installation at its Milan flagship, 11,000 people registered to pass through, and a Bottega rep expected as big a draw this week. (100 editions of the wood stools were for sale for €2,500; 60 special leather-wrapped versions cost €12,000.)

Whether fashion’s relationship with Milan Design Week will last for the long haul is an open question. Show Notes readers may recall that back in 2022 I called Art Basel Miami Beach the “fifth fashion week.” Last year, the energy fizzled as the art market cooled. One thing is for sure: fashion editors will certainly keep coming back as long as Salone continues to resemble one big cocktail party. And if this year was any indication, the fashion world’s massive cultural gravity is only getting stronger. It is clear that the biggest luxury brands can still draw outside industries and events into their orbit.

Not all brands treated Salone as a marketing exercise. Starting Sunday, Prada held its third annual Frames symposium, inviting guest speakers to the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum to lead discussions on the idea of the home. “The home is no longer merely a source of comfort; it acts as a shelter and an infrastructure of services. This constantly evolving, dynamic space is where the socio-economic norms that underpin communities have historically taken shape,” read a press release. On Tuesday, the architect Marina Otera Verzier led an engaging Prada Frames session on the conceptual possibilities of the bathroom. It was extremely interesting—or so I was told. Every single lecture across the two days I was in town had long since been booked.

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