Vizcaya is a 180-acre
estate just south of
Miami, FL, at the end of
Interstate 95 and adjacent to the
Metrorail Vizcaya Station. It replicates a self-sufficient Italian
villa on the shores of
Biscayne Bay. Originally the
winter home of businessman
James Deering, the 34-room mansion was designed by
F. Burrall Hoffman, and the gardens around it by
Diego Suarez. Construction on Vizcaya commenced in 1916 and was not completed until 1921: Deering himself died in 1925.
Twenty-five years after Deering's death, Miami-Dade County bought Vizcaya, fixed it up, and turned it into a museum. 200,000 people now visit Vizcaya every year, making it one of the most popular tourist spots in Miami.