James Deering
Encyclopedia
James Deering was an industrialist executive in the family Deering Harvester Company
and subsequent International Harvester
, a socialite
, and an antiquities collector. He is known for his landmark Vizcaya
estate, where he was an early 20th century resident on Biscayne Bay
in the present day Coconut Grove
district of Miami, Florida
. Begun in 1910, with architecture and gardens in a Mediterranean Revival style, Vizcaya was his passionate endeavor with artist Paul Chalfin
, and his winter home from 1916 to his death in 1925.
. He was the son of William Deering
and his second wife, Clara Hammond Deering. His older half-brother was the arts patron Charles Deering
.
His father, who had inherited the family Woolen
Mill and was landowner in the Northeast, invested in a farm equipment manufacturing company, renaming it the Deering Harvester Company
. In 1873 the moved the family to Chicago, Illinois. New 'Deering Harvester Company' reaper machinery enabled Midwestern United States
farmers to harvest an acre of grain
per hour, a substantial increase in productivity that increased the profitability of Mid-West agriculture significantly. The Deering Harvester Company grew in value, so that by the end of the nineteenth century the Deerings had become one of America's wealthiest families, although his father William was conservative in family spending. His parents did acquire a residence in St. Augustine, Florida
for the winter season. James Deering's older brother, Charles Deering
, joined the family business in the 1880s, after attending the United States Naval Academy
and nine years in the Navy. James Deering attended one year each at Northwestern University
and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
before also joining the company at the same time.
and McCormick Reaper Company, a resulting merger formed the International Harvester
corporation and the largest producer of agricultural machinery in the nation. James Deering became vice-president of the new corporation, responsible for the three Illinois manufacturing plants. In 1909 he was phased out of daily company affairs by J.P. Morgan interests.
By the turn of the century, James Deering owned homes on Lake Shore Drive
in Chicago
, in the countryside near Evanston, Illinois
, and in New York City
, and in Paris, France. His name appeared in social columns as an arts connoisseur, socialite, international traveler and cultural ambassador. He hosted events for French dignitaries at his New York and Chicago residences. In 1906, for Deering's work in promoting agricultural technology development in France, he was awarded the Légion d'honneur
("National Order of the Legion of Honour").
He retired from the vice-presidency of International Harvester, his health was weakening due to pernicious anemia
, so in 1910 Deering purchased land in Coconut Grove, south of Miami and north of his brother's Charles Deering Estate
. James Deering and Paul Chalfin
then partnered to travel and create 'Vizcaya' there. James Deering never married.
between 1914 and 1922 with visionary mastermind of the project, designer Paul Chalfin
, his collaborator companion. The architect was F. Burrall Hoffman Jr.
. The estate's landscape master plan and formal gardens were designed by Colombian landscape designer Diego Suarez
. Paul Chalfin had attended Harvard, trained as a painter at the École des Beaux-Arts
in Paris, and was an associate of renowned decorator Elsie de Wolfe
. She introduced Chalfin to Deering for the interiors of his Chicago home in 1910. In 1910 Chalfin and Deering traveled through Europe together for the first trip of many over the years, in part to collect ideas and begin acquiring art, antiquities, and furnishings for the new Florida estate. The culmination of their shared effort and lasting memorial to their creative relationship is Vizcaya
, the Miami, Florida
estate created between 1914 and 1923.
The Villa Vizcaya
is distinguished for its Italian Renaissance inspired Mediterranean Revival architecture, its huge Italian Renaissance revival gardens
, and sumptuously designed, detailed, and executed interior architectural elements with Europe
an, Asia
n, and American furnishings, and art and antiquities that span two millennia. The numerous sculptures in the gardens and villa are of ancient Greek
, Greco-Roman, and Italian Renaissance
origins and styles.
For example, one element is altar
-like in white marble
, fearuring the carved heads of goats, cows, and lion
s, and flanked by coral
stone pillars with carving of the 'Oak Tree of Gernika,' symbolizing the freedom of the Basque Vizcaya in Spain.
The gardens are notable for introducing classical Italian and French design aesthetics into a subtropical habitat's plant palette and context — a new approach. This resulted in ongoing garden experiments with many tropical plants new to American horticulture. While Vizcaya's landscape design style evokes other periods and places, the use of native stone, plants, and light modulation reflected Deering's desire to showcase the indigenous natural beauty. By 1922, the 180 acre (0.7284348 km²) estate included large lagoon
s and new islands down-coast south of the villa and its formal gardens.
On the estate's western acreage, across present day South Miami Avenue, were the produce gardens and grazing
fields. A Village compound was designed and built to the west also. These endeavors were done with the intent of making Vizcaya primarily self-sufficient, modeled on European estates to compensate the limited commodities and services of early 1920s Miami. The Village buildings housed the property's staff quarters, auto garages, equipment sheds, and workshops, and also barns for the domesticated animals.
Deering spent winters here beginning in 1916, when the residence was sufficiently complete. Among James Deering's closest friends were painter Gari Melchers
and his wife Corinne. Through his brother Charles, also a patron of the arts and collector, he had friendships with the painters John Singer Sargent
and Anders Zorn
. Sargent visited Vizcaya in March 1917 and produced a series of watercolors of the estate, as well as portrait of James. After the extensive gardens were completed in 1923, Deering's health began to weaken. Nonetheless he traveled and entertained guests, including the silent film
stars Lillian Gish
and Marion Davies
. Deering was described in his later years as "a reticent man with impeccably proper manners, leavened by a sense of humor." He was not like a 'Jay Gatsby' figure of the 'Roaring Twenties
' era. In 1923 he opened the gardens to the public on Sundays, and Deering reportedly watched the visitors from his balcony, curious about who came but not wanting to be recognized for his hospitality. In this period's personal letters, he expressed the hope that his nieces and nephews would enjoy coming to Vizcaya, so tennis court
s, a bowling alley and billiard room
, and a swimming pool
were part of the estate to encourage their visits.
en route back to the United States. The philanthropic beneficiaries of his estate were Wesley Hospital, founded by his father in Chicago; the Visiting Nurse Association; the Children's Hospital of Chicago; and the Art Institute of Chicago
which received several significant paintings: the Édouard Manet
"Mocking of Christ," and three by Italian master Giambattista Tiepolo of Rinaldo and Armida, based on scenes from the 16th-century epic Gerusalemme Liberata by Torquato Tasso
.
Following the death of Charles Deering, Villa Vizcaya
passed to his two nieces, Marion Deering McCormick and Barbara Deering Danielson. Over the decades, after hurricanes and rising maintenance costs, they began selling the estate's surrounding land parcels. In 1952, at a below-market price, they sold the villa and formal gardens, and in 1955 the village 'core estate' to Miami-Dade County for a museum and gardens to be open to the public. With the initial sale they donated the antiquities and furnishings to the County-Museum.
', is also open to the public and owned by Miami-Dade County but without art and furnishings. James Deering's estate, now named Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, is an accredited museum and National Historic Landmark
. The villa, gardens, and village are under ongoing restoration. The Vizcaya Museum and Gardens mission is "to preserve Vizcaya to engage our community and its visitors in learning through the arts, history, and the environment."
Deering Harvester Company
Deering Harvester Company was founded in 1894 by William Deering. In 1902, Deering Harvester Company and McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, along with three smaller agricultural equipment firms merged to create the International Harvester Company which is still in operation today as the Case IH...
and subsequent International Harvester
International Harvester
International Harvester Company was a United States agricultural machinery, construction equipment, vehicle, commercial truck, and household and commercial products manufacturer. In 1902, J.P...
, a socialite
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
, and an antiquities collector. He is known for his landmark Vizcaya
Villa Vizcaya
Vizcaya, now named the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, is the former villa and estate of businessman James Deering, of the Deering McCormick-International Harvester fortune, on Biscayne Bay in the present day Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida...
estate, where he was an early 20th century resident on Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay is a lagoon that is approximately 35 miles long and up to 8 miles wide located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida, United States. It is usually divided for purposes of discussion and analysis into three parts: North Bay, Central Bay, and South Bay. Its area is...
in the present day Coconut Grove
Coconut Grove, Florida
Coconut Grove is the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of Miami, Florida in Miami-Dade County, United States. The neighborhood is roughly bound by North Prospect Drive to the south, LeJeune Road to the west, South Dixie Highway and Rickenbacker Causeway to the north, and Biscayne Bay to...
district of Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
. Begun in 1910, with architecture and gardens in a Mediterranean Revival style, Vizcaya was his passionate endeavor with artist Paul Chalfin
Paul Chalfin
Paul Chalfin was an artist, interior designer, and architect most known for his work on Villa Vizcaya.-Early life:Paul Chalfin was born on November 2, 1874 in New York to Colonel Samuel Fletcher Chalfin and Jane Voorhees Chalfin....
, and his winter home from 1916 to his death in 1925.
Early life
James Deering was born in 1859 in the western Maine town of South Paris, MaineSouth Paris, Maine
South Paris is a census-designated place located within the town of Paris in Oxford County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 2,237 at the 2000 census...
. He was the son of William Deering
William Deering
William Deering was an American businessman and philanthropist.He inherited a woolen mill in Maine, but made his fortune in later life with the Deering Harvester Company.-Life:Deering was born April 25, 1826 in South Paris, Maine...
and his second wife, Clara Hammond Deering. His older half-brother was the arts patron Charles Deering
Charles Deering
Charles Deering was an American businessman, art collector, and philanthropist. He was an executive of the agricultural machinery company founded by his father that became International Harvester. Charles's successful stewardship of the family firm left him with the means and leisure to indulge...
.
His father, who had inherited the family Woolen
Woolen
Woolen or woollen is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn...
Mill and was landowner in the Northeast, invested in a farm equipment manufacturing company, renaming it the Deering Harvester Company
Deering Harvester Company
Deering Harvester Company was founded in 1894 by William Deering. In 1902, Deering Harvester Company and McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, along with three smaller agricultural equipment firms merged to create the International Harvester Company which is still in operation today as the Case IH...
. In 1873 the moved the family to Chicago, Illinois. New 'Deering Harvester Company' reaper machinery enabled Midwestern United States
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
farmers to harvest an acre of grain
GRAIN
GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...
per hour, a substantial increase in productivity that increased the profitability of Mid-West agriculture significantly. The Deering Harvester Company grew in value, so that by the end of the nineteenth century the Deerings had become one of America's wealthiest families, although his father William was conservative in family spending. His parents did acquire a residence in St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
for the winter season. James Deering's older brother, Charles Deering
Charles Deering
Charles Deering was an American businessman, art collector, and philanthropist. He was an executive of the agricultural machinery company founded by his father that became International Harvester. Charles's successful stewardship of the family firm left him with the means and leisure to indulge...
, joined the family business in the 1880s, after attending the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
and nine years in the Navy. James Deering attended one year each at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
before also joining the company at the same time.
Career
James joined the Deering Harvester Company in 1880 as treasurer. In 1902, with the Bank of J.P. Morgan purchasing Deering Harvester CompanyDeering Harvester Company
Deering Harvester Company was founded in 1894 by William Deering. In 1902, Deering Harvester Company and McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, along with three smaller agricultural equipment firms merged to create the International Harvester Company which is still in operation today as the Case IH...
and McCormick Reaper Company, a resulting merger formed the International Harvester
International Harvester
International Harvester Company was a United States agricultural machinery, construction equipment, vehicle, commercial truck, and household and commercial products manufacturer. In 1902, J.P...
corporation and the largest producer of agricultural machinery in the nation. James Deering became vice-president of the new corporation, responsible for the three Illinois manufacturing plants. In 1909 he was phased out of daily company affairs by J.P. Morgan interests.
By the turn of the century, James Deering owned homes on Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive
Lake Shore Drive is a mostly freeway-standard expressway running parallel with and alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan through Chicago, Illinois, USA. Except for the portion north of Foster Avenue , Lake Shore Drive is designated as part of U.S...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, in the countryside near Evanston, Illinois
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
, and in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and in Paris, France. His name appeared in social columns as an arts connoisseur, socialite, international traveler and cultural ambassador. He hosted events for French dignitaries at his New York and Chicago residences. In 1906, for Deering's work in promoting agricultural technology development in France, he was awarded the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
("National Order of the Legion of Honour").
He retired from the vice-presidency of International Harvester, his health was weakening due to pernicious anemia
Pernicious anemia
Pernicious anemia is one of many types of the larger family of megaloblastic anemias...
, so in 1910 Deering purchased land in Coconut Grove, south of Miami and north of his brother's Charles Deering Estate
Charles Deering Estate
Charles Deering Estate was the Florida home of Charles Deering until 1927 when he died at the estate.-Description:...
. James Deering and Paul Chalfin
Paul Chalfin
Paul Chalfin was an artist, interior designer, and architect most known for his work on Villa Vizcaya.-Early life:Paul Chalfin was born on November 2, 1874 in New York to Colonel Samuel Fletcher Chalfin and Jane Voorhees Chalfin....
then partnered to travel and create 'Vizcaya' there. James Deering never married.
'Vizcaya'
James Deering built Villa VizcayaVilla Vizcaya
Vizcaya, now named the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, is the former villa and estate of businessman James Deering, of the Deering McCormick-International Harvester fortune, on Biscayne Bay in the present day Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida...
between 1914 and 1922 with visionary mastermind of the project, designer Paul Chalfin
Paul Chalfin
Paul Chalfin was an artist, interior designer, and architect most known for his work on Villa Vizcaya.-Early life:Paul Chalfin was born on November 2, 1874 in New York to Colonel Samuel Fletcher Chalfin and Jane Voorhees Chalfin....
, his collaborator companion. The architect was F. Burrall Hoffman Jr.
F. Burrall Hoffman
Francis Burrall Hoffman was an American born architect best known for his work with James Deering’s Villa Vizcaya in Miami, Florida.-Biography:...
. The estate's landscape master plan and formal gardens were designed by Colombian landscape designer Diego Suarez
Diego Suarez
Diego Suarez was a garden designer known for his work at James Deering's Villa Vizcaya in Miami, Florida. He also served as a press attaché and minister counselor for Chile in Washington, D.C...
. Paul Chalfin had attended Harvard, trained as a painter at the École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
in Paris, and was an associate of renowned decorator Elsie de Wolfe
Elsie de Wolfe
]Elsie de Wolfe was an American actress, interior decorator, nominal author of the influential 1913 book The House in Good Taste, and a prominent figure in New York, Paris, and London society...
. She introduced Chalfin to Deering for the interiors of his Chicago home in 1910. In 1910 Chalfin and Deering traveled through Europe together for the first trip of many over the years, in part to collect ideas and begin acquiring art, antiquities, and furnishings for the new Florida estate. The culmination of their shared effort and lasting memorial to their creative relationship is Vizcaya
Villa Vizcaya
Vizcaya, now named the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, is the former villa and estate of businessman James Deering, of the Deering McCormick-International Harvester fortune, on Biscayne Bay in the present day Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida...
, the Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
estate created between 1914 and 1923.
The Villa Vizcaya
Villa Vizcaya
Vizcaya, now named the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, is the former villa and estate of businessman James Deering, of the Deering McCormick-International Harvester fortune, on Biscayne Bay in the present day Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida...
is distinguished for its Italian Renaissance inspired Mediterranean Revival architecture, its huge Italian Renaissance revival gardens
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...
, and sumptuously designed, detailed, and executed interior architectural elements with Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an, Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n, and American furnishings, and art and antiquities that span two millennia. The numerous sculptures in the gardens and villa are of ancient Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, Greco-Roman, and Italian Renaissance
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...
origins and styles.
For example, one element is altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
-like in white marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
, fearuring the carved heads of goats, cows, and lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s, and flanked by coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
stone pillars with carving of the 'Oak Tree of Gernika,' symbolizing the freedom of the Basque Vizcaya in Spain.
The gardens are notable for introducing classical Italian and French design aesthetics into a subtropical habitat's plant palette and context — a new approach. This resulted in ongoing garden experiments with many tropical plants new to American horticulture. While Vizcaya's landscape design style evokes other periods and places, the use of native stone, plants, and light modulation reflected Deering's desire to showcase the indigenous natural beauty. By 1922, the 180 acre (0.7284348 km²) estate included large lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
s and new islands down-coast south of the villa and its formal gardens.
On the estate's western acreage, across present day South Miami Avenue, were the produce gardens and grazing
Grazing
Grazing generally describes a type of feeding, in which a herbivore feeds on plants , and also on other multicellular autotrophs...
fields. A Village compound was designed and built to the west also. These endeavors were done with the intent of making Vizcaya primarily self-sufficient, modeled on European estates to compensate the limited commodities and services of early 1920s Miami. The Village buildings housed the property's staff quarters, auto garages, equipment sheds, and workshops, and also barns for the domesticated animals.
Deering spent winters here beginning in 1916, when the residence was sufficiently complete. Among James Deering's closest friends were painter Gari Melchers
Gari Melchers
Julius Garibaldi Melchers was an American artist. He was one of the leading American proponents of naturalism.-Biography:...
and his wife Corinne. Through his brother Charles, also a patron of the arts and collector, he had friendships with the painters John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent was an American artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian era luxury. During his career, he created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings...
and Anders Zorn
Anders Zorn
Anders Leonard Zorn was one of Sweden’s foremost artists who obtained international success as a painter, sculptor and printmaker in etching.-Biography:...
. Sargent visited Vizcaya in March 1917 and produced a series of watercolors of the estate, as well as portrait of James. After the extensive gardens were completed in 1923, Deering's health began to weaken. Nonetheless he traveled and entertained guests, including the silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
stars Lillian Gish
Lillian Gish
Lillian Diana Gish was an American stage, screen and television actress whose film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912 to 1987....
and Marion Davies
Marion Davies
Marion Davies was an American film actress. Davies is best remembered for her relationship with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, as her high-profile social life often obscured her professional career....
. Deering was described in his later years as "a reticent man with impeccably proper manners, leavened by a sense of humor." He was not like a 'Jay Gatsby' figure of the 'Roaring Twenties
Roaring Twenties
The Roaring Twenties is a phrase used to describe the 1920s, principally in North America, but also in London, Berlin and Paris for a period of sustained economic prosperity. The phrase was meant to emphasize the period's social, artistic, and cultural dynamism...
' era. In 1923 he opened the gardens to the public on Sundays, and Deering reportedly watched the visitors from his balcony, curious about who came but not wanting to be recognized for his hospitality. In this period's personal letters, he expressed the hope that his nieces and nephews would enjoy coming to Vizcaya, so tennis court
Tennis court
A tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...
s, a bowling alley and billiard room
Billiard room
A billiard room is a recreation room, such as in a house or recreation center, with a billiards, pool or snooker table...
, and a swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
were part of the estate to encourage their visits.
Death and legacy
James Deering died in September 1925, onboard the steamship SS City of ParisSS City of Paris (1922)
The SS City of Paris was a steam passenger ship built in 1922. She was requisitioned for service by the British government during the Second World War....
en route back to the United States. The philanthropic beneficiaries of his estate were Wesley Hospital, founded by his father in Chicago; the Visiting Nurse Association; the Children's Hospital of Chicago; and the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
which received several significant paintings: the Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet
Édouard Manet was a French painter. One of the first 19th-century artists to approach modern-life subjects, he was a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism....
"Mocking of Christ," and three by Italian master Giambattista Tiepolo of Rinaldo and Armida, based on scenes from the 16th-century epic Gerusalemme Liberata by Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso was an Italian poet of the 16th century, best known for his poem La Gerusalemme liberata , in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between Christians and Muslims at the end of the First Crusade, during the siege of Jerusalem...
.
Following the death of Charles Deering, Villa Vizcaya
Villa Vizcaya
Vizcaya, now named the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, is the former villa and estate of businessman James Deering, of the Deering McCormick-International Harvester fortune, on Biscayne Bay in the present day Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami, Florida...
passed to his two nieces, Marion Deering McCormick and Barbara Deering Danielson. Over the decades, after hurricanes and rising maintenance costs, they began selling the estate's surrounding land parcels. In 1952, at a below-market price, they sold the villa and formal gardens, and in 1955 the village 'core estate' to Miami-Dade County for a museum and gardens to be open to the public. With the initial sale they donated the antiquities and furnishings to the County-Museum.
Museum and Gardens
Unlike many other historic house museums, Vizcaya contains the original antiques and furnishings, giving continuity to experience Deering's era. His brother Charles Deering's nearby estate, now named 'The Deering Estate at CutlerCharles Deering Estate
Charles Deering Estate was the Florida home of Charles Deering until 1927 when he died at the estate.-Description:...
', is also open to the public and owned by Miami-Dade County but without art and furnishings. James Deering's estate, now named Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, is an accredited museum and National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
. The villa, gardens, and village are under ongoing restoration. The Vizcaya Museum and Gardens mission is "to preserve Vizcaya to engage our community and its visitors in learning through the arts, history, and the environment."
Reference books
- Witold Rybczynski and Laurie Olin, authors, Steven Brooke, photographer. Vizcaya: An American Villa and Its Makers (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006).
- Laurie Ossman (text) and Bill Sumner (photographs). Visions of Vizcaya (Miami: Vizcaya Museum and Gardens/Miami-Dade County, 2006).
- Kathryn C. Harwood. Lives of Vizcaya Miami: Banyan Books, 1985.
- Griswold, Mac and Weller, Eleanor. "The Golden Age of American Gardens, proud owners-private estates 1890 - 1940". Harry N. Abrams. N.Y. 1991. ISBN 0-8109-2737-3.