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The room where Madonna would stay, the Mosaic Suite, is located upstairs, where the singer apparently enjoyed the bathroom's acoustics and the bird's-eye view of the pool. The room is now known as The Villa Suite, and, like the rest of the mansion's interiors, it's as over-the-top on glitz as Versace's collections. The most arresting feature, also available in Donatella's bedroom, the Venus Suite, is a custom-made double-king-size bed. If a $1,000-plus-a-night hotel room is out of reach, members of the public can indulge in the villa's Baroque grandeur with a dinner reservation at Gianni's, and an aperitif in the intimate, clubby Onyx Bar, in the space that used to be Versace's kitchen. The photos of the crime scene where Gianni Versace was murdered are gruesome and tragic.
Unfortunately, this was where he was returning from on July 15, 1997, when he was shot and killed on the steps of his beloved home. A little more than a week after Versace's murder, Cunanan killed himself on a shuttered houseboat about 40 blocks north of the mansion as police closed in. Cunanan, the suspect in four other murders, killed himself on a houseboat eight days later.
KEY FACTS ABOUT VERSACE HOME DESIGN CORP
One of the home's secret passages made it easy to get from the bedroom to a communal area. Murals were commissioned for walls and ceilings, stained glass was placed in windows, a marble floor was added, and a $10,000 marble toilet with a seat covered in 24-karat gold was installed. It had been built in 1930, so a historic designation limited the changes he could make.
The sprawling estate on the Venetian Isles first hit the market for $20 million in 2019 and was last asking $13.5 million. The villa at 921 N Venetian Drive is a massive 27,250 square feet and comes with 175 feet on Biscayne Bay. Freeman was the son of Joel Francis Freeman (1836–1910), who served as treasurer of Standard Oil. The younger Freeman lived in the house with his adopted son Charles Boulton and Boulton's family. Major architecture features included an observatory and a small replica of the Homage Tower from the Fortaleza Ozama in the Dominican Republic. About 100 medallions of notable political figures, including Lenin, Mussolini, and Julius Caesar, are installed on the walls.
Registered Agent is Judith Garcia
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 men were found dead a day before the 24th anniversary of that killing, but nothing in a police report indicates there is any connection. The preliminary investigation revealed the deaths to be a double suicide, Miami Beach police spokesman Officer Ernesto Rodriguez said, but the medical examiner will determine the cause of death. The mansion was sold in 2013 VM South Beach LLC which also owns the Hotel Victor next door to the former mansion. Allan Kleer and Fabian Garcia Diaz with One Sotheby’s International Realty represented the seller, the estate of the late, Texas-based financier Ken Hill. The buyer ia trader/investor Josh Patkin, who posted some “closing” photos by the home on his social media.Michael Kuritnik of Compass repped Patkin.
The mansion was again put up for sale in 2012, this time at a price of $125 million. An estimated $32 million in renovations over three years transformed the historic property into a manse fit for a style king. Next door was an Art Deco Hotel called the Hotel Revere, which Versace also snapped up, and demolished to make way for his garden, pool and the south wing, which used to house one of his libraries. The most elaborate Medusa can be found in the Villa's 54-foot-long pool, inspired by Versace's "Marine Vanuras" collection and said to be made from more than one million mosaic tiles, thousands of them 24-karat gold.
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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. Two men were found dead Wednesday inside a Miami Beach hotel that was formerly the home of late fashion designer Gianni Versace, police said. Versace home also featured some of the most exotic, beautiful artwork and furnishings available at the time – all commissioned 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.
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. Casa Casuarina, also known as the Versace Mansion, is an American property built in 1930, renowned for being owned by and the place of the murder of the Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace; he lived there from 1992 until his death in 1997. It is located at 1116 Ocean Drive in the South Beach neighborhood of Miami Beach, Florida, in the Miami Beach Architectural District. Since 2015, it has been adapted into and operates as a luxury boutique hotel known as The Villa Casa Casuarina.
Gianni Versace Death
This home, built with imported Italian materials and artisans, took almost eight years to complete. Versace not only enjoyed life in his mansion, but he also drew energy from its surroundings. It was one of the only private residences on Ocean Drive, so he could quickly walk to a favorite cafe.
It was built in 1930 by Alden Freeman, whose father worked for The Standard Oil Trust and left him a fortune which allowed him to retire at 27 and build his dream house, inspired by the historic Alcazar De Colon in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Freeman lived in a top-floor suite and either housed his friends or rented the 23 remaining apartments. 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. 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. 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.
Or perhaps the suite where Madonna used to stay when she visited Versace in the '90s and helped put the Miami Beach neighborhood of South Beach on the national scene. 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.
Versace spent three years and millions of dollars to create a home he loved, and one where he often hosted friends and family. Though he would be killed on the steps of this home on July 15, 1997, the space he created still offers insights into Versace and his life. He restored the original name and returned it to private use, creating 8 bedrooms, 2 kitchens, 3 sitting rooms, 10 bathrooms, a bar, a library, and 4 living rooms.
Abitare just opened the first Authorized Dealer for Versace Home in the USA in the summer of 2013. Since 2015, The Villa Casa Casuarina has been a luxury hotel with ten unique suites. He renovated the property for use as a boutique hotel, restaurant, and luxury event space.
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.
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