Gianni Versace
Casa Casuarina aka the Versace House was built in 1930 and modeled after the Alcazar de Colon in Santo Domingo, a residence built in 1510 by the son of Christopher Columbus and reputedly the oldest existing house in the western hemisphere.
Gianni Versace purchased the building in 1992 for $2.9 million. After receiving city approval, he demolished the hotel next door, and a two-story, 6,100-foot addition was built, transforming it into Versace's Miami Beach house.
In the 1980s, Gianni Versace's younger brother Sebastiano wrote to his sister Donatella back in Florence...
'Here in Miami, I've finally found what I was looking for: the center of my circle. I want to stay here and live out my time...forever.'
Thus began the Versace family's love affair with Miami.
Versace was shot dead on July 15, 1997, aged 50, on the steps of his Miami Beach mansion as he returned from his customary morning walk on Ocean Drive. His murderer was Andrew Cunanan, a spree killer who used the same gun to commit suicide on a boat shortly afterwards. Versace was cremated and then sent back to Italy.
Casa Casuarina aka the Versace House was built in 1930 and modeled after the Alcazar de Colon in Santo Domingo, a residence built in 1510 by the son of Christopher Columbus and reputedly the oldest existing house in the western hemisphere.
Gianni Versace purchased the building in 1992 for $2.9 million. After receiving city approval, he demolished the hotel next door, and a two-story, 6,100-foot addition was built, transforming it into Versace's Miami Beach house.
In the 1980s, Gianni Versace's younger brother Sebastiano wrote to his sister Donatella back in Florence...
'Here in Miami, I've finally found what I was looking for: the center of my circle. I want to stay here and live out my time...forever.'
Thus began the Versace family's love affair with Miami.
Versace was shot dead on July 15, 1997, aged 50, on the steps of his Miami Beach mansion as he returned from his customary morning walk on Ocean Drive. His murderer was Andrew Cunanan, a spree killer who used the same gun to commit suicide on a boat shortly afterwards. Versace was cremated and then sent back to Italy.