Vizcaya. An American Villa and Its Makers by Witold Rybczynski, Laurie Olin

Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS Witold Rybczynski and Laurie Olin. Vizcaya. An American Villa and Its Makers. Phi ladeIph ia University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006, 320 pp., color and blackand -white photographs, hardcover, S34 95, ISBN o-81223951 -2. Vizcaya, perched on the edge of Biscayne Bay in 1\fiami, Florida, and built specifically for a tropical climate, is one of the great villas of the American Renaissance. Until now, it has been overlooked by other period studies. But vVitold Rybczynski and Laurie Olin, noted scholars on the built environment, have filled this gap in the period scholarship vvith their book, Vizcaya. An American ViLla and Its A1akers. This study presents an intimate portrait of the estate, its designers, and the history of its creation. Designed and built betv,,een 1912 and 1921, Vizcaya served as the winter retreat of wealthy entrepreneur James Deering. The house and gardens were the result of a most unusual collaboration of "three neophytes:" Paul Chalfin, F. Burrell HoffmanJr., and Diego Suarez. Although Deering was active in the design process, Chalfin remained the primary force at Vizcaya, involving himself in all aspects of the estate's design, construction, and furnishing. Chalfin had studied painting at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, was vvell traveled, and \·vas familiar vvith the Ne'v York and Boston art scenes; he also knew the 60 ARRIS I VO LU M E N I NET EEN 2008 circle surrounding Isabella Ste\·vart Gardner. The overall impression given of him in the book is that he was able to manipulate the design and financial aspects of the project, often \vhile assuming total authorship. Hoffman, vvho served as the architect for the project, had studied architecture at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and had worked briefly for Carrere and Hastings before opening his ovvn office. Suarez \·vas a landscape designer from Columbia, who had studied architecture in Italy, and had designed and restored several Italian gardens. \Vith the backing of James Deering's International Harvester fortune, these three men together created Vizcaya, a masterpiece that none of the three would subsequently equal on his ovm. The estate, an eclectic .Mediterranean revival design , drew on a variety of precedents including the villas of the Veneto and Tuscany, particularly Baldassare Longhena's Villa Rezzonico, and other important monuments of Italian Baroque architecture. The men also relied on literary sources such as. Edith \Vharton's Italian Vdfas and Gardens (1904), Sir George Sit\vell's On the i\1/aking of Gardens (1909), and Geoffrey Scott's Architecture C?f Humanism (1914). The overall goal, however, \Vas to transcend specific historical precedent to create a fantastic impression of history. The result was an intriguing mixture of the knowledge, experiences, and imagination of all four men that created a statement all its own. Best approached by boat, the house presented its formal facade to the bay, which was framed by t\VO curved extensions of the seawall. A spectacular breakwater in the form of a ship was accented by obelisks, encrusted with sculpture, and covered with greenery. A symmetrical facade of two towers flanking a triplearched loggia and crO\vned with a scrolled parapet opened onto a raised terrace once covered with grass. Construction was of concrete, accented with a variety of stonework, including the local, rough coral rock, and architectural elements purchased abroad. Arrival by land was only slightly less impressive, beginning at the gatehouse at South fv1iami Avenue and passing through the lush hardwood hammocks and forecourts, past sculptures , herms, and cascading fountains, before arriving a second time at the house. The south facade opened onto formal gardens, \·vhich vvere carefully planned to include a variety of architectural elements: a labyrinth, a secret garden, a theater garden, fountains, grottos, sculpture, and, beyond the casino, a now lost, Venetian-inspired garden of canals, waterways, islands, tennis courts, and a summer house. To the north, a small swimming pool slipped under the house, creating a grotto accented with shells from the \Vest Indies. In addition to the formal gardens, Vizcaya also vvas a working agricultural villa, with the partially extant Village located across South :Miami Avenue. \ 1Vhat distinguished Vizcaya from many of the other grand estates of the Gilded Age...