VIZCAYA🌟 Tour Opulent DECORATIONS & GARDENS in this MIAMI Gilded-Age Chateau

Hello everyone and welcome back to Chateau Love. We are not in France anymore, in fact we are here to take you to America's very best castle. And you may be wondering how I can say that as there are some spectacular castles in the United States of America, including the Hearst Castle, the Biltmore, and other spectacular ones and if you have a favorite, by all means, please let us know in the comments. But today we are at my all-time favorite, which is the Villa Vizcaya here in Miami, Florida. Once home of the industrialist James Deering, built between 1914 and 1923, and in my humble opinion, being passionate about all things castles and chateau, the most fabulous residence in the whole of the United States. Gardens, interiors, antiques, and more. I'm at Vizcaya and am I speaking English, French, Spanish, or Italian? The best way to really know a culture and its people is to learn their language. In September, I'm off to Italy. How will I learn and keep up with all of these languages? Speaking Spanish here in Florida, French in France, of course. The answer is Babbel. Proven to start you speaking a new language in three weeks. Arrivederci, Signora Bianchi. If you'd like to learn a new language or improve your existing skills, check out the link below to get a huge 60% discount on your subscription, and even including two free live classes with a subscription and a 20-day money-back guarantee. Oh, awesome! I'm so excited to improve my ability to have actual real-world conversations. Now back to the video. I am here with some of my favorite people in the world. So first of all, you all know Ashley. Hi, guys! Singer of my theme song, La Vie en Rose, and also just fabulous all-around sister. My exquisite niece, Ren, and this other half, Ash. So we have two Ashes out for the day on this trip. Let's go! We've been here for exactly five seconds, and we've just spotted a real princess. Real princess! Look! After photobombing that photo shoot, time to go into the actual magnificent chateau. Built between 1914 and 1922 at a cost of 15 million dollars, which would now be around 500 million dollars, Vizcaya was built by James Deering of the Deering-McCormick International Harvester fortune. It was originally 180 acres of mangrove swampland on the Biscayne Bay of Miami. Art curator Paul Chalfin, who was introduced to Deering by Elsie DeWolf, architect F. Burl Hoffman, and landscape designer Diego Suarez, all contributed to this glorious home taking inspiration from Italian Palladian villas, French Renaissance gardens, chateau interiors from all over Europe, and all the while embracing this exceptional tropical location. He's from Europe. Everything is sourced from Europe. He went on a number of vine trips. And another fun fact, he only lived here for nine years. And this was his winter residence. Imagine, just in winter. Gotta go, gotta go somewhere else for summer. I don't... Exactly, exactly. Now in here, look, the ceilings look like Georgian Wedgwood. I love Wedgwood so much. That's what we were just talking about. Were you? The reason the window panes look a little bit like the Orangerie at our house is because this villa was built at around the same time, just a few short years after our house was built. But the thing I love about this room is that all the other elements are very 18th century. It looks like it's got a Wedgwood ceiling and Robert Adamesque designs that go all the way around the room. It's light, it's bright, it's beautiful. And then there are hand-painted panels, which now we reproduce with beautiful wallpapers from companies like Degournay. But these are the real things. And these are scenes, neoclassical scenes, right alongside the water. And everything is done with trompe l'oeil, including the pilasters. It's really spectacular. Now don't forget, if you love Wedgwood as much as we do, standing in this beautiful room with these wonderful Wedgwood-esque ceiling medallions, don't forget to check out the Chateau Love website where I have a beautiful selection of genuine vintage Wedgwood jewelry. There are also beautiful pieces from France and all over Europe dating from the Georgian, Victorian, and Edwardian periods. About to walk into one of my favorite rooms. It's right through here. We're coming into the music room now. And this room, I think, might be my favorite. Certainly one of my favorites in this magnificent chateau. There are exquisite grotesques painted all over the walls. Now this is a console table. And look at the old harpsichord and harp. If our mother were here, she'd be on that harpsichord in a second if we gave her a chance. You guys, of course, your other homes are in Cortona because Merco's Italian. And doesn't this remind you of the inside of some of the palazzi that are in Tuscany? Look how dark it is and how cool it is, even though there's no air conditioning. Yeah, absolutely. I think with the high ceilings, the heat rises and it leaves this bottom section. And also look, I mean, gorgeous silk drapes. And then the detailing on the chandelier. I love the chandelier too. So that is called a tôle chandelier. It's a type of it's made with metal and porcelain. So each one of those little roses is porcelain and the rest is done with metal. It's just very beautiful. Are you ready to see the dining room? This is the most un-Palm Beach, Miami dining room that you'll ever see. This is taking you right back to Europe. Boar needs to be on the menu. What did you say, boar? Wild boar. I'm gonna find a wild boar in the swamps of Florida. We're gonna pet it. Friends, not food. Oh, that's right, you're vegan. That means no alligators for you either. The thing I love about Vizcaya is that it combines all these different architectural styles, medieval to Baroque, and from all these different countries as well. And so it's almost like traveling to multiple different historic houses in one. It is. And it feels Spanish to me and almost a little Moroccan. Yes. The geometric shapes, it's so beautiful. No chateau is complete without a china pantry. And this one has a gorgeous one. And here we're in the serving pantry. This connects to the upstairs breakfast room as well as the kitchen. And it's wonderful because it has a backup oven, backup larders, wonderful collections of faience, more porcelain. It's a perfect little room. We have some wonderful old faience. These are gorgeous pieces. And some more extravagant pieces as well. It must have been incredible to have lived here back in the day. Apparently there was a French chef, of course, a Swedish housekeeper, and the staff were international from all over Europe. And I do love a good dumb waiter. This one, I believe, goes upstairs to the breakfast room, which is one of the most stunning rooms in the whole of this chateau. I've had several kitchens in historic houses over the years, and they've all followed almost exactly the same design aesthetic. Very classic off-white cupboards, black marble, white marble, and terracotta floors. And I probably got inspired by a number of historic properties, including this one. Let's go have a look at the kitchens here at this kayak. The living room. A lovely space to sit and relax with a nice big comfortable sofa. A fantastic telescope to look out at the ships beyond. And an extraordinary fireplace. Sourced, of course, from an ancient castle in Europe. But probably not necessary to use it to light fires on a regular basis. And we all need an old organ in the corner. Whole room for that. I always need to make a quick phone call. There's an entire little telephone closet for that purpose specifically. And then this is 100% my speed. Here we have a little bit of Versailles, but also it's extremely Italian in here. This is very much Italian Renaissance style. But look at that chandelier. It's hard to get a sense of the scale. Just like a lot of modern design projects, when Vizcaya was being built by James Deering, he had an entire warehouse in New York where he stored all of these incredible items. And then everything was put into place at once. So it looks like a collection that was made over hundreds of years. But in fact, it was done over a very short time period with buying trips to Europe. And here back to a very English aesthetic in this little room. Very Adamesque styles of plasterwork on the ceiling. This room is much more intimate. Beautiful little library. And this hallway is so super because it has very neoclassical elements, which is another one of my favorite styles you see here. Here we have some fabulous neoclassical frescoes, urns. Gorgeous marble floors. It's us. Of course it's us. That's what we do. We frolic. Frolic in meadows. We do frolic in meadows. We do. We love to frolic in meadows. It's a family portrait. One thing I've got to show you guys is the most spectacular view out the windows. So another one of the most incredible things which makes it my favorite grand house in the United States is that this one is on the ocean and even boasts its own extraordinary gondola dock. And I love this too. I mean, we should all just have a ship hanging from the ceiling, right? If you have one, it's an excellent thing to do. Absolutely. Do you guys, do you think it can get any better than this? Or could there be more to come that's the best of all? This is a trick question. There's more. There's more to come. Follow me. It's amazing. We're about to head. So if you thought that the dining room downstairs was impressive, this is the breakfast room, which is upstairs. But it is the most spectacular breakfast room anyone has ever seen. So as the chinoiserie bedroom is my favorite bedroom here, this is the chinoiserie inspired breakfast room. Love this room. So that's called a balaclava or a bed crown. But in this case, it's this really interesting mix of pastel colors with the chinoiserie motif. So it's a lot of 18th century. You've got Louis XVI chairs, but it's actually meant to look like a Europeanized version of Chinese. I was getting Joker's hat. Joker's hat. Yeah, it looks like that too. And it's almost got a theatrical background. Look, the way the fabric's been hung on the back of the bed and then fabric panels on either side, which look very much like the fabrics, the floral fabrics that are also chinoiserie patterns. Love, love, love Passementerie and look at this bed. So it has fringe, tassels, carvings, more layers of trims and tassels, silks, and tassels that look like little Chinese pagodas. So another thing I love about this is it's literally like a different style in every single bedroom. So this room, we have a lot of very interesting Biedermeier-inspired, very masculine furniture. And I think this is really pretty. Upstairs sitting room is a stunning example of empire design. Rich golds and blacks, very empire-esque furnishings, right down to the rug, the little sofas. If you enjoyed the empire sitting room next door, come in here for a triumph of an empire bedroom. Another stunning bedroom, this one needing a little help on the ceiling. So it makes me feel less bad about our house. Another spectacular Duchess Brisé and a wonderful Lee à la Polonaise carved in green with green silk. And here we've got the bathroom of bathrooms, a tented ceiling, a beautiful marble sink, and that bathtub. Wow. Well, they're not so little. They're little for the scale of the rest of them. This guy has these exceptional formal gardens that you see behind me, but the most spectacular thing about it is its position on the water. Here we are at the back of the house, clearly set up for a wedding or an event, of which there are many here at Vizcaya. And here we could be in Venice again, but a tropical Venice. Vizcaya has its own island and it used to have its own gondolas. A very, very magnificent pergola in the corner. And look, actual gondola posts. Now this is a chateau in the Bay of Biscayne in the ocean in the distance. It's a true castle on the water. Look at that. Just incredible. To lead our way out. It's been incredible walking around this extraordinary chateau in Florida here in the United States, encompassing everything that I love about antiques, historical collections, decorating in a traditional style spanning many centuries, beautiful gardens, tropical sunshine, the ocean, and some of my favorite places, France, Italy, Spain. And thank you so much for joining us on this incredible journey around Vizcaya. In my opinion, America's best castle. Bye-bye Vizcaya! And when you speak, angels sing from above. Everyday words seem to turn into love songs. Give your heart and soul to me and life will always be la vie en rose. Love. Today we are going to take you around America. And obviously it's a very lovely place to play video games. One thing you might not know, this door itself is all in braille. Stop it! I thought you were gonna say something interesting and informative. You're hopeless. This area right here was one of the other places I would still enjoy experiencing Vizcaya. Aren't you just rubbing a stone? You're romancing the stone. This one is very... Well, I do like that idea. Thank you very much, darling. Right here there's pink kitties. Nice. One of the things I love about Vizcaya, this extraordinary castle here in the United States. You can't do that. I'm filming. We can be in it, but we can't ruin it. And life will always be lovely always.