Much of Vizcaya was imagined as a place alive with visitors; rooms prepared, gardens opened, paths ready for guests at any time. Yet behind all this hospitality lived a man who craved quiet. James Deering, private by nature, longed for a corner of the estate where he could slip away from the constant activity of the Main House.
“IT WOULD BE TO ME THE KIND OF PLACE WHERE I COULD BE ABSOLUTELY ALONE AND WHERE MY PRESENCE WOULD BE UNKNOWN TO ANY AND EVERYBODY”
Letter: April 2, 1918
From: James Deering, Vizcaya’s Owner
To: Paul Chalfin, Vizcaya’s Designer
Reveal Transcript
Dear Mr. Chalfin
I wrote you the other day asking if it would not be possible to give me a place under the mound where I could be by myself and get away from all visitors. I suggested also that I might in this place do work with my secretary.
On second thought it seems to me that the place should be installed for me alone, where, if wished, I could write my personal letters, do my reading and so on. It would be to me the kind of place where I could be absolutely alone and where my presence would be unknown to any and everybody, where there would be no telephone, so that if I were there the answer could always be that I was not at home.
Yours Sincerely,
[signed] JD
After sharing his wish for a place where he could retreat in absolute solitude, Deering waited for an answer. The Casba, a small structure on the southern edge of the estate whose name comes from the Arabic word for fortress, lingered as a possibility. In the next letter, his correspondent responds, offering thoughts that begin to shape how this quiet refuge might serve him.
“DOES IT OCCUR TO YOU THAT NEITHER OF US THOUGHT ABOUT THE CASBA. THIS IS ALWAYS COOL AND CHEERFUL AND WILL BE QUITE SECLUDED WHEN PLANTED.”
Letter: April 20, 1918
From: Unknown (Presumably Paul Chalfin, Vizcaya’s Designer)
To: James Deering, Vizcaya’s Owner
Reveal Transcript
Mr. James Deering Esq
Vizcaya
Miami, Florida.
Dear Mr. Deering:
Answering you letter of the 16th about the Retreat on the Mound. Does it occur to you that neither of us thought about the Casba. This is always cool and cheerful and will be quite secluded when planted. I could really make it inaccessible if you wished.
Sincerely yours,
Today, the Casba no longer rests within Vizcaya’s grounds. It now stands on the campus of Immaculata La Salle High School, separated from the estate it was once meant to complement. Though its original purpose has shifted with time, the structure still carries the quiet presence of the refuge Deering once imagined.
In 1918, Mr. Deering replies in agreement.
“I MIGHT TAKE A PLACE AS SMALL AS THIS IF IT WERE SOMEWHERE OUT OF SIGHT”
Letter: April 25, 1918
From: James Deering, Vizcaya’s Owner
To: Paul Chalfin, Vizcaya’s Designer
Reveal Transcript
Dear Mr. Chalfin:
Replying to your favor of the 20th: I should not care to retire into a place with limits so circumscribed as the Casba, and standing on a mound. I might take a place as small as this if it were somewhere out of sight.
Yours sincerely,
[signed] JD
Vizcaya’s land ownership transitioned from Deering’s heirs to Miami-Dade County in the 1950’s. Today, the Casba remains remote on a mound, and is accessible through the grounds of Immaculata-LaSalle High School, neighboring Vizcaya, and along South Miami Avenue.
Reveal archival photographs of the Casba
