Vizcaya Museum and Gardens home page
All About The Builder The Businessman The Enthusiast The Legacy The Relationships
Close up off a letter written by James Deering

Using This Virtual Experience
A man wearing a suit and straw boater hat stands with hands clasped. The background is blurred foliage and a wall. The image is in sepia tone.

Who was James Deering?
A collection of vintage leather-bound books with gold lettering stands vertically on a shelf behind a glass cabinet.

James Deering, Book Lover?
Historic villa with manicured gardens and a reflecting pool in the foreground, set against a city skyline.

The Landscape of a Lifetime
A display image of historical working documents from 1916, detailing communication in Brickell Point, Miami, Florida, with annotations and a photograph inset.

Archives History
Close-up of a vintage thermometer by Henry J. Green, marked "B'klyn N.J. 26168," mounted on a textured wall.

No Detail Too Small
A vintage black-and-white portrait of a man with a beard, wearing a suit.

Balancing Family & Legacy
Blueprint depicting the northeast corner of a terrace area, showing various plotted lines, locations of piers, and grid references with handwritten notes and measurements.

TILLING TERRA FIRMA: SUSTAINABLE SOILS
A vintage armchair with striped upholstery and fringed edges sits on a tiled floor.

What Makes The Perfect Chair?
Yellow and pink orchids in bloom, hanging on a green stem with leafy background.

Then and Now: Orchids, Trees, and Gardening in South Florida
Architectural sketch of a decorative cabinet with intricate details, labeled "HINGED DOOR TO OPEN" on both doors, showcasing ornate designs and symmetrical elements.

Cheerful Chirps
Close-up of black leather dress shoes with wooden shoe trees inserted, set against a plain background.

Deering Style: Grooming Makes the Man
Close-up of an ornate, wrought iron door handle and keyhole mounted on a decorative iron gate.

Safe Haven: Securing Vizcaya
A bowling ball hits a group of bowling pins, causing them to scatter on the wooden lane.

J@Play: Cultivating Vizcaya’s Sporting Experience
Stained glass window featuring a central red seahorse design surrounded by blue and green geometric patterns.

Why Did A Playful Seahorse Annoy James Deering?
Top view of a cardboard box containing dark-capped bottles, each separated by dividers.

Speakeasy, James Deering: Working Around Prohibition
Close-up of an intricately carved wooden sculpture with gold and green accents, featuring abstract floral patterns and textures.

Sticker Shock: The Cost Of Building A Legacy
A group of people gather near the entrance of a gated stone building surrounded by trees.

Vizcaya After Deering
Front page of The Miami Herald with headlines about resolutions, war, troop movements, and theater events from April 6, 1917.

Building Through Uncertain Times
A person with long brown hair wearing a polka-dot blouse stands in front of a nautical-themed painting.

Personal Relationships: “Hard To Get To Know”
A person with glasses stands in a room with ornate wallpaper and a lamp, speaking with hands clasped.

The Building of Vizcaya: “A Huge Public Affair”
A person with glasses and a beard stands in an ornate room with decorative walls and mirrors, wearing a navy shirt with text.

Knowing Fact From Fiction: “Passionate and Frank”
Close-up of a vintage rotary dial phone with numbers 0-9. The center displays faded text and a company logo.

The Technology Early Adopter
Person using a smartphone to view a transcription of a historical document, with a touchscreen information display in the background.

Project Credits
A person with short white hair, wearing glasses and a maroon sweater, stands in front of shelves with equipment.

“In the 1920s over 200 million telegrams were sent each year”
Model ship hanging from a ceiling, featuring white sails and a wood-textured hull, displayed at an angle. The ceiling is cream-colored with a decorative border.

Behind The Caravel
Yellow dome and circular window of a beige building surrounded by tall trees and lush greenery.

Absolutely Alone: Vizcaya’s lost Casba and Deering’s search for a retreat
A large, old building with arched entrances is surrounded by bare trees and a pathway leading up to it.

Rising Tides: Thinking about hurricanes in building Vizcaya
Historic black and white photo of a large, partially constructed building with scaffolding, surrounded by trees and open terrain.

What Motivated James Deering’s Rush to Occupy Vizcaya?
Open flatbed scanner with a brown sheet of paper containing red text placed on the glass, ready to be scanned.

The Digitization Process
© 2026 Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. All Rights Reserved.
Déclaration d'accessibilité
Vizcaya in the Words of its Founder

Yours Truly is a mobile virtual experience that explores the personal life, and personality, of Vizcaya’s owner James Deering. Letters, telegrams, historic images, 360 photography and 3D object scans bring James Deering to life. Dive into the stories with us. 

Click the close button in the top right corner to continue the experience.

For more virtual experiences, such as a virtual tour, and virtual access to The Barge and Swimming Pool Grotto, please visit: https://virtualvizcaya.org/index.html.

Navigation Key

A white circle contains a lowercase letter "i" in the center, symbolizing information.

About the Project

A simple black and white line drawing of a magnifying glass.

Mail Magnifier

Tap and hold
A blue and white play button symbol inside a circle.

Video Stories

An icon representing an image gallery, showing a stack of four images with a basic landscape and a sun in the top right corner of the front image.

Slideshow

Simple clock face with cartoon-like icons representing different activities, instead of numbers. Below the clock, there are three circles connected by a line, containing letters B, C, and D.

Timeline

Icon of a paper with horizontal lines and a pencil, suggesting writing or drafting.

Text

Tour poster for Vizcaya's Rose Garden, featuring a stone fountain, vibrant pink roses, and lush greenery.

Visiting this Friday? Take the Tour!​

On Apr. 10 at 11:30 a.m., join us for Vizcaya’s Rose Garden Tour, a behind-the-scenes experience guided by the estate’s expert horticulturists.

Uncover the history, seasonal rhythms, and specialized care behind this iconic space.

🎟️ TICKETS: $24–$39; includes museum admission
⭐ Vizcaya Members: $10

Get Tickets
A person in colorful traditional attire blows a conch shell in front of a building; text reads "Living Land Community Festival at Vizcaya Village Farmers Market.

🌿 This Sunday: Living Land Festival

Celebrate South Florida’s Indigenous communities with a day of culture, creativity, and connection. Enjoy live performances, storytelling, hands-on art activities, and a vibrant farmers market—all in one place.

🎟 FREE ENTRY | Mar. 29, 9 AM–3:30 PM
📍 Vizcaya Village (3250 S. Miami Ave)

Get Tickets
A group of four people, two adults and two children, stand together outdoors with a "20% OFF Membership" sign overhead.

One-Day-Only: Our Last Sale of the Year

Give yourself or someone you love a gift that lasts long after Cyber Monday ends.

Membership pays for itself in just a few visits and digital delivery makes it the perfect gift—beautiful, meaningful, and instant.

JOIN TODAY

BEFORE YOU BOOK: Learn about on-site construction .

Learn More
Close-up of rare orchids in a greenhouse setting with text promoting a behind-the-scenes tour at Vizcaya Museum and Gardens.

Visiting this Friday? Jump on this Exclusive Tour!

If you love orchids, you don’t miss this special behind-the-scenes tour on Friday, December 13, 11:30 a.m. Join Vizcaya’s own orchid specialist as we go inside the museum’s greenhouse to explore rare orchids and learn expert plant care tips.

Tickets are just $39 per person and include museum admission. Spots are limited, so reserve yours now!

Register Here