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 person with short gray hair and glasses stands holding a notebook in a room with an ornate rug and pillar in the background.

Hiring: “The Correct Person To Do The Job”
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?
A black and white photo of a man in a suit, glasses, and a serious expression, with arms crossed, viewed in profile against a dark background.

Business Relationships: Trust But Verify
Yellow and pink orchids in bloom, hanging on a green stem with leafy background.

Garden Variety: Handpicking Vizcaya’s Flowers, Plants and Trees
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
An antique player piano with a collection of piano rolls displayed above the keyboard.

J.D. the D.J.: Composing Vizcaya’s Musical Soundtrack
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 in Wartime and Pandemic
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 short gray hair and glasses stands in a room with ornate gold decorations and horse statues. They are wearing a navy polka dot dress.

Correspondence Collection: “Over 24,000 Letters and Telegrams”
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
Blueprint of a ground floor layout featuring a central courtyard, music room, living room, dining room, and various halls and loggias.

Explore by Map
Person using a smartphone to view a transcription of a historical document, with a touchscreen information display in the background.

Project Credits
A pen rests on a piece of paper with a blurred background, including a partially visible metallic object.

How can we improve this experience?
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”
Five people in vintage attire sit on a stone ledge; two hold an umbrella, wearing hats, with a vast landscape in the background under a cloudy sky.

Biographies
A group of men and women in vintage clothing pose outdoors. The women wear hats and dresses, while the men are in suits. Trees and a building are visible in the background.

Meet the Deerings
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
Screenshot of the Vizcaya Museum & Gardens online ticket reservation page, showing general admission details for Saturday, June 19, from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM.

Buy Vizcaya Tickets
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?
© 2025 Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. All Rights Reserved.
Accessibility Statement
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

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
Promo for Vizcaya's secret doors tour, featuring a grand building, lush gardens, and ornate interior details.

Visiting this Friday? Check out the Secret Doors Tour!

Join this intimate tour of the secret and hidden doors found throughout the estate. This guided experience is only available for a limited time.

Tickets are $49 per person and include museum admission for the day. Reserve your spot online while they last!

Learn More