Versace´s “Casa Casuarina” is up for sale
Wanna live like Versace? Got $125 million dollars lying around? That is what it will cost to own a piece of history and to live like a king. Gianni Versace´s extravagant Miami residence is back on the market for a hefty price.
Gianni Versace one of the world´s elite designers lost his life in 1997. He was shot dead outside his Miami Beach home by fugitive Andrew Cunanan. Versace´s sister Donatella succeeded him as head of the fashion house.
The man had an extravagant lifestyle. And one of his extravagance was his beach house “Casa Casuarina.” It was named after a hardy Casuarina tree which survived a devastating hurricane in 1926. He bought the mansion in 1992 for $2.9 million dollars and spent another $33 million remodeling it. There was no expense spared in making it a place fit for a king. Here are some of its unique features. The pool floor is made of the finest Fontini mosaic and is composed of 1,000,000+ pieces all shipped from Italy. Each room was worked on by a different artist. The deco is done in the Versace colours of blue, gold, yellow and a little bit of blood red and the kitchen has gold tiles. As if that is not enough there was a solid gold toilet seat in the downstairs bedroom. Donatella Versace has kept that piece for herself.
In 2002, Peter Loftin, a telecommunications billionaire bought it from Donatella for $25 million dollars and converted the place into a 10 bedroom, 11 bathroom house with an exclusive members-only club and boutique hotel. He later renamed it “The Villa” by Barton G.
Loftin wants to put it back up for sale again perhaps because he has gotten tired of it. When you have that much money, you tire easily of material possessions folks. He says, “It´s a one-of-a-kind property, created by a genius, that is a piece of art and a piece of history.” And 95% of the mansion is still preserved the way Versace had it.
Don´t have $125 millions dollars to spare? There´s the other option. A night at the boutique hotel would cost $2,500 a night.
By
T. J. Mueller
