1116
Ocean Drive
Miami Beach
Lovely
Casa Casaurina is the only private residence along
Ocean Drive and it’s also certainly Miami-Dade
County’s most macabre photo op.
In
1992 haute couturier Gianni Versace bought the
Amsterdam Palace apartment building to restore it to
its former majesty. The building had been built in
1930 for Standard Oil treasurer Alden Freeman as a
16th Century Mediterranean-style villa
resembling the home of Diego Columbus in the
Dominican Republic. (Diego Columbus was Christopher
Columbus’ son.) Versace also bought the Revere
Hotel next door and leveled it to build a patio and
pool area. All told, he pumped more than $6.6
million into the buildings. When renovations were
complete, the result was a grandiose Rococo mishmash
of colors and textures -- Moorish tile, fine fabrics
on the walls, lavish mosaics, busts throughout and
high-profile artwork hanging from the walls. It all
served to make Versace South Beach’s most visible
resident.
Shortly
before 9am on Tuesday, July 15, 1997, Versace was
returning home from his morning walk to the local
newsstand and bent to unlock the black wrought-iron
gate in front of his home when he was confronted by
Andrew Cunanan, who fired two shots into his head.
Versace was Cunanan’s fifth victim in a
cross-country killing spree. Cunanan fled from the
scene and eluded police for eight days before
committing suicide in a houseboat anchored in Indian
Creek along Collins Avenue 41 blocks north of Casa
Casaurina.
Casa
Casaurina is closed to the public, but tourists line
up to be photographed on the steps in front of the
gate – the spot where the mortally injured Versace
slumped, bleeding, to the ground. He was pronounced
dead at the Ryder Trauma Center at UM/Jackson
Memorial Hospital.
The
name "Casaurina" sounds rather elegant,
but in truth, the Casaurina tree is very common in
South Florida. It’s better known as the Australian
pine.
Hint:
If you, too, must have your picture taken where
Versace was slain, the light is better in the
morning hours.
