Podcast: Discover the legends and hidden secrets of Vizcaya
In its early days filled with swamps, mangroves and crocodiles, Miami seemed an unlikely locale for a 70-room palace with symmetrical gardens, fountains, statues and European fireplaces. And that palace seemed even less likely to become a destination for kings, popes and heads of state, brides and quinceañeras.
Located on Biscayne Bay in lush Coconut Grove near Brickell and downtown is Vizcaya Museum & Gardens. It was the winter house that Chicago industrialist, James Deering, owner of International Harvester, an agricultural machinery and heavy equipment company, built for himself in warmer climes on his doctor’s recommendation because of his anemia.
What are the mysteries and myths that surround that Italian villa-style mansion built in 1914 –a place that brought together the best artists, architects and designers of the era to showcase one of the largest fortunes in the United States of its day.
“Los Secretos del Vizcaya” begins the second season of the Miami Oculto podcast, with which El Nuevo Herald will talk about the history of this young city and the need to preserve its architectural gems such as Vizcaya. To talk about Vizcaya’s beginnings, trajectory and current mission, we have guests Rebecca Peterson, senior manager of community programs, and Alejandra “Alex” Serna, director of marketing and communications for Vizcaya Museum and Gardens.
El Nuevo Herald had privileged access to rooms that the public cannot visit at Vizcaya.
A stone ship and the secret doors of Vizcaya
If you have wondered about that stone barge in the water, we’ll let you in on a secret: It was not only a dancefloor for parties during Deering’s era, it also protects the mansion from hurricanes.
The devastating hurricane of 1926 destroyed the unique rose garden in Vizcaya, which five years ago was reborn thanks to the work of the Vizcaya team.
Here’s what an old zoo, a stadium and houses on stilts in Miami all have in common
What does Colombia have to do one of Vizcaya’s most beautiful architectural features? And what role did the Vatican have regarding a fountain that today is in Vizcaya but previously supplied water to a town some 50 kilometers from Rome?
Why are there doors in Deering’s mansion that lead nowhere, while others might have led the way to a night of fun?
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The interest in symmetry, the passion for design, but also the interest in incorporating technological advances, led the designer of the Vizcaya, Paul Chalfin, to create a hidden phone room where Deering could make calls without worrying about corporate spies. The truth is that Deering himself hired spies to keep tabs on his competitors, so he knew he himself had to be careful.
We invite you to take a walk through the “fantasy” that Deering built for himself in Miami, where the stained glass windows have the colors of sunrise and sunset, and the ceiling of the pool is a fresco painted by a New York artist with the fauna of his home state and Florida.
And don’t forget to read the letter kept in a glass case giving thanks for a shipment of “comforting blankets,” a Prohibition era code word for liquor. Lastly, don’t even think of taking a nap in one of the Vizcaya’s beds, like a bodyguard for a head of state did during the Summit of the Americas in 1994. In addition to lamps, curtains and tapestries there are cameras -- many cameras. Deering was always a lover of technology and now it’s used to protect his legacy.
Watch all episodes of the Hidden Miami podcast on YouTube,, the el Nuevo Herald website, or listen to it on your favorite audio platform: Spotify Podcast, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio and Amazon Music.
