An Italian Renaissance-style villa built in 1916 for industrialist James Deering, Vizcaya is one of Miami's most extraordinary sights. The house contains 34 rooms filled with European furniture, tapestries, and art spanning four centuries. But the gardens are the real showpiece — ten acres of formal parterres, fountains, and grottoes tumbling down to Biscayne Bay, where a stone barge breakwater carved with mermaids sits in the water.
The estate employed 1,000 workers to build and once covered 180 acres, making it Miami's largest private employer at the time. Today's 50 acres are lush and meticulously maintained. Visit early in the morning to have the gardens to yourself.